World Class Quality: Using Design of Experiments to Make It Happen

Chapter 24. Learning by Doing

Practice, Practice, Practice

We repeat the story of a group of surgeons who visited us at Motorola to learn about our renowned Six Sigma process. One of the techniques discussed in the presentation was our success in benchmarking—finding the best company anywhere in the world with respect to a discipline or function or technique, determining its success factors, and incorporating or adapting them into your own company.

The surgeons decided that it was important to reduce cycle time in surgery. They visited an unusual benchmark outfit—the pit crew at the Indianapolis 500 car races, where four tires are changed in 12 seconds. Quite apart from the manpower and equipment, the pit crew shared the secret of their success—practice, ...