Send us a data source with your suggestion, and we’ll show you how a CHARTrunner chart can clarify information.

Source: Cozi

Alene Machyne, plant manager of Wright Right Manufacturing, reports to Reed N. Wright, third generation president of Wright Right Manufacturing, that the number of rejections in final inspections continues to increase, in spite of the “brilliant” pep talks that Alene has given all the foremen. She suggests that it may be time for Reed N. Wright himself to speak to the staff to encourage them , and to stage a rally, perhaps with baseball caps and t-shirts with “Wright Right” emblazoned on them, accompanied by a company cheer that Wright could lead.  “After all,” Alene insists, “Employees who are loyal to their company will produce much better products.

What might the outcome of this concerted effort be?

a) reduction in the number of defects;

b) employees will step up to lead the cheer and embrace the positive atmosphere;

c) none of the above.

Here’s a reader survey question for May: How would you characterize your experience with technical support for consumer-based electronic devices you have purchased? Let us know by May 25 so we can include your response in next month’s chart. The tech support response was:

Thank you for participating in our survey!

How do you protect your critical data?

Last month, we asked how you protect critical data in your organization. Here are the results of your responses.

A customer recently asked one of our support representatives the following questions: What is the difference between a run chart and a control chart? And when should I use one vs. the other? These are great questions because they allow us to highlight some of the benefits of control charts.

When you create any chart, you are typically trying to answer a question. For example, you might be asking, “Has my process improved?” or, “Has my process gotten worse?” You might be asking, “How is the process running today compared to yesterday?” Before you decide on using a run chart or a control chart, consider the type of question you want to answer.

A run chart is the simplest of charts. It is a single line plotting some value over time. A run chart can help you spot upward and downward trends and it can show you a general picture of a process.

A control chart also plots a single line of data over time. However, control charts include upper and lower control limit lines with a centerline. These lines are calculated based on the data being plotted, and this allows you to answer more questions about the process. For example, you can ask the question, “Is my process stable or in control?” If any of your data is outside the limit lines, the answer is, “No. Your process is not stable.” You would then know that system changes may be required to make it stable.

Control charts are designed to prevent two common mistakes: 1) adjusting the process when it should be left alone; and 2) ignoring the process when it may need to be adjusted. Run charts lack the benefit of statistical control limits. So, if they are used to adjust your process, this may add more variation to the process instead of reducing the variation.

Both run charts and control charts are helpful, but depending on your goals, control charts generally provide more specific information and insight into your process. An example lies in data related to hospital admissions, where a run chart illustrates progress over time, and the accompanying control chart indicates whether the process is stable or not.

As my wife, Carole, was recently preparing to begin another chapter in our forthcoming book, The Transformational Workplace, she found out that one of the people we interviewed on my sabbatical last year had just won the International Children’s Peace Prize. Her name is Michaela (Chaeli) Mycroft. Here is her story.

Seven years ago, Chaeli was a nine-year-old child, born with cerebral palsy, who wanted nothing more than the greater degree of autonomy she could gain if she had a motorized wheel chair. A small group of kids ages six to twelve, including Chaeli’s sister, Erin, and three school friends, Tarryn, Justine, and Chelsea Terry, took on the mission of raising the money to purchase the chair. By creating and selling their own art work, they not only raised the money in just seven weeks, but launched the organization, the Chaeli Campaign, that now helps more than 3000 children with disabilities in South Africa and beyond to increase their own independence, autonomy, and self-sufficiency. In November 2011, at age 17, Chaeli and her crew traveled to Amsterdam where Chaeli received the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize, presented to her by Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Maguire. On April 23, 2012, when the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates meets in Chicago, Chaeli will take the stage to receive that gathering’s Medal for Activism.

While all of this is a remarkable story, one of the most amazing things about Chaeli is a smile that can light up a room like few others. After we had the opportunity to sit down with Chaeli and the whole organization’s staff, which included the original crew, along with the girls’ parents, at their Plumstead headquarters near Cape Town, our spirits were lifted for days.

As we began to write about Chaeli and the Chaeli Campaign, Carole entitled the chapter, “Acting Independently.” We agreed that “acting autonomously” might be a better reflection of the theme. After considering the research that we had about our topic, I was struck by the idea of “relational autonomy,” which better describes the concept.

Relational autonomy is primarily a concept introduced by feminist researchers, following on Carol Gilligan’s work in moral development. Relational autonomy refers to the ability to pursue one’s own chosen goals and aspirations, while recognizing that the goals we choose and the actions we take are influenced by our social and political context. Thus, the ideal of autonomy in the workplace is certainly one that plays itself out quite differently in various cultures, from those that are more or less hierarchical, individualistic, or communitarian.

