Six Sigma

• Introduction to key statistical methods for Quality Improvement using MINITAB.
• Minimal prior knowledge of statistical methods and no prior knowledge of MINITAB assumed.
• Easy-to-follow guidance for Six Sigma Green and Black Belts and others involved in Quality Improvement.
• Provides informative follow-up exercises, from a wide variety of scenarios, on each topic.
• Employs random data generation in MINITAB to aid understanding of key statistical concepts.
• Supported by a Website featuring data sets for download and notes and answers for the follow-up exercises.
• Developed from the author’s wealth of experience gained from many years working both in education and consultancy.

This book will be of great value to Six Sigma practitioners, as well as those employing other strategies for Quality Improvement. Furthermore, students of Quality Improvement and anyone with an interest in data analysis and statistical methods and their implementation via MINITAB software will find this book invaluable.

Quality Improvement should be something everyone strives to achieve in the workplace, whether in manufacturing, services or healthcare. There are numerous strategies for Quality Improvement, but none to rival Six Sigma, both in terms of growing popularity, and the emphasis that it places on the use of statistical methods. Six Sigma Quality Improvement with MINITAB explains the most important statistical methods employed in Six Sigma and demonstrates their implementation via the very popular, and user-friendly, statistical software package MINITAB (Release 14).

• Introduction to key statistical methods for Quality Improvement using MINITAB.

• Minimal prior knowledge of statistical methods and no prior knowledge of MINITAB assumed.

• Easy-to-follow guidance for Six Sigma Green and Black Belts and others involved in Quality Improvement.

• Provides informative follow-up exercises, from a wide variety of scenarios, on each topic.

• Employs random data generation in MINITAB to aid understanding of key statistical concepts.

• Supported by a Website featuring data sets for download and notes and answers for the follow-up exercises.

• Developed from the author’s wealth of experience gained from many years working both in education and consultancy.

This book will be of great value to Six Sigma practitioners, as well as those employing other strategies for Quality Improvement. Furthermore, students of Quality Improvement and anyone with an interest in data analysis and statistical methods and their implementation via MINITAB software will find this book invaluable.

Robin Henderson studied Mathematics in Professor Alexander Aitken’s department at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Aitken developed the matrix formulation of linear regression models that is employed in statistical software packages such as MINITAB1. Following graduation, the author trained as a secondary school teacher and began his career in education at Boroughmuir School, Edinburgh.

Since 2001, Robin has been operating as a sole consultant, trading as Halcro Consultancy, Loanhead, providing training and consultancy in statistics for quality improvement and Six Sigma. He has assisted Colin Barr Associates with the training of three groups of Six Sigma Black Belts, some participants being from nonmanufacturing organizations. With the Scottish Advanced Manufacturing Centre he has provided training and consultancy in statistical methods for quality improvement to two major companies.

He is also currently employed as Coordinator at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for the Scottish National Stroke Audit. On this project he has introduced the use of Shewhart control charts for monitoring aspects of the process of stroke care. Membership of the Committee of the Quality Improvement Section of the Royal Statistical Society, of which he is a Fellow, is a role that the author finds stimulating and enjoyable. He is also a member of ENBIS, the European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics.