Guide to Six Sigma and Process Improvement for Practitioners and Students, A

Description

Thousands of companies have discovered the value of Six Sigma in streamlining operations, cutting costs, improving quality, and increasing profitability. A Guide to Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement for Practitioners and Students, Second Edition gives green belts, black belts, champions, and students a complete executive framework for understanding quality and implementing Lean Six Sigma.

Building on the widely praised first edition, top Six Sigma experts Howard Gitlow and Richard Melnyck add today’s most recent and important lean and process control system applications. Step by step, they systematically walk you through the five-step DMAIC implementation process, with detailed examples and many real-world case studies. You’ll find practical coverage of Six Sigma statistics and management techniques, and realistic solutions for many common implementation obstacles. Coverage includes: 

• A realistic overview of Six Sigma Management
• Six Sigma roles, responsibilities, and terminology
• Managing Six Sigma with Dashboards and Control Charts
• Mastering each DMAIC phase: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
• Understanding foundational Six Sigma statistics: probability, probability distributions, sampling distributions, and interval estimation
• Testing hypotheses and designing experiments
• Pursuing Six Sigma Champion or Green Belt Certification, and more

Master modern Six Sigma implementation with the most complete, up-to-date guide for Green Belts, Black Belts, Champions and students! Now fully updated with the latest lean and process control applications, A Guide to Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement for Practitioners and Students, Second Edition gives you a complete executive framework for understanding quality and implementing Lean Six Sigma. Whether you’re a green belt, black belt, champion, or student, Howard Gitlow and Richard Melnyck cover all you need to know. Step by step, they systematically walk you through the five-step DMAIC implementation process, with detailed examples and many real-world case studies. You’ll find practical coverage of Six Sigma statistics and management techniques, from dashboards and control charts to hypothesis testing and experiment design. Drawing on their extensive experience consulting on Six Sigma and leading major Lean and quality initiatives, Gitlow and Melnyck offer up-to-date coverage of:

• What Six Sigma can do, and how to manage it effectively
• Six Sigma roles, responsibilities, and terminology
• Running Six Sigma programs with Dashboards and Control Charts
• Mastering each DMAIC phase: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
• Understanding foundational Six Sigma statistics: probability, probability distributions, sampling distributions, and interval estimation
• Pursuing Six Sigma Champion or Green Belt Certification, and more

This guide will be an invaluable resource for everyone who is currently involved in Six Sigma implementation, or plans to be. It’s ideal for students in quality programs; “Green Belts” who project manage Six Sigma implementations, “Black Belts” who lead Six Sigma teams; “Champions” who promote and coordinate Six Sigma at the executive level; and anyone seeking Six Sigma certification.

• Section I: Building a Foundation of Process Improvement Fundamentals
• Chapter 1: You Don’t Have to Suffer from the Sunday Night Blues!     
• Chapter 2: Process and Quality Fundamentals    
• Chapter 3: Defining and Documenting a Process    
• Section II: Creating Your Toolbox for Process Improvement
• Chapter 4: Understanding Data: Tools and Methods    
• Chapter 5: Understanding Variation: Tools and Methods  
• Chapter 6: Non-Quantitative Techniques: Tools and Methods  
• Chapter 7: Overview of Process Improvement Methodologies 
• Chapter 8: Project Identification and Prioritization: Building a Project Pipeline
• Section III: Putting It All Together–Six Sigma Projects
• Chapter 9: Overview of Six Sigma Management 
• Chapter 10: DMAIC Model: “D” Is for Define  
• Chapter 11: DMAIC Model: “M” Is for Measure   
• Chapter 12: DMAIC Model: “A” Is for Analyze    
• Chapter 13: DMAIC Model: “I” Is for Improve    
• Chapter 14: DMAIC Model: “C” Is for Control 
• Chapter 15: Maintaining Improvements in Processes, Products-Services, Policies, and Management Style  
• Section IV: The Culture Required for Six Sigma Management
• Chapter 16: W. Edwards Deming’s Theory of Management: A Model for Cultural Transformation of an Organization 
• Index    

Today’s Most Practical Six Sigma and Process Improvement Implementation Guide–Extensively Updated with New Applications and Easier Techniques

• Quickly gain value from Six Sigma and process improvement without deep statistical expertise
• Build all the knowledge you need to run your own projects
• Covers principles, tools, frameworks, management, and culture change
• For all practitioners and students, regardless of experience
• Extensive new healthcare examples make this an ideal guide for those involved in healthcare delivery

Now there’s a gentler, more approachable, less mathematical “how-to” guide to process improvement and Six Sigma project execution.

Extensively updated and reorganized for faster mastery, this edition will help you build your skills step-by-step and run your own project from start to finish. Designed for practitioners in any industry, this edition also adds extensive healthcare examples, making it easier for managers and physicians to understand tools that will assist them in moving to pay-for-performance delivery models.

World-class Six Sigma experts Howard Gitlow, Richard Melnyck, and David Levine introduce nine principles that are central to any successful process initiative. Next, they help you build a complete toolbox for process improvement, stressing non-quantitative approaches that don’t require a strong statistical background. Building on this foundation, you’ll integrate these individual tools and methods into a complete DMAIC blueprint for success.

