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Saurabh has given the best answer to the question. Well done!

Q 622. BOSCARD is an alternative to Project Charter. Compare the two and highlight their advantages and disadvantages with an example. Note for website visitors - This platform hosts two weekly questions, one on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All previous questions can be found here: https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/. To participate in the current question, please visit the forum homepage at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/. The question will be open until Tuesday or Friday at 5 PM Indian Standard Time, depending on the launch day. Responses will not be visible until they are reviewed, and only non-plagiarised answers with less than 5-10% plagiarism will be approved. If you are unsure about plagiarism, please check your answer using a plagiarism checker tool such as https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/ before submitting. All correct answers shall be published, and the top-rated answer will be displayed first. The author will receive an honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term. Some people seem to be using AI platforms to find forum answers. This is a risky approach as AI responses are error prone as our questions are application-oriented (they are never straightforward). Have a look at this funny example - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/topic/39458-using-ai-to-respond-to-forum-questions/ We also use an AI content detector at https://crossplag.com/ai-content-detector/. Only answers with less than 15-20% AI-generated content will be approved.

Float is a time (Float time) is also referred as slack time that indicates particular tasks that can be delayed without delaying the project deadlines. In float time, scheduling of task becomes more flexible which can be used to offset many risks, if planned properly. Float time is typically presented with no. of days, weeks or month that gives project lead a flexibility on how long a task can wait before proceeding with the subsequent task. In order to make most out of float time, it is crucial for project lead to identify and strategically plan the activities. Identification of float time improves the productivity of projects as every Project is unique and may involve many complex sequences of tasks, some of these tasks are critical tasks, which means that project lead has to make sure that these tasks are completed in defined timeline. However, some of the tasks are non-critical tasks which can be done in less time & these tasks do not have any impact on subsequent tasks, the difference in Critical task time and non-critical task time is referred as float time. Below is simple Example of float in CPM: - Activity Activity Time Intermediate Predecessor Start 0 - A 4 Start B 6 A C 6 A D 5 B E 7 C, D End 0 E With reference to above diagram and calculation, it’s important to Identify critical and non-critical activities. Critical activities must be completed within specified timelines to prevent project delays while non-critical activities have some flexibility and by distinguishing between these two, project lead can focus on utilizing float time for non-critical activities without compromising project deadlines. Utilization of float time can be determined to understand the potential impact on the project, resources required for meeting timeline of other critical tasks, Engaging resources in Improvement project like process improvement, professional skill development or Innovation activities etc.

The factor that contributes to the professional credibility of any project lead the most is being able to complete the project on time. Critical Path Method (CTM) is the technique that assists project leads to calculate the timeline and completion date of projects with a high degree of accuracy. Achieving 100% accuracy in this calculation is usually very challenging since various factors , out of the project leads' control, may appear in the project ecosystem. Examples of factors that are usually out of the project leads' control are : (1) important project execution leads may quit their jobs in the middle of the timeline, (2) delay in talent acquisition , especially, when the skills required for the role are very niche (3) unforeseen budget constraints in the same or other departments may adversely impact the ongoing projects, (4) unforeseen cases of major process breach in the same or other departments may impact the project timeline adversely. These factors may induce delays in the project timeline to various degrees but if , while deciding the project schedule, the project leads include an appropriate degree of flexibility in the timeline then there is high chance of the projects completing on time. This is where 'Float' comes into picture. There are 2 kinds of floats : (1) Free Float (FF) : The maximum amount of time an activity can be delayed without impacting the early start time of any of its dependent activities. (2) Total Float (TF): The maximum amount of time an activity can be delayed without impacting the project's completion date. In order to conclude the float, project leads must first decide the early start (ES) and late start (LS) times for every activity. ES is the earliest possible time an activity may begin, while LS is the latest time an activity may begin without delaying the project. Free Float (FF) for any task , FF = LS - ES - Duration of the task Total Float (TF) for any task , TF = LFT - EFT - Duration of the task Following are the ways in which project leads may use float in project timeline optimization : (1) Find out non-critical tasks : if the float of a tasks turns out to be fairly high then it is not critical. In other words, for such tasks the project lead may include enough flexibility in deciding the timeline so that the focus is more on critical tasks. (2)Assigning resources to high priority tasks : project leads may assign high priority resources to more critical tasks that have less flexibility while lower priority resources to less critical tasks that have high degree of float. (3) Handling delays that are unpredictable : delays that are unpredictable can be diverted to tasks that have higher flexibility or float . This way the more critical tasks can be executed on time. This helps the project leads to make sure that the project can be delivered on time. (4) Adjust scope changes : float can help project leads to handle small scope adjustments well. The small delays caused by these scope adjustments can be absorbed by the less critical high flexibility activities. Thus, the small delays do not permeate into the final closure of the project , helping project leads to finish projects on time. (5) Negotiating delays with external stakeholders : Float assists project leads to position themselves better when negotiating delays in tasks to be performed by external entities like suppliers or service providers. This helps the leads to make sure that the closure of critical tasks with little to no flexibility are unaffected and so is the completion of the project. Let's look at an example to understand all these factors in a practical scenario : Project ABC has 5 activities : A (2 days ) , B (5 days) , C (6 days) , D (3 days) , E (2 days). Task A is dependent on task B Task B is dependent on task C Task C is dependent on task D Task D is dependent on task E. We calculate the float and find out that tasks A , B & C have no float while tasks D & E have it. This means that the project lead must make sure that tasks A, B & C must be completed with strict adherence to the decided timeline while any delay caused by any factor can be absorbed by tasks D & E for the project to be completed on time.

