Tips and Techniques for Statistics and Quality Improvement

Earlier this year, as I was thinking about all the improvement projects on my needs and wants list, I was unsure where to start. Which projects should be tackled first? Did I capture everything in my potential projects list? And once I decide which projects to schedule, how can I keep on track and visualize progress?

A staple in project management, RACI charts help team members understand their roles for project deliverables – breaking down in each step who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. When you articulate those four levels of input and decision-making ability and assign them to different team members at the start of a project, it can help everyone execute projects more smoothly.

It's no secret recent worldwide events have pushed us all to become more agile in our operations and respond to changes in new ways. Medical device manufacturers have come into the spotlight and are especially vital.

When the effects of COVID-19 caused medical device shortages worldwide, many manufacturers rushed to pivot their production lines to meet demand. Although the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) temporarily loosened guidelines for some products like hand sanitizer, there is still a standard approval path medical device manufacturers follow in order to bring their products to market.

No one could argue steel is not strong and reliable. It is a go-to material for crafting a long-lasting and durable product. But when your product is made of such strong material, you are going to need even stronger tools to make the product itself, not to mention a strong grasp on your data and the insights your data can provide on when machines will need to be repaired or replaced.

Testing potential improvements can get complicated when you're working with multiple suppliers in different steps of a process, but conducting experiments in Minitab Statistical Software to determine significant inputs and then importing your model into a Minitab Workspace Monte Carlo Simulation can help shed some light on the results you'd see. Plus, it's faster and cheaper than running more tests on real parts.

Last month we published a blog post on 5 Tips for Handling Messy Data. Last week we presented a webinar, Tips & Tricks for Minitab. When I saw feedback on LinkedIn from “extremely informative and enjoyable” to noting the importance of “looking for opportunities for continuous learning,” I’m reassured you all want more!

Before starting a new project, it is important to have clearly defined goals and guidelines. Without these delineated steps, tasks and deadlines, projects will go in multiple directions instead of staying focused on the end result. Eventually, this will cost valuable time and money.

If you are looking for a way to visualize tasks and keep teams on track during a project, you should use a Gantt chart. Let's learn more...

Do you ever find yourself struggling to clean and manipulate data for analysis, sometimes spending a lot of time before you even bring the data into Minitab? Well, Minitab has everything you need to manage, clean and manipulate data. Sometimes you just need to know where the right tools are. In this post, I'll give you 5 quick tips for cleaning up your data in Minitab.

Any project requires clear management and leadership. Successful projects don’t just happen. Even with the best of teams, a clear project scope, objectives and roles need to be defined for a team to launch a successful project.

Whether you're new to project management or an old pro, project charters are tremendously helpful to organize projects and keep everyone on track.