Resources-Technical Papers
A number of the members of The Quest Alliance have written or co-authored technical articles on various topics associated with Business Performance Analysis or Business Performance Improvement and their allied tools. These articles have either been peer-reviewed and published, presented at conferences, served as the content for training courses, or distributed to professionals and clients. These articles are available below. We hope these articles expand your knowledge of Business Analysis and Improvement techniques.
If you have questions or comments about these articles or would like additional information about the content of any of them, please feel free to contact us and we will happy to provide you with that information. In the meantime, enjoy the articles.
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Daily Management in a Six Sigma Environment
This paper, by Steven M. Ouellette and Michael V. Petrovich, addresses how Daily Management
(how to manage and improve your day-to-day activities) meshes and compliments an advanced
problem-solving initiative (such as Six Sigma).
Total Asset Utilization
(First in Series)
This is a paper by Dr. Jeffrey T. Luftig on a method for measuring how
well assets are used to generate salable product/services. It is the first step
to understanding Customer / Product Rationalization.
Customer / Product Rationalization
(Second in Series)
This is the second paper by Dr. Luftig, explaining how to use
Total Asset Utilization and a cost allocation scheme to understand the true
profitability of your products and/or services.
Statistical Start-Ups
This paper by Dr. Jeffrey T. Luftig explains the concept of Statistical
Start-Ups by exploring a specific example where a production line was started
up without the techniques and contrasting it with the same line once the
techniques were applied.
Optimum Equipment Start-Ups
This paper, by Steven M. Ouellette and Dr. Althea D'Sousa, proposes a methodology for starting up new
equipment (also applicable to new products) to minimize problems typically
associated with start-ups.
Process Performance Analysis
This paper by Michael V. Petrovich explores traditional capability analysis vs.
Process Performance Analysis (PPA). Our experience has shown that traditional
capability analysis (Cp, Cpk, Cpm) is of little use in real life, where PPA can
be used to understand your process and prioritize your improvement activities
to maximize the impact.
Process Performance Analysis Case Study -
Choosing a Mill Lubricant
This paper by Steven M. Ouellette was published in the November issue of Tribology
& Lubrication Technology as their case study. The case study discusses how
Process Performance Analysis was used at Inland Steel to choose amongst a
number of potential rolling mill lubricant vendors. The analysis was shown to
have saved Inland $70 million.
The Improvement Hierarchy
This paper by Michael V. Petrovich presents a hierarchy (similar to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs)
for business that implies that businesses must address fundamental issues before goals such as
control and continuous improvement can be achieved and maintained.