Float is the difference of Latest start time/date and Earliest start time/date in a critical path method. In other words , one first needs to determine earliest start time . Latest start time is achieved by subtracting duration from latest finish time (right to left) Critical path method is where earliest start time and latest finish time are the same. Now the float can help determine whether it is possible to defer a project by few days or not. If activity 1 has an earliest start time of 0 days and latest start time of 2 days, then essentially it tells one that the difference or float of 2 days can be given to the project.

In Critical Path Method (CPM), float is basically maximum buffer time allowed in the project's planned scheduled without impacting the outcome. Its also called slack meaning no activity time. There are two types of float, Free float which is the buffer or slack time between the scheduled actions and there is Total float which is the total buffer time allowed. Project lead can prioritise the critical tasks to ensure zero or minimum float so there is no impact out final outcome and timeline. This way less critical tasks which may have extra float time can be utilise if there are any delays in top priority tasks. This way if there is any slack in task completion, it can be adjusted.

Most of the respondents have answered it correctly. Pareto is used as a prioritization tool i.e. to focus on the critical areas which when worked upon have a potential to give a big benefit. Adil Khan has given the best answer to the question. Also read the answer from Aarti. She has highlighted areas where Pareto cannot be used.

Q 621. What is float in context of Critical Path Method (CPM)? How is it calculated and how can a project lead use it to optimize the project timelines? Illustrate your answers with an example. Note for website visitors - This platform hosts two weekly questions, one on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All previous questions can be found here: https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/. To participate in the current question, please visit the forum homepage at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/. The question will be open until Tuesday or Friday at 5 PM Indian Standard Time, depending on the launch day. Responses will not be visible until they are reviewed, and only non-plagiarised answers with less than 5-10% plagiarism will be approved. If you are unsure about plagiarism, please check your answer using a plagiarism checker tool such as https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/ before submitting. All correct answers shall be published, and the top-rated answer will be displayed first. The author will receive an honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term. Some people seem to be using AI platforms to find forum answers. This is a risky approach as AI responses are error prone as our questions are application-oriented (they are never straightforward). Have a look at this funny example - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/topic/39458-using-ai-to-respond-to-forum-questions/ We also use an AI content detector at https://crossplag.com/ai-content-detector/. Only answers with less than 15-20% AI-generated content will be approved.

In the 80/20 Pareto concept, only a small portion (20%) of causes are responsible, for a portion (80%) of effects. To gain an understanding of these causes we can use a tool called the Pareto chart. When working on improvement projects following this rule helps us prioritize issues that have the most impact on the outcome i.e looking for the critical Xs. Pareto charts prove useful when identifying issues from a list in an FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis). It's important to note that for effectiveness we should ensure that these issues don't overlap and that our sample size is adequately large. However, it's essential to acknowledge that the 80/20 rule is a theoretical concept. It may oversimplify business situations and does not apply universally in all contexts. There are instances where this principle may not be applicable as a tool; Projects with more than 20% of important issues Issues with varying levels of importance where not all issues carry the same weightage. Different outcomes are possible ie. effort and impact may differ across issues. Because of the limitation of any one tool, when it comes to improvement projects, it's recommended to assess the best approach to prioritization and not rely solely on the 80/20 rule.

