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Companies always nag you to buy the extended warranty for everything from teapots to computers. Is it worth it? Not if you know the Weibull (bathtub) curve.
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Well hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I don’t know about you, but if you bought anything electronic, they always try and sell you a maintenance agreement on it, even if it’s a $27 electric teapot. Right? It’s like, WHAT?
“If you know anything about the Weibull curve, it’s called a bathtub curve.
Continue Reading "Weibull (Bathtub) Curve and Extended Warranty"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Too many people are using unsupported, home-grown tools to improve quality. Or using none at all. That’s a problem. Here’s why:
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Well hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“In the old days, pharmacists used to grind up and mix chemicals by hand to make prescriptions, right? And graphic artists used to hand draw everything, right? And opticians used to grind lenses by hand to make glasses. So all those people… all those jobs are still needed, but they don’t do them the way they did 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 years ago, right?
Continue Reading "Are You Using the Available Tools of Quality 2025?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Technology has given us the ability to automate tasks that used to be performed manually, and allows one person to perform the work of many. I saw an example of this on a recent trip.
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, when I was growing up, the big band that came up were the Beatles, and they were also known as the Fab Four. And the Fab Four were kind of the structure of most bands, all right?
Continue Reading "The Fab Four and a One-Man Band"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Minimum Viable Training (MVT) is a quick way to implement Six Sigma. Here’s why:
“Well hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software]. I’m here at the beautiful Maui Kaanapali Villas on Kaanapali beach in Maui, and my friend and I are just kind of hanging out here.
“I had this fascinating thing happen: one of our users, Jiri, went out and got onto our website and did a mind map of all of the training that’s out there and I was kind of blown away by how much stuff is out there.
Continue Reading "Minimum Viable Training – MVT"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Most companies start their Six Sigma implementation by training a few Green and Black Belts. That works some of the time, but it’s the wrong way to go. Start with Yellow Belts. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, a lot of companies start up their [Quality Improvement program] and they go out and they train a Black Belt and a few Green Belts and try to get things going. Then like many companies, they discover that they’re not getting the results that they want.
Continue Reading "Would You Rather Have 100 Yellow Belts or 2-3 GBs or BBs?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
I’m lazy and that’s a good thing. It might be good for you too. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I want to tell you: I’m lazy. I don’t want to spend any more time doing anything that I have to, right? When we started up, [the standard was] week-long trainings for teams. I eventually boiled that big binder down into about a 16-page handout (which I now use) and train people in in a day or less and get results. I wanted to collapse the curve between learning and implementation of results so that people got that hit of “This is what we can do quickly.”
Continue Reading "I’m Lazy and That’s a Good Thing"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
There’s a lot of acronyms in mental health. Here’s one for business. Do You Have APDF?
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, we’ve heard people talk about ADD or ADHD… all these little acronyms for sickness. I think too many companies have APDF.
“APDF, which stands for Analysis Paralysis Decision Fatigue… Analysis Paralysis Decision Fatigue. They hesitate to look at their data and do anything, and then they get tired of trying to make decisions and they don’t make any progress.
“Does your company have APDF? I wish it was a better acronym, but Analysis Paralysis Decision Fatigue.
Continue Reading "Do You Have APDF?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Struggling to get a good Cp and Cpk? It might be your data. Here’s why:
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“We had a guy call in the other day and he was trying to determine the capability of his process. Unfortunately, he’d taken [measurements of] everything from his startup to his shutdown scrap and ran that as a capability study, and he wasn’t capable. I said, “Well, there you go…” But if you run a control chart of that, you can see the wiggly startup and the wiggly shutdown and then there’s this nice stable process in the middle.
Continue Reading "Capability Analysis Issues"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Are you still using last century tools in the 21st Century?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“When I was a kid growing up in in the 60s, my mom had this old wringer washing machine. Back in the day, there was a washing machine where you washed all your clothes and there was a wringer on top. You would take the clothes out and you’d feed it in the wringer, which would squish all the water out of it. There weren’t any electric dryers… I’m sorry. She would wring her washing and then she would go out and hang it on a clothes line where it would dry in the Tucson sun, and then she’d bring them in fold them and whatever.
Continue Reading "Mom’s Wringer Washing Machine"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Harvard Business Review (Jan 2025) argues for a renaissance, a rebirth of process management and quality improvement. Here’s why:
You might want to order reprints of these articles and forward them to your leadership. (HBR Reprint S25011)
Download my free eBook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“In the most recent issue of Harvard Business Review (I think this is January 2025), shockingly enough, what did I discover? An article about Process Management! Oh my gosh!
“The closing argument in here from these folks is:
“It’s time for senior management to put process back on their radar screens and begin to sort out how to make it better in their departments.”
Continue Reading "Process Management Rises from the Ashes"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.
