Sam Browne
Hi Dr Tony, I read some of your articles, recently I just completed Black Belt Certification, but your articles were eye opening.
I had asked my mentor why there is shift of 1.5 sigma between Sigma Level Short term and Long term, but they were unable to answer.
I am interested in getting more understanding on this, can you let me know about your papers...would like to read that
Dr Tony BurnsThanks for the chuckle Sam. My 2006 Quality Digest paper revealed Mikel Harry's first attempt at the 1.5 sigma farce. He based it on a stack of discs! Laughable! Sick Sigma
This paper also describes the origin of "short term" and "long term". "Long term" is Harry's 50 samples ... typically a day!
My papers here describe Harry's even more laughable subsequent attempts to prop up his nonsense:
Blame Mr Bill Smith
Six Sigma Psychology - part 2
Even more incredibly, Harry admitted the "pillar" of his Six Sigma is a farce in his 'Shifty Business' article: "... opponents of the shift factor are absolutely correct."
The scam really got rolling with Jack Welch CEO of GE. Jack said in his book "Straight from the Gut" that Harry ran around like a madman and no one in the room had any clue what he was talking about. Jack acted 'straight from the gut' and handed over $1.6B to Harry anyway. No due diligence. It cost GE direct losses of $23B. Others followed like lambs to the slaughter.
Every aspect of Six Sigma is worthless.
Six Sigma scammers pad courses with enumerative methods, that are irrelevant to quality improvement: Predictable Dr Wheeler also has a follow on paper in Quality Digest.
EVERY Six Sigma author (I have checked all the popular ones) makes a mess of control charts, at the core of quality: Control Charts
Where you should be headed ... the work of Professor Deming.
Six Sigma Lessons from Deming - part 1
Six Sigma Lessons from Deming - part 2
Hope I haven't upset you ?
Sam BrowneDr Tony Burns
It's funny you know, I discovered the creator of Six Sigma's degree was in secondary school education. I just couldn't believe it myself. He graduated from Mary Lou Teachers College. Harry faked his profile to make it look like a degree in psychology. The SS gang did their best to hide the fact. I actually had the chance to confront Harry with it. No wonder SS courses look like stats for Psychology 101 rather than anything to do with quality!
Sam BrowneLOL
Dr Tony BurnsI tell you Sam, there's a growing bunch of us old hand quality enthusiasts, Dr Wheeler, Davis Balestracci, Allen Scott, Scott Hindle, me, et al, who are just so frustrated at seeing quality going down the drain, with so much nonsense. Managers always seem to be looking for 'the magic pudding' in the next fad, rather than focusing on fundamentals. There is so much to learn about REAL quality.
I just noticed your mention of Lean on your profile. When did you ever hear mention of the effect of variation on a supposedly balanced process? I've been chatting with Don Wheeler about this, over the past few days.
Sam BrowneAs I have worked a lot on shop floor, I think problem people are not having right metrics That's where we start to rely on SS as a tool to monitor process
Dr Tony BurnsNo no no ... Six Sigma is utter worthless as a tool to monitor processes. Defects have nothing to do with quality. Defects relate to the specification.
I've spent time working on the shop floor too. What really irks me is the elitist attitude in Six Sigma. People turn their backs on the real experts - the workers. Break Down the Barriers
Sam BrowneIf you ask I believe being Lean is a way of life. According to me Lean is simplifying operations and give more visibility to management about process, when I say process, I mean only input, output, scrap, wastes that's all.
To be very honest at Shop floor, sadly SS is considered as tool.
Do you have any metrics? Sustainable metrics?
Dr Tony BurnsQuality means "On target with minimum variance". The tool is the control chart ... when used correctly ...
Sam BrowneWhat about problem solving? Apart from control charts, 7QC,5W. Apart from process audits, tool audits
Dr Tony BurnsAnother chuckle. When it comes to problem solving the most powerful and least used tool is to THINK. These days people want it all in a pop out package. There's no short cuts. Tools can help but they are just an aid. One member of our quality group describes a project she worked on as an SS member where they spent 13 months in the DEFINE phase. Don Wheeler talks about a bunch of BBs he met who had learned 47 SS tools ... and had no clue what to do with any of them.
Keep it simple ... and THINK. If people did think, Six Sigma wouldn't exist.
Professor Ishikawa was spot on when he said 'the 7 tools of quality, IF USED WELL, will solve 95% of problems in the workplace'.
Sam BrowneExactly
Dr Tony BurnsI don't know what you've just spent on your SS course, but you might like have a look at our Q-Skills3D. It teaches employees all they need to know to improve quality in the workplace, for a tiny fraction of what I'm sure you have spent. You will find it lots of fun. Go to the section on histograms and look for the ship game. It is a game based on a true story in process improvement. Read carefully what your World Class Quality score means. Try to guess what the real life quality improvement was. Then go to the control charts section and play the game again. That should give you a good feel of what quality really means.
We believe the future of Quality training is INTERACTIVE 3D, using customized games, simulations and interactive exercises, to engage and motivate employees.
Q-Skills3D has 8 HOURS training in Quality and Lean. Suits any employee in any industry. Over 50 interactive 3D modules. It runs on PC, as well as Android and Apple phones.
Q-Skills is the world's leading Quality training, with 500,000 users across hundreds of companies such as Microsoft, Toyota, GE.
Sam BrowneWill try that.
I got it
Dr Tony BurnsAnyway Sam, I do hope you enjoy Q-Skills3D. I'd like to see it help bring the world back to quality. I'm very passionate about quality ... if you hadn't noticed ...
Sam BrowneAbsolutely. I do.
Thank you Dr Tony.
[Sam Browne is a nom de plume. It is a black belt worn by the SS and other military]
by Dr Tony Burns BE (Hon 1) PhD (Chem Eng)