Let us please get acquainted with the Pareto Chart first. Lean Six Sigma practitioners use this bar chart often to concentrate on the most important parameters that contribute to a problem. It assists us to arrange all the improvement projects we may be currently considering to execute in the decreasing order of their importance and as we execute these projects, it assists us to consistently monitor the progress we make. Let us now understand a little bit about the presentation of the chart. The bars in this chart are always arranged in decreasing order of magnitude such that the tallest bar highlights the parameters that have the highest priority. The total percentage of the effect is plotted as a line as well , enabling us to gain knowledge about the percentage of contribution of each effect to the total effect. Commonly, practitioners call the practical demonstration of this chart as Pareto Principle or Rule. It is called a principle or rule since it has been so widely observed in all spheres of life that is almost seen as a phenomenon. The phenomenon we are talking about is that approximately 80% of effects in a scenario are resultant from 20% of the causes. Hence, Pareto Principle is commonly also called the 80/20 Principle or Rule.

Pareto analysis is used to plot total % of contributing factors which impact all the outcomes. And 80/20 rule in Pareto basically a standard assumption that 20% of the contributing factors impact 80% of the outcomes. This is just a standard assumption though the rate may vary a little but in most cases it's very close. So 80/20 Pareto rule helps focus on top priorities to focus on to gain maximum outcomes.

According to the Pareto analysis, 80 percent of the problems are because of top 20 percent causes. Or in other words, 20 percent of the reasons cause 80 percent of the consequences. One must not be adamant to be saying that 80:20 principles means actually 80:20, that is not correct. Realistically 70:30 also gives or portrays a better picture if one needs to eliminate maximum causes/reasons. Whether 80:20 or 70:30 or 60:40, the onus lies in fixing what has been the source of problems and must be eliminated as quickly as possible. Now, 80:20 is just a decebt indication to tell one that major problems are caused by a few reasons , however it depends on business appetite whether they need tight specs or broad specs using 90:10, 80:20, 70:30 or any other combination.

The Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto stated that 80% of the wealth of Italy was owned by 20% of the population of Italy. IMHO, this became such a hit that the thought leaders cutting across many industries, started applying this in a business context, as a rule and proclaimed that 80% of the issues/problems in their ecosystem, are created by 20% of the causes. The idea was not to proclaim the exact numbers or percentage. But to portray the fact that the majority of the issues/problems are created by few of the major causes. That's how the 80/20 rule is applied in the business context. Conclusion: In reality, this is how the pattern looks in a typical data distribution Reference Link: Wikipedia.org (for ascertaining the actual fact)

The 80/20 rule or Pareto principle was named after velfredo perato . That principle states that 80% of problems are caused by 20% of Cause. That means for each and every problem 80% losses are due to 20% of reason. Ex-80% of the business are due to 20% of the client. This principle helps us to find the critical X for Out put. By using perato principle we can find the critical root causes to work on for improvement and improve the bottle necks. Example In a manufacturing industry the total breakdown is of 40h By doing the 80/20 analysis we came to see that only 2 reason that is 22% of total are having 80% of the breakdown time of total time.

In order to understand this question first we need to understand where this Pareto originated from. A Famous Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto stated the Pareto principal when he observed that top 20% of population of his country are holding approximately 80% to total wealth (Vital Few, Trivial many). Later this concept was widely used in Quality Control when they observed defects also follow similar pattern as stated by pareto principal. Few problems leading to several parts rejections. Commonly referred as 80/20 rule is just a representation. So cases can be 90/10 and some may follow 70/30. The concept its still the same the small amount of population is holding large amount of wealth. Example See below graph after seeing this you can decide, what should be your first priority to work on. Small amount of problems are causing larger rejections. Pareto chart will give us what should we concentrate more on to get the rejections under control.

The term 80/20 states that 80% of any failures happened are due to 20% of the causes in any process. For example, in service based industry the parts returned are analysed with major categories as damage, missing, functional failure, No failure found and it is easier to find the root cause which is contributing to the major failures,

Few of the answers to this question could not be approved as they either failed in AI generated content or in plagiarism. From the published answers, unfortunately none of them provide the correct answer, hence there is no winner to this question. R-sq or R-sq (adj) value of 1 is practically impossible to get as there will always be some variation in the observed data points while there will be no such variation in the predicted value (calculated from the equation).

