16.10.

02 Six Sigma Glossary Page 1 of 3

Term Definition
APQP Advanced Product Quality Planning. A Stage/Gate process utilized to improve the design and
implementation of products and processes to meet and exceed customer requirements.
Breakthrough A process improvement project team leader who is trained and certified in the breakthrough
Leader methodology and tools and who is responsible for project execution.
Capability The total range of inherent variation in a stable process. It is determined using data from control
charts.
Capability A calculated value used to compare process variation to a specification. Examples are Cp, Cpk.
Index Can also be used to compare processes to each other.
Champion An upper level business leader who facilitates the leadership, implementation, and deployment
of the process quality initiative and breakthrough philosophies.
Control Plan A process control document that describes the system for controlling processes and parts.
Cost of Poor Quality; the cost of failing to produce & deliver 100% quality to our customers. It
COPQ
does not include costs of monitoring quality, such as inspection and auditing costs.
Cost of Poor Cost associated with poor quality products or services. Examples: Product inspection, Sorting,
Quality Scrap, Rework, and Field Complaints.
(COPQ)
Capacity-Productivity and Capacity-Utilization are CLM OE metrics related to how well plants
Current 1st Quality Output
utilize their investments in equipment. C - P = Baseline 1st Quality Output ,
C-P, C-U
Current 1st Quality 1st Time
C  U  Maximum Theoretical Rate .
customer expectation
Process Capability, target centred in specification range; process execution expressed as
Cp USL -LSL
UCL  LCL .
customer expectation
Process Capability, target not centred or one side only; process execution expressed as
Cpk
minimum 
USL  
3
,
  LSL
3 .
Defect Any characteristic that deviates outside of specification limits or customer requirements
Design of An efficient method of experimentation which identifies, with minimum testing, factors (key
Experiments process input variables) and their optimum settings that affect the mean and variation.
(DOE) Statistically planned experimental confirmation of KPIV’s from FMEA and/or multi-vari study.

Design FMEA An analytical technique used by a design responsible engineer/team as a means to assure, to the
extent possible, that potential failure modes and their associated causes/mechanisms have been
considered and addressed.
Design for A simultaneous engineering process designed to optimise the relationship between design
Manufacturabili function, manufacturability, and ease of assembly.
ty (DFM)
Design Testing to ensure that product conforms to defined user needs and/or requirements. Design
Validation validation follows successful design verification and is normally performed on the final product
under defined operating conditions. Multiple validations may be performed if there are different
intended uses.
Design Testing to ensure that all design outputs meet design input requirements.
Verification
EVOP Evolutionary Operations - continuous on-line process improvement by operators using DOE’s
Feasibility A determination that a process, design, procedure, or plan can be successfully accomplished in
the required time frame.
16.10.02 Six Sigma Glossary Page 2 of 3

