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Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich)

Six Sigma Part 1: Define and Measure

Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich) via edX

Overview

In this first course of the Six Sigma Program, you will understand the background and meaning of Six Sigma and the five steps of the DMAIC process improvement flow: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. Discuss what "Quality" means and how to identify the Voice of the Customer.

You will learn how to set an improvement project goal, calculate process yield, and identify Critical-to-Quality parameters.

You will learn how to map a process and to use the necessary statistical techniques to establish the baseline performance of a process and to calculate the process capability.

To complement the lectures, we provide interactive exercises, which allow learners to see the statistics "in action." Learners then master the statistical concepts by completing practice problems. These are then reinforced using interactive case studies, which illustrate the application of the statistics in quality improvement situations.

Upon successful completion of this program, learners will earn the TUM Lean and Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification, confirming mastery of Lean Six Sigma fundamentals to a Green Belt level. The material is based on the American Society for Quality (www.asq.org) Body of Knowledge up to a Green Belt Level. The Professional Certificate is designed as preparation for a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt exam.

Syllabus

Week 1: Six Sigma Introduction
Introduction to the Six Sigma Methodology and the DMAIC process improvement cycle. Understand the contributors to the cost of quality. Discuss the difference between defects and defectives in a process and how to calculate process yield, including a comparison of processes of different complexity using the metric DPMO.

Week 2: DEFINE - Defining the Problem
Discuss how to understand customer expectations, using the Kano Model to categorize quality characteristics. Start the first and difficult task of a Six Sigma project, Defining the Problem, and review the key content in a Project Charter.

Week 3: MEASURE - Statistics Review
Review of random variables and probability distributions used commonly in quality engineering, such as Binomial, Poisson, and Exponential. Cover descriptive statistics, emphasizing the importance of clearly communicating the results of your project.

Week 4: MEASURE - Normal Distribution
Learn the characteristics of the Normal Distribution and how to use the Standard Normal to calculate probabilities related to normally distributed variables. Cover the Central Limit Theorem, and how it relates to sampling theory.

Week 5: MEASURE - Process Mapping
Introduce Process Mapping, including SIPOC and Value Stream Mapping. We identify the Critical-to-Quality characteristic for a Six Sigma project

Week 6: MEASURE - Measurement System Analysis
Learn the basics of Measurement Theory and Sampling Plans, including
Precision, Accuracy, Linearity, Bias, Stability, Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility

Week 7: MEASURE - Process Capability
Introduction to Process Capability and the metrics CP/CPK for establishing our baseline process performance.

Week 8: Quality Topics and Course Summary
Cover the basics of Tolerance Design and the risk assessment tool failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).
Review the complete Six Sigma Roadmap before summarizing and closing the course.

Taught by

Martin Grunow and Holly Ott

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 1,538 Class Central reviews

4.5 rating at edX based on 50 ratings

Start your review of Six Sigma Part 1: Define and Measure

  • Elias Elias
    First and foremost, I want to convey my utmost gratitude, praise, and appreciation to Holly Ott for her skillful execution and expertise conducting the course. She made the course interesting as an online course can be. Even for someone who has bee…
  • Anonymous
    My name is Rony Tabari and I am from Indonesia, I am currently undertaking a role as an Operations Improvement Advisor for Phu Bia Mining (PBM) with operations in Laos as one of the producing assets for PanAust in South East Asia. First of all, I w…
  • Noman Khalid
    Karachi, Pakistan.
    Working in Flexo and Gravure Printing company.
    i have learned from here lean production, Six sigma, Process capability, Statistical process chart, process mapping and etc..
    Edx is a very good plate form for any individuals as a professional learnings.
  • Hi, I am Husain from Bahrain, and I work in financial services and insurance industry. For a quite long period of time, I became very interested in process improvement and quality assurance for financial services. I have read a lot of books and inte…
  • Profile image for Julio Alvarado
    Julio Alvarado
    Hi! My name is Julio Alvarado. I´m from Panama, and I work on the shipping industry, more specifically, my job position is Marine Scheduler. My primary role surrounds coordinating / planning the vessel´s schedule integrity, so that we meet our cust…
  • My name is Mark Roberts, I am a certified quality engineer and was looking for a course that explained in detail more of the statistics used in our quality engineering field in an effort to better relate these concepts to manufacturing technicians. What I found certainly delivered. Thank you TUM and Prof. Ott.
  • I'm Soham Bhosale from Mumbai, India. I have recently gave my Last Semester exam for Mechanical Graduation and now looking for Job to develop myself and learn new skill for my future endeavors.