Q 620. 80/20 is the governing rule behind Pareto Plot. However, practically you might never be able to get the exact numbers. Then what is the significance of the 80/20 rule? Note for website visitors - This platform hosts two weekly questions, one on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All previous questions can be found here: https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/. To participate in the current question, please visit the forum homepage at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/. The question will be open until Tuesday or Friday at 5 PM Indian Standard Time, depending on the launch day. Responses will not be visible until they are reviewed, and only non-plagiarised answers with less than 5-10% plagiarism will be approved. If you are unsure about plagiarism, please check your answer using a plagiarism checker tool such as https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/ before submitting. All correct answers shall be published, and the top-rated answer will be displayed first. The author will receive an honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term. Some people seem to be using AI platforms to find forum answers. This is a risky approach as AI responses are error prone as our questions are application-oriented (they are never straightforward). Have a look at this funny example - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/topic/39458-using-ai-to-respond-to-forum-questions/ We also use an AI content detector at https://crossplag.com/ai-content-detector/. Only answers with less than 15-20% AI-generated content will be approved.

R squared determines goodness of fit or in other words is a coefficient of determination. Here we need to understand if R2 is 100% meaning it holds a value of 1, then what is inferred. This can be explained with the help of below diagram Chart 1 would show us that how closely the values in orange variable Y are dependent on blue variable X meaning a high score of R2 On the other hand, Chart 2 would show us that how near or far the values in orange variable Y are dependent on blue variable X meaning a slightly lower score of R2 Let us observe in Chart 2 where X is 6 . That is the difference between X and Y meaning that the observed values are deviated from the regression line/data set. If it was same as a value of 6 for both and all other data points holding same value corresponding to X in Y, then it means there is no variation between X and Y and these are closely tied. In reality, it would be highly impossible that the two correspond to each other and equate an R2 value of 1. Examples of such an industry would obviously not be from pathological labs but can be where data sets are whole numbers. For example X hit Z because Y asked to do it and so on. Typically high R2 would not denote a very good sign for anything as more is relied upon value of p.

How is productivity calculated for complaints data.. is it on logins or resolved cases?

Q 619. R-squared (R-sq) is the most sought after number after doing Regression. While potentially R-sq can range from 0% to 100%, could there be a situation where it is 100%? Provide examples to support your answer. Note for website visitors - This platform hosts two weekly questions, one on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All previous questions can be found here: https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/. To participate in the current question, please visit the forum homepage at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/. The question will be open until Tuesday or Friday at 5 PM Indian Standard Time, depending on the launch day. Responses will not be visible until they are reviewed, and only non-plagiarised answers with less than 5-10% plagiarism will be approved. If you are unsure about plagiarism, please check your answer using a plagiarism checker tool such as https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/ before submitting. All correct answers shall be published, and the top-rated answer will be displayed first. The author will receive an honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term. Some people seem to be using AI platforms to find forum answers. This is a risky approach as AI responses are error prone as our questions are application-oriented (they are never straightforward). Have a look at this funny example - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/topic/39458-using-ai-to-respond-to-forum-questions/ We also use an AI content detector at https://crossplag.com/ai-content-detector/. Only answers with less than 15-20% AI-generated content will be approved.

This was a tricky one. And as expected, some of you missed the trick. Process improvements are needed when specification limits get revised, however the question was opposite. Do process improvements result in a change in specification limits? Generally speaking, process improvements result in a change in the control limits, however there are instances where process improvements also result in a change in the specification limits. This is particularly true when the specification limits are decided by the business, R&D or market. And then there are also instances where regulators and customers play the catch up game The best answer to this question is provided by R Rajesh. Answers from Adil Khan, Aarti T, Keerthi Vasan are also a must read.

Lets take the case of an online vendor exploring ways to improve his service level. Presently, the average duration for is 48 hours and the business looks to enhance customer satisfaction by reducing this delivery time. The vendor invests in new technologies and enhancements in logistics and the updated procedure empowers the business to process and dispatch orders within 24 hours, effectively halving the processing time. As a result of this, the business decides to revise the specification limit aligning them with the recent standard. This is a typical example of how a retailer's aim to improve the service level leads to revision of specification limits.

Process improvements can lead to changes in specification limits, but this is not an absolute set rule. In some cases, process improvement may be initiated to achieve better results or adapt to changing requirements, especially to extend or change specification limits. Here are some cases where process improvements can lead to changes in specification limits: Example: If we are running any process with the As- is methodology and we find that the the data points during inspection shows that the process are lying beyond the limits. So the plant team decides to improve the running process by means of improving the machine condition and also with some addition of Low cost automation, thereafter taking data shows that The process are now with better tolerances and best quality, resulting in revised specification limits to reflect improved performance.