Term Definition
First Pass Yield The percentage of products or services that are successfully completed on the first attempt
(FPY) without requiring remedial action or rework.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis; a tool for linking failure modes to cause & effect so that
FMEA process controls to reduce the occurrence of producing unacceptable product can be
implemented or detection methods can be improved. Prioritises improvement efforts.
Gage Bias The difference between the true or reference value and the observed average of multiple
(also known as measurements of the identical characteristic on the same part.
Accuracy)
Gage The variation in measurements obtained with one measurement instrument when used several
Repeatability times by one appraiser while measuring the identical characteristic on the same part.
Gage The variation in the average of the measurements made by different appraisers using the same
Reproducibility measuring instrument when measuring the identical characteristic on the same part.
Histogram A graphic way of summarizing data by plotting possible values on one axis and the observed
frequencies for those values on the other axis. It helps one visualize the central tendency and
dispersion of the data.
Hypothesis A way of analysing data, particularly from DOE’s, that tries to determine if results observed are
Testing statistically significant; in particular, are the results possibly due to random variation?
Individuals and Moving Range chart; a type of variables control chart based on individual
I & MR
measurements.
Key Process The vital few process input variables that have the greatest effect on the output variable(s) of
Input Variable interest. They are called “X’s”, (normally 2 – 6)
(KPIV)
Key Process The output variable(s) of interest. They are called the “Y’s”, (usually 1). May be process
Output Variable performance measures or product characteristics.
(KPOV)
Measurement The complete process used to obtain measurements. It consists of the collection of operations,
System procedures, gages and other equipment, software, and personnel used to assign a number or
value to the characteristic being measured.
MINITAB The main statistical software package used by the breakthrough BRT’s.
Mu and Sigma, Greek letters denoting the population average and the population standard
 deviation. These are measures of central tendency and variability.
Multi-Vari A graphical and statistical method to depict variation in the KPOV as it relates to changes in
Study multiple KPIV’s. Variables include noise variables potentially causing variability in the
process.. The study of process inputs and outputs is completed in a passive mode (natural day-
to-day process).
Normal A continuous, symmetrical, bell shaped frequency distribution for variable data.
Distribution
Population The universe of all possible numbers that can be considered the same in some sense.
Probability The chance of an event happening or a condition occurring in a random trial.
Process The combination of people, equipment, materials, methods, and environment that produce
output – a given product or service. It is the particular way of doing something.
Process Map A step-by-step pictorial sequence of a process showing process inputs, process outputs, cycle
time rework operations, and inspection points.
Process Spread The extent to which the distribution of individual values of the process characteristic (input or
output variable) vary; often shown as the process average plus and minus some number of
standard deviations. Other related measures of spread include the range, and variance.
Quality Function Deployment; a process that links customer requirements to product/process
QFD characteristics to manufacturing procedures so that our products satisfy our customers and are
produced with processes that have high Cpk ratios.
16.10.02 Six Sigma Glossary Page 3 of 3

Term Definition
R, R Range and average range. Used in SPC to determine state of control and process limits.
Rolled The multiplication of all individual first pass yields of each step of the entire process (1 st quality,
Throughput 1st time through). Calculations for each step of the process should be based on theoretical
Yield (RTY) chemistry yields and should view downgrades, recycles, blends, and waste as defects. Should be
calculated on a product-by-product basis.
Sample The particular collection from a population that we work with rather than the entire population.
Six Sigma Process mean is 6 process standard deviations from nearest specification limit.
Short Term Determines variation in the process, assesses ability to meet specifications and permits short,
Capability intermediate and long-term goal setting. Requires about 30-50 observations.
Sr. A person who is “expert” in breakthrough techniques and project implementation. Sr.
Breakthrough Breakthrough Leaders play a key role in training and coaching Breakthrough Leaders.
Leader
Specification The engineering requirement or customer requirement for judging acceptability of a particular
characteristic.
Standard A measure of the spread of the process (width of the distribution).
Deviation
Statistical The condition describing a process from which all special/assignable causes of variation have
Control been eliminated and only common/random causes remain. Applies to both the mean (location)
and standard deviation (spread).
Upper Control Limit, Lower Control Limit; limits determined by the process beyond which we
UCL, LCL rarely expect to see data if the process is operated on target and in control. Usually these are set
3 about the process target. For normally distributed data these limits include 99.7% of the
observations.
Upper Specification Limit, Lower Specification Limit; limits set by the downstream customer,
USL, LSL
internal or external, beyond which we should not operate the process.
X, X Sample subgroup mean and grand average of sample means.
Variables A process control chart for a characteristic or parameter that has continuous values rather than
Control Chart discrete values such as counts.
Variation Difference between individual measurements. Differences are attributed to common and/or
special causes.
Variation: Variability introduced to a process that may not be controllable by the operator and may require
Common Cause outside assistance to reduce in size.
Variation:
Variability introduced to a process that should be controllable by the operator of the process.
Special Cause
Voice of the
Customer feedback, both positive and negative, including the likes, dislikes, problems, and
Customer
suggestions.
(VOC)
Voice of the
Statistical data that is feedback to the people in the process to make decisions about the process
Process (VOP)
stability and/or capability as a tool for continual improvement.