Drawing on decades of experience, the authors illuminate the management styles and cultural characteristics associated with sustaining process improvement. You’ll even find practice certification questions to help you earn certification and build your career.

This guide brings together all the practical knowledge you need to gain value from Six Sigma fast and run entire process improvement projects on your own. Organized to build your expertise rapidly without burying you in complex statistics, it introduces core skills through up-to-date, real-world application examples.

Leading Six Sigma experts Howard Gitlow, Richard Melnyck, and David Levine guide you through all five stages of a process improvement initiative: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. You’ll find expert guidance on maintaining and building on the process improvements you’ve made, changing culture around Six Sigma, and earning certification as a Champion or Green Belt, if available in your organization.

Ideal for practitioners and students in any industry, this second edition adds especially detailed healthcare examples, making it an indispensable guide for physicians, administrators, and others involved in healthcare delivery.

Whatever your role in Six Sigma or process improvement, this hands-on guide will make you far more effective–every step of the way.

Master nine core principles of process improvement

Begin your Six Sigma project with key success factors in place

Learn implementation best practices from real-world examples

See how real practitioners execute on Six Sigma and the five phases of the DMAIC methodology

Build your own career in process improvement

Practice for your own Champion or Green Belt certification

The complete Six Sigma implementation guide for Green Belts, Black Belts, Champions and students — now fully updated with the latest lean and process control applications 

• Authored by two of the world’s most respected Six Sigma experts and instructors, the University of Miami’s Howard S. Gitlow and Richard Melnyck
• Covers DMAIC from start to finish, with detailed and up-to-date case studies for both manufacturing and services
• Offers practical, example-based guidance for understanding and managing Six Sigma statistics

Dr. Howard S. Gitlow is Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Quality, Director of the Master of Science degree in Management Science, and a Professor of Management Science, School of Business Administration, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. He was a visiting professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University from 2007 through 2013, and a visiting professor at the Science University of Tokyo in 1990 where he studied with Dr. Noriaki Kano. He received his PhD in Statistics (1974), MBA (1972), and BS in Statistics (1969) from New York University. His areas of specialization are Six Sigma Management, Dr. Deming’s theory of management, Japanese Total Quality Control, and statistical quality control.

Dr. Gitlow is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a fellow of the American Society for Quality, and a member of the American Statistical Association. He has consulted on quality, productivity, and related matters with many organizations, including several Fortune 500 companies.

Dr. Gitlow has authored or coauthored 16 books, including America’s Research Universities: The Challenges Ahead, University Press of America (2011); A Guide to Lean Six Sigma, CRC Press (2009); Design for Six Sigma for Green Belts and Champions, Prentice-Hall, (2006); Six Sigma for Green Belts and Champions, Prentice-Hall, (2004); Quality Management: Tools and Methods for Improvement, 3rd edition, Richard. D. Irwin (2004); Quality Management Systems, CRC Press (2000), Total Quality Management in Action, Prentice-Hall, (1994); The Deming Guide to Quality and Competitive Position, Prentice-Hall (1987); Planning for Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position, Dow Jones-Irwin (1990); and Stat City: Understanding Statistics Through Realistic Applications, 2nd edition, Richard D. Irwin (1987). He has published more than 60 academic articles in the areas of quality, statistics, management, and marketing.

While at the University of Miami, Dr. Gitlow has received awards for outstanding teaching, outstanding writing, and outstanding published research articles.

Richard J. Melnyck is Assistant Vice President for Medical Affairs and Executive Director of Process Improvement at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Health System. He is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, the University of Miami faculty advisor for the American Society for Quality, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine faculty advisor for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society. Melnyck has taught process improvement in both the School of Business and the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. He has consulted on quality, productivity, and related matters with many organizations. He received his MS in Management Science (2008), MBA (2002), and MS in Computer Information Systems (2002) from the University of Miami.

David M. Levine is Professor Emeritus of Statistics and Computer Information Systems at Baruch College (City University of New York). He received B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees in Statistics from City College of New York and a PhD from New York University in industrial engineering and operations research. He is nationally recognized as a leading innovator in statistics education and is the coauthor of 14 books, including such bestselling statistics textbooks as Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel, Basic Business Statistics: Concepts and Applications, Business Statistics: A First Course, and Applied Statistics for Engineers and Scientists Using Microsoft Excel and Minitab. He also is the coauthor of Even You Can Learn Statistics & Analytics: A Guide for Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid of Statistics, currently in its third edition, and Design for Six Sigma for Green Belts and

The complete Six Sigma implementation guide for Green Belts, Black Belts, Champions and students — now fully updated with the latest lean and process control applications 

• Authored by two of the world’s most respected Six Sigma experts and instructors, the University of Miami’s Howard S. Gitlow and Richard Melnyck
• Covers DMAIC from start to finish, with detailed and up-to-date case studies for both manufacturing and services
• Offers practical, example-based guidance for understanding and managing Six Sigma statistics

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