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If one is interested in the number of calls per period and treat it as random variable it is of discrete nature, Always need to have per period per person defined in the data. Lets say if the number of calls per period exceeds 10, and starts falling under normal distribution, then it will start resembling continuous data. Each time proper analysis need to be made to bucket data under continuous or discrete data.

These are terms extensively used in ISO standards and QMS. ISO 9000:2005 Sec 3.6 defines the above terms as follows: Correction - Is the action to eliminate detected nonconformity Corrective Action - Action to eliminate the cause of the detected non conformity Preventive Action - Action to eliminate the cause of the potential non conformity To explain these further in depth: Correction: When a problem or defect occurs we need to consider several aspects determine the magnitude of the problem determine how to prevent it from getting bigger How to address the current situation Example: When contamination of bacterial infection is detected in the tissue culture plates of Banana plantlet cultures, the percent infestation need to be counted and disinfection measure need to be immediately taken up to curtail spread of infection. One can call Correction as damage control. Although this correction takes steps to correct the problem but it does no bearing on the cause of the problem. So the problem corrected can reappear in the future. Corrective Action: Now determine if the importance of the situation requires further action. Was it a big deal? What's the chance it will happen again? Estimate of any future threat The causes of the problem need to looked into to prevent the recurrence if it was a big deal. in the above example one need to check for the causes of the contamination of tissue culture plates, check for the air flow in the culture room, personnel handling the culture platelets, overall environment in the lab. Analyse all the possible causes that caused contamination and avoid it occurring in future. Preventive action: First you need to assess the risk and mitigate it based on the severity. Again in the case of above example one need build a plan to check the air quality of lab in which tissue culture work is happening, equipment maintenance and clean room procedures that need to be followed to prevent the contamination from reoccurring again. The example where in both Corrective and Preventive actions are undesirable and Correction is the only desirable action is lets consider a customer had ordered for 500 pieces of white Arrow shirts online through an e portal and the customer was delivered with only 450 pieces of shirts. In this case immediate correction of supplying remaining 50 shirts to the customer need to be organized by the e portal company on a urgent basis.

I don't think so the check sheets will be completely removed from QC topic of education as these check sheets can still serve as examples for mistake proofing while working with low skilled workers at the shop floor. Check sheets are used while collecting discrete data and when actual dimensions are not being recorded and instead to know whether the measurement meets the criteria or not is recorded. In case of checking certain features of a product, a check sheet could be used to record whether the dimensions are within or beyond limits by recording ok/not ok. As mentioned earlier check sheets are designed to allow workers with little or no data collection experience to gather data as a regular part of their jobs with little effort and minimal training. Check sheets could reveal causes, patterns and trends even without further analysis of the data, as they are specific to each process, they could take any shape, size and format that facilitates data collection. The check sheets help in calculating the sigma level at the end of operations in a dynamic way seamlessly by the process owner. Well designed check sheets can be more effectively used during subsequent analysis with tools such as Pareto charts, histograms and run charts.

Kaizen Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement using small incremental changes. It translates as change for the better. Kai means change, Zen means for the better. Kaizen is an approach for solving problems and forms the basis of incremental continual improvement in organizations. A problem is a difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike, every day and everywhere, providing structure to process improvement. Kaizen is about continuously improving: everyday, everyone and everywhere. Many small improvements implemented with Kaizen produce faster results with less risk. Kaikaku Lean also recognizes that there are moments where more radical, step change is necessary. This type of change is known as Kaikaku. This refers to a revolutionary change to the existing situation. Following the software example, Kaikaku would be the upgrade of an application currently in use from a release level to a new release level. Software providers will often substantially change both the technical basis of the software and its functionality. For both IT and the user community, this means a large step change. Kakushin A third type of improvement known within Lean is Kakushin. The idea here is that some change will form a complete departure from the current situation. It is about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal. Again, in our software example, this may mean replacing a complete application with a different application that supports the process in a completely different way, for example a web-based application that fully automates the registration of orders, the submission of invoices and the generation of a picking order at order fulfilment. This kind of change will entail the disappearance of many roles and functions within a business. Both from technological and business process perspectives, this example represents a complete departure from the current way of working. Another example of Kakushin is where the organization standardizes a process and supporting software across the entire organization where previously various groups had different processes and applications to achieve similar goals. Kaizen is an incremental improvement while Kaikaku and Kakushin are radical improvement tools used in Lean management. They would complement each other by helping to use principles of each other in a already adopted Lean tool based on the business requirement, lets say after kaikaku is adopted for a process change Kaizen principles can be applied further to bring in incremental changes within Kaikaku changes that are already brought about. The organization would be under loss if any of these Lean tools are not utilized as holistically the above tools would improve the organization to perform better when compared to its baseline performance dashboards.