As I enthusiastically embraced this concept, Carole reminded me that, like most other characteristics, autonomy, taken to its extreme, can be pathological. So here are a few things to remember as we embrace autonomy. Consider the needs and goals of others, maintain our moral compass, tend to our own well-being, and avoid workaholism as we passionately pursue our own goals and aspirations.

I’ve come to believe life is always a balance, and that the balance most of us unconsciously choose is away from autonomy. That is why I think this theme is important. Harvard’s Teresa Amabile, who studies the impact of making progress toward meaningful work, has observed that autonomy—or the lack thereof‑-significantly impacts employee creativity. In an article titled, “Declaring Independence in the Workplace,” she wrote:

To be truly intrinsically motivated and to gain a sense of achievement when they do make progress, people need to have some say in their own work. What’s more, when employees have freedom in how to do the work, they are more creative. Two key aspects of autonomy are having the ability to make meaningful decisions in work and then feeling confident that — barring serious errors or dramatic shifts in conditions — those decisions will hold. If they often get overridden by management, people quickly lose the motivation to make any decision, which severely inhibits progress. Work gets delayed because people feel like they have to wait and ‘check in’ before they can begin or change anything. (http://blogs.hbr.org/hbsfaculty/2011/07/declaring-independence-workplace.html)

I think we, the people we work with, and our Six Sigma efforts deserve more relational autonomy. As professionals, managers, and leaders, we can move in that direction.

If you want to learn more about our sabbatical travels and our book-in-progress, check out our blog at www.schwinnadventures.blogspot.com.

As always, I treasure your comments and questions. You can reach me by commenting below.

Source: World Tourism Organization

When a customer called recently to report that his calibration tracking records were not reporting correctly in the newest version of GAGEpack, technical analyst David Shattuck went into action, eliminating potential causes one by one until he got to the heart of the problem—the field that set the default number of uses on check-in had been changed in the settings to default to zero. Many of the company’s gages, therefore, appeared not to have been checked out, in spite of actually having had required maintenance.

This was a case where using the GAGEpack security settings could have prevented these inadvertent changes. Shattuck helped the customer use the security features in GAGEpack so that changes in settings in the software would be accessible only with appropriate levels of clearance. “It would take about ten minutes of time up front to avoid this kind of problem,” Shattuck says. “The key is taking time to set up the security system that GAGEpack offers.”

As explained in the GAGEpack Users’ Guide, three login options are available to users. The lowest-level security is “No login,” which of course gives all rights to anyone who opens the program or happens onto a computer with GAGEpack running. This may not be the option that will serve a customer’s needs best, since there is no control over who changes settings, etc. Somehow, the customer whom David Shattuck was working with discovered that a critical setting—a default for the number of users—had been tampered with; no one knew how this had happened, but a security login would not have allowed such a fundamental change to be made.

A second security level allows the user to type in a name (or select it from a choice list of users), and this person will be entitled to all rights. No login password is demanded. The benefit is that, the “Entered by” and “Done by” fields will indicate the name of the person who is logged in. This will create an audit trail so the Supervisor will not be named as responsible for changes that are made by the logged-in employee.

The most secure login protection is provided by clicking on the command “Full login required.” This requires a user to be listed in the database with assigned rights and a password—the best option for anyone that needs to comply with FDA 21 CFR Part 11, as the standard specifically calls for limiting system access to authorized individuals. A user can lock the program while it is running if this login is active. A password must be entered before the program can continue.

Each of these security options has advantages and disadvantages, of course. In a small operation with a single operator, the full login may seem excessive and may not be needed. The process of reflecting on security requirements and setting appropriate logins is one that should be taken seriously, Shattuck points out. Even though a member of PQ Systems’ technical assistance team can help to sort out a challenge that develops from a less secure login, consider that your data is an important asset worth protecting.

The screen below indicates the checklist that can be used to extend access to those who require it:

If you find yourself in need of technical assistance or consulting services, know that a team of analysts is ready to help. Our calls are always handled promptly by actual people, rather than recorded in a “press-one-press-two” approach to support.

The PQ Systems technical support staff addresses most customers’ needs via email (support@pqsystems.com) or telephone (toll-free 800-777-5060). Telephone technical support is also available through PQ Systems Australia (03-9770-1960) and PQ Systems Europe (0044 0 1704 871465) and via email (support@pqsystems.com.au and support@pqsystems.co.uk). Some customers find that the “Software FAQ” section of the PQ Systems website resolves a question or helps with instruction. Whether it’s a concern about data storage, security, software testing, or maintenance agreements, simple answers to these frequent questions are posted here.

Here are your responses:

Here’s a reader survey question for April: Inadvertent or deliberate clicks on default settings represent a threat to data security, as this month’s lead article reveals. In what ways do you protect critical data in your organization? Let us know by April 27 so we can include your response in next month’s chart.

Thank you for participating in our survey!