Project Management

In 1989, Motorola began pursuing a five-year goal to reach a "six sigma" level of quality. This statistical measure meant the company's processes could have no more than 3.4 defects per million...

The United States Patent and Trademark Office website defines a trademark as "a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and...

Reengineering an organization can be a daunting task. Process mapping is a technique that allows members of an organization to outline visual strategies with the goal of improving the overall...

Business process mapping is a method used to create comprehensive, visual outlines of any process that consumes specific inputs to create specific outputs. Process mapping methods are designed to...

Lean Six Sigma is a methodology used to improve business processes by eliminating unnecessary steps and improving processes for better performance. The approach used is the five-phase D.M.A.I.C....

A flow chart is a map of how a project progresses from point A to point Z. There are several types of flow charts used in business: charts to show the involvement of people or departments in a...

Flowcharts are diagrams or maps showing how a process works. There are several different shapes and symbols used in flowcharting, some that are specific to the process or to the company creating...

Building an effective process team is as complicated as the process itself. The task involves attention to detail and project management knowledge. Your corporate process team should be lead by an...

Contracts are legally binding agreements between two or more parties. Contracts are pervasive and used in many aspects of life such as protecting property. They form the cornerstone of commerce in...

Six Sigma tools are used to find and eliminate process variation. The Failure Modes Effects Analysis (FMEA) is used to find and prioritize areas of the process needing improvement and to measure...

Flow charts allow people to visualize a process by mapping out how different steps in the process fit together. They provide a common language for all functional groups in the project planning...

Project management is an important part of a company's operations. Very few companies ever begin a new product line or service without carefully reviewing and estimating the process needed to...

SCAMPER is an effective brainstorming tool used most commonly by groups in process and product improvement projects. It is beneficial both when a group is having trouble coming up with new ideas...

Flowcharts are a pictorial or graphical representation of a process. Flowcharts are used in many industries including entertainment, engineering, physical sciences and computer programming. The...

Process Mapping involves defining what activities are performed, who is responsible, what standards should be enforced and how success is measured. By creating a picture of how things work,...

A process defines what activities are performed, who is responsible, what standards should be enforced and how success is measured. By creating a picture of how things work, improvements can be...

Flow charts are a way for creators to visually imagine processes, both to think through procedures, clarifying steps and finding problem areas, and tors to present and share information about a...

If you're a project manager, developing a project management plan probably takes up a great deal of your time. Once it's developed, regular updates and revisions can also make the project...

Advanced Product Quality Planning, or APQP, was developed by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) and Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. It defines how to develop a new product from...

If you are preparing to embark on a new company building project and are trying to decide which Boston process engineering firm is the right choice for you, the following is a list of crucial...

The purpose of the Federal Drug Administration's process validation procedures, according to the FDA, is to establish "documented evidence which provides a high degree of assurance that a specific...

Were you ever in the need to create a process flow diagram? One good method is to use the swim lane or deployment chart. This type of chart is good when you need to emphasize the "who"...

To successfully build anything, planning, resources and execution are required. The more complex the project, the more issues there are in every stage. A project of any size or complexity starts...

Bluing steel is a process that protects steel from rust. There are two methods for bluing, hot and cold. In the hot process, the steel is saturated in boiling water mixed with potassium nitrate...

The Lean Manufacturing methodology which evolved from the Toyota Production System includes Value Stream Mapping (VSM) as one of its core techniques for improving efficiency and streamlining...

Prototype development is a stage in the new product development process. A new product originates as an idea. The idea is a descriptive statement that can be written or only verbalized. The idea...

"Kanban" is an inventory scheduling system originally developed by the Japanese but now used worldwide. The main objective of kanban is to reduce inventory costs. This is achieved by moving...

As a visual depiction of an organization's work flow, process maps delineate the steps within the work flow. By analyzing the detailed flow, it is possible to identify areas that need...

Process maps are used in business and manufacturing as a visual depiction of the steps needed to create a product. Although process maps are generally used in the production of tangible goods,...

You can use this method to create a simple step-by-step description of how to do something or use it to develop either a high level process flow chart or a more detailed work flow. This method...

More than a policy that's written and then promptly forgotten, implementation of an effective quality management system requires management to create a culture of pride, patience and tolerance....

In the business world, profitability of a company is commonly used to judge its success. The balanced scorecard approach follows the belief financial information alone is an indicator of past...

The Six Sigma approach is a philosophy, based on metrics and statistics, that calculates variations (from desired results) in processes and identifies opportunities for reducing variations in...

Process mapping is a procedure whereby the steps in a process are clarified in writing, using a flow chart. Information about the process is gathered by a business or project leader, compiled into...

A business process management project charter, more commonly known as a project charter, is used both in project management and Six Sigma's quality program. The steps are essentially the same with...

Six Sigma is a methodology for improving quality by reducing process defects. It was first introduced in the manufacturing arena as a twist on other quality methodologies. In the last couple...

The strategic management process is important to set up the company's mission, goals and procedures. Typically created by the owner or top management in a company, the strategic management plan...

Six Sigma is a process improvement methodology that focuses on reducing defects and increasing quality, as defined by customers. The most common technique in Six Sigma is DMAIC, which is a...

Life is a journey. You want to get from A to B. You often have to tackle certain milestones along the way in order to continue. Some actions, however, can be accomplished regardless of where you...

Most processes can be displayed visually using a process flow chart. The concept of the flow chart was once tied to the realm of software development, where it was necessary to analyze the...

Flowcharting is the easiest way to illustrate a process. Creating one can be done either by hand or with the assistance of a computer program designed to create flowcharts. Sometimes it is easier...

Flowcharting is a great way to show a process. It gives your audience a visual of how steps and decisions go through a process. Here are some tips to build a basic flowchart.

A flowchart is a great tool to visually depict a process or algorithm. Because of this, flowcharts have been used extensively in the field of software development. More recently, flowcharts have...

Force Field Analysis and Process Mapping are two key tools used for Six Sigma DMAIC projects and in other project management applications. They can be used in tandem to understand a process,...

There are many different approaches to process mapping, and choosing the right one to apply can seem daunting. This article walks you through some of the more commonly used types of process maps...

With so many shapes and symbols to choose from, making a process map can be a daunting experience. Don't be discouraged. You can map any process using just a few key symbols. This not only makes...

A SIPOC diagram is a type of process map typically used in Lean Six Sigma projects to identify the primary elements of a process. It provides a macro view that brings together Suppliers, Inputs,...

Simply stated, Six Sigma is the elimination of defects and the elimination of the opportunity for defects. This in essence can be referred to as variation or process variation. All processes...

Creating a quick, cross functional flow chart will help you as you are figuring out a process. It helps keep things in order as you start looking at how something is done.

The 360 degree approach to assessing performance has become one of the most widely used tools in business today. It functions as the name indicates, developing a 360 degree view of the subject...