Kaizen Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement using small incremental changes. It translates as change for the better. Kai means change, Zen means for the better. Kaizen is an approach for solving problems and forms the basis of incremental continual improvement in organizations. A problem is a difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike, every day and everywhere, providing structure to process improvement. Kaizen is about continuously improving: everyday, everyone and everywhere. Many small improvements implemented with Kaizen produce faster results with less risk. Kaikaku Lean also recognizes that there are moments where more radical, step change is necessary. This type of change is known as Kaikaku. This refers to a revolutionary change to the existing situation. Following the software example, Kaikaku would be the upgrade of an application currently in use from a release level to a new release level. Software providers will often substantially change both the technical basis of the software and its functionality. For both IT and the user community, this means a large step change. Kakushin A third type of improvement known within Lean is Kakushin. The idea here is that some change will form a complete departure from the current situation. It is about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal. Again, in our software example, this may mean replacing a complete application with a different application that supports the process in a completely different way, for example a web-based application that fully automates the registration of orders, the submission of invoices and the generation of a picking order at order fulfilment. This kind of change will entail the disappearance of many roles and functions within a business. Both from technological and business process perspectives, this example represents a complete departure from the current way of working. Another example of Kakushin is where the organization standardizes a process and supporting software across the entire organization where previously various groups had different processes and applications to achieve similar goals. Kaizen is an incremental improvement while Kaikaku and Kakushin are radical improvement tools used in Lean management. They would complement each other by helping to use principles of each other in a already adopted Lean tool based on the business requirement, lets say after kaikaku is adopted for a process change Kaizen principles can be applied further to bring in incremental changes within Kaikaku changes that are already brought about. The organization would be under loss if any of these Lean tools are not utilized as holistically the above tools would improve the organization to perform better when compared to its baseline performance dashboards.

In my opinion, if we have to get better at something we need to measure it unless we are dealing with qualitative information or data. Unless we know how our sales results were last quarter we can't improve our sales in the following quarter. Let's discuss: "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." When you think about this quote, it should immediately become apparent how true it is. Because, if you can't measure something, and know the results, you can't possibly get better at it. For example, it's nearly impossible to lose weight without stepping on a scale once in a while to measure your results - if you don't, you have no idea if you are succeeding or not. Or it's like trying to improve your golf game, but never keeping score, so you don't know if you're actually getting better or not. Makes sense, right? Now, in business, Drucker's quote is particularly true. If you can't measure every part of your business, you can't manage or grow it. For example: Do you know the number of new website visitors you received in the last 30 days? And do you know what percentage of them turned into new paying customers? And do you know how the level of satisfaction among your customers has fluctuated over time? And do you know the precise average lifetime value of your customers? There are nearly 50 questions such as these that measure each aspect of your business. And if you don't know the answers, if you can't measure them, then you can't possibly manage or improve them. And that's why your sales are too low, profits are too low, employee performance isn't high enough, and you need to work too hard and can't take enough time off. Now about this statement "It is wrong to suppose that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. The most important numbers are unknown and unknowable" - Dr. W. Edward Deming. When Dr. Deming quoted this his intentions were not to exclude data from the measurement as Dr. Deming himself used to include a lot of data in his work, but rather to provide opportunities for the researcher to include extensive data so that he is not arriving at wrong conclusions if the accurate measurements are not made.

1. A cause may be necessary but not sufficient for a problem to occur. In this case we can decide that this cause is not the reason behind the problem hence we should be analyzing all other causes which are sufficient to bring about the problem. 2. A cause may be sufficient but not necessary for a problem to happen. in this case after understanding the sufficient cause we should analyze all other necessary causes for the problem from occurring, to prevent the recurrence of the problem from occurring in the future. 3. A cause may be neither sufficient nor necessary for a problem to occur. even in this above case we should analyse all other possible causes which may bring about the problem. 4. A cause may be both sufficient and necessary for a problem to occur. This causal agent in the above case has to be fixed as this will bring about more problem if not addressed.

To define the above I will start with defining Business Excellence: Business excellence is often described as outstanding practices in managing the organization and achieving results, all based on a set of fundamental concepts or values. These practices have evolved into models for how a world class organization should operate studying each other's operational styles. The most common model include; Baldrige (MBNQA)- used in over 25 countries including US and NZ European Foundation for Quality Management- Used throughout Europe Japan Quality Award Model-used in Japan Singapore Quality Award Model- Singapore The most popular and influential model used in the western world is Malcolm Baldrige Award Model which consists of practices that are incorporated into six approach categories: Leadership Strategic Planning customer and market focus Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management workforce focus Process management Business results The model revolves around values like Visionary leadership where there is organizational and higher leadership commitment for achieving excellence, Customer driven Excellence where goals of the organization are made to satisfy ever changing customer demands, Organization and Personal learning to include People and its operations towards excellence, Valuing employees and Partners to have everlasting engagement for excellence, Focus on the future, Managing Innovation, Management by Fact, Social Responsibility, Focus on Results and Create Value and Systems perspective throughout. Now to define operational excellence the philosophy of the workplace is built around problem solving, team work and leadership results in the ongoing improvements of the Organization. the process involves focusing on the customer needs, keeping the employees positive and empowered and continually improving the current activities in the workplace. Several tools like applying Lean Six Sigma, TOC are used. Process excellence is about process effectiveness and efficiency of the operations handled by an organization. It requires processes to be designed and improved for consistent delivery with minimum variation (applying six sigma) and minimum waste (applying Lean). This will strengthen to meet the objectives of operational and business excellence. Personal excellence is being the excellent personal assets for the organization in which the people continuously evolving themselves with agility to bring about continual improvements in the processes they are involved helping meet the organizational goals. In nutshell the relationship is as below Personal Excellence leads to ---> Process Excellence leads to ---> Operational Excellence leads to ---> Business Excellence Business Excellence drives ------>Operational Excellence drives ------>Process Excellence drives ------>Personal Excellence