    Actually I started this course the day after I appeared for my last subject paper and when i started the course it felt like I am learning some kind of management mantra which after implementing in Industry would change the way we produce goods and after going through many lectures and study materials I was right it was teaching us how to Define and measure the Product competency.

    I would recommend this course for everyone who wants to learn Six Sigma Green Belt, as this is the first step towards the green belt.
  • My name is Arantxa and I am from Mexico, I'm a Manufacturing Engineer. This course has been great to take. The topics are very well explained in each of the videos and it also helps a lot the practical examples and lectures about how to apply the different concepts and how are they used in the industry.

    This course has helped me to profundize my knowledge on Six Sigma methodology and to learn new concepts and topics which were unfamiliar to me. Holly has been an excellent teacher, making the lectures really interesting and easy to take. I highly recommend this course and I'm looking forward to take the next course in this plan.
  • Anonymous
    SEB - Perú Six Sigma: Define and Measure The “Six Sigma: Define and Measure” course is an excellent introduction to the world of Six Sigma, a methodology that has proven to be invaluable in the manufacturing industry. The course is well-structured,…
  • Profile image for B L
    B L
    Hi, I'm Bogdan Lupu. I am close to finishing the first step of the program and I have to say that it has been a bit difficult for me to understand the mathematical part of the program as I have a Socio-Human Sciences educational background. However…
  • Anonymous
    I recently completed the first phase of the Six Sigma course on the EDX platform, focusing on the "Define and Measure" stage. I must say, it was an incredibly enlightening and well-structured learning experience. The course provided a comprehensive…
  • Saurabh Sanesar
    "I recently had the privilege of completing the Six Sigma Define and Measure course by Martin Grunow and Holly Ott on edX. As someone with no prior experience in Six Sigma, I found this course extremely valuable in building my knowledge and skills…
  • Wenjiao Bilaloglu-Yue
    This is my first time using edx for training and this is the 1st course I have done on edx. I am positively surprised about the course materials. The videos are very detailed and guided me well through the red path. I have now gained a very good ba…
  • Sebastian Castro
    castro_s In this course, I learned three specific things that have been invaluable in my work in microbiology laboratories. Firstly, I learned about the importance of clearly defining project goals and objectives. This has been crucial in my consul…
  • Anonymous
    My name is Daniel and I am from Barcelona, Spain. I work as a postdoctoral researcher in the university at the moment, and decided to take this course for increasing my knowledge in this topic, with the hope of changing my career into quality contr…
  • Anonymous
    Hello, My name is Faisal Enad S Alenezi. As I know from my experience from a bachelor's degree Dr Holly Ott, was one of the best I had ever experienced coming from an in-class and online university-level course perspective. Furthermore, I want to c…
  • Profile image for ALLUVADA SRINIVASA RAO
    ALLUVADA SRINIVASA RAO
    Hi everybody, First of all I would like to say thank you to our faculty Prof. Holly Ott from TUM school of Management for a well organized videos and slides. It’s a good opportunity for me to learn about six sigma : Define and measure. I would al…
  • Profile image for Umang Mittal
    Umang Mittal
    The course content is very much helpful and informative. The course really helps to gain insight into the lean production and six sigma. The concepts are very much latest and related with industry. The course has helped me a lot for securing the in…
  • Sara Vidal López De La Franca
    I recently completed the Six Sigma: Define and Measure course, and I must say it was an incredibly enriching experience. Here are three specific things I learned from the course: DMAIC Methodology: The course provided a comprehensive understanding…
  • Anonymous
    Name: Gentian Location: Turin (Italy) Three specific things learned in this course: 1. How to get to the Critical to Quality Characteristics (CTQs) of a product? In order to develop a new product or to improve a new one, the Voice of the Custome…

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