SIX SIGMA FOR CONTINUOUS

IMPROVEMENT AND DESIGN ONLINE

SYLLABUS
Course ID: MATH 737/837 FALL 2020

Course ID: MATH 737/837

08/31/2020 - 12/22/2020
Philip J Ramsey, Ph.D., Office N321A Kingsbury Hall
[email protected]
Home Phone: (603)672-5651; Office: (603)862-2613

Course Overview
Six Sigma is a popular, data-focused methodology used worldwide by
organizations to achieve continuous improvement of their existing processes,
products and services or to design new ones. This one-semester course
provides a thorough education in the Six Sigma principles, methods, and
applications for continuous improvement (DMAIC process) and some
background in Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) will be provided. The
coverage will include both manufacturing and non-manufacturing
(transactional Six Sigma) applications. Emphasis will be placed on the use
of case studies to motivate the use of the Six Sigma methodology and to
teach proper application of Six Sigma. We will also cover the basic
principles of lean manufacturing, which is used to eliminate waste from
manufacturing and service processes. Lean and Six Sigma are often used in
combination.

Course Format
This course is taught online in an asynchronous format, which means that
there are no regularly scheduled class sessions. For those off campus a trip
to Durham is not required to successfully complete the course. The course
materials are delivered through a series of Learning Modules; each module
focused on a different set of topics related to Six Sigma and continuous
improvement. All course lecture materials are delivered through Videos,
many of which are made by the instructor and some are YouTube videos.
Links to the videos are provided with each associated learning module. In
addition instructor created notes are provided with each learning module.
Catalog Description
Six Sigma is a popular, data-focused methodology used worldwide by
organizations to achieve continuous improvement of their existing processes,
products and services or to design new ones. This course provides a
thorough introduction to the Six Sigma principles, methods, and applications
for continuous improvement (DMAIC process) and an overview of Design
for Six Sigma (DFSS). Both manufacturing and non-manufacturing
(transactional Six Sigma) applications are included. Emphasis is placed on
the use of case studies to motivate the use of, as well as the proper
application of, the Six Sigma methodology. Formal Six Sigma Green Belt
certification from UNH may be attained by successfully completing a 100
question online exam to be offered Spring 2021 semester. Prereq:
MATH 539,MATH 644; or permission.

Prerequisite
I am not necessarily enforcing prerequisites for this course other than you
must have at least Junior academic standing to enroll; however a basic,
introductory course in statistics is helpful, but not required to successfully
complete the class. Undergraduates enroll in Math 737 and Graduate
students in Math 837.

Textbook
One book will be used during the semester. The book is “Visual Six Sigma:
Making Data Analysis Lean” by Cox, et. al., first edition. There is a similar
second edition, but I will use the first. A free e-book link is available
through the library for the second edition only; use the following link (you
will probably have to login with your UNH ID to access the book)
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unh/detail.action?docID=4537251&query=
visual+six+sigma (you will most likely be prompted to login). The first edition is
still available through some retailers and the second edition is readily
available and as I mentioned similar to the first edition – either edition will
work. The book is not very expensive if you wish to purchase a copy (e.g.,
https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Six-Sigma-Making-
Analysis/dp/0470506911/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503773196
&sr=1-2&keywords=visual+six+sigma+making+data+analysis+lean ).

Software
 SIX SIGMA FOR CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT AND DESIGN ONLINE
SYLLABUS
Course ID: MATH 737/837 FALL 2020

The JMP Pro 15 statistical software is fully integrated into the course and
students will need the software to complete many assignments. The
software is available as a free download for UNH students and faculty.
Please go to the following link and follow the directions to download and
install JMP; https://td.unh.edu/TDClient/KB/ArticleDet?ID=770 ; the link
may list JMP 14.2, clicking on the link it will take you to a Box site where
JMP Pro 15.0 is available.

Statistical Thinking for Industrial Problem Solving (STIPS)

STIPS is a new free, online course in statistics with a focus on industry that
has been created by the SAS Institute (JMP is a division of SAS). Your
instructor was very much involved in the design and the content of the
course. You can learn about the course and watch an introductory video at
the link https://www.jmp.com/en_us/statistical-thinking.html. Some of the
modules in the STIPS course will be assigned as a part of this course. More
details on STIPS will be provided when modules are assigned. Remember
the course is free and is quite comprehensive; we will cover only a small
portion of the content. For those who might be interested, if you complete all
of the STIPS modules it is possible to become certified. The course also has
a JMP Learning Lab where you can gain more experience in how to use JMP
for analyses. You may use your own copy of JMP (preferred) doing the
course or a server version is available through the course site.

Learning Objectives
Six Sigma and Lean skills are highly valued by employers across a wide
range of disciplines including: manufacturing, microelectronics, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and biotechnology; and many more. Students
successfully completing the class will be able to:

• Understand and apply the fundamental concepts of continuous

improvement and lean using the Six Sigma DMAIC paradigm.
 • Understand what constitutes a good project and how to create a
project charter, problem statements, objectives, and identify proper
key performance indicators.

• Know how to visualize a process or system with process maps, value

stream maps, and SIPOC models.

• Know how to explore data to learn about processes and find potential
causal relationships.

• Know how to use Statistical Process Control to assess process

performance over time and baseline current state performance.

• Examine data for quality issues and learn how to evaluate the
capability of measurement systems.

• Use powerful statistical tools to find root causes of quality problems

and evaluate possible solutions.

• Evaluate potential solutions and perform a risk assessment before

implementation.

• Develop implementation plans to improve quality.

• Develop control strategies to maintain and assess process

improvements after implementation.

Course Structure
The class will be delivered through the use recordings of lectures made by
the instructor and some from YouTube sources.
Course Navigation Description

Home Page Regular class announcements regarding assignments, overall

class progress or messages and information and reminders about
upcoming events or assignments.
Course Information The syllabus, course schedule and other key class documents
are located here.
 SIX SIGMA FOR CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT AND DESIGN ONLINE
SYLLABUS
Course ID: MATH 737/837 FALL 2020

Learning Modules This area contains the weekly Modules. The majority of course
content, activities, assignments and participation is located in
this area. See below for structure
STIPS and Short Quizzes Occasionally short, online quizzes will be posted on myCourses
through the Learning Modules and students will typically have a
48-hour window in which to complete the quiz. These are given
to encourage students to stay engaged in the course. The quizzes
are to be done individually and students are not to collaborate in
completing them. In addition, assigned STIPS modules must be
successfully completed and involve taking an online quiz at the
end of each assigned module.
Homework Homework will be assigned regularly to assess class learning
and motivate class participation. These assignments will be
posted on myCourses through the associated Learning Module
and students given sufficient time to complete them.

Module Structure

Lecture The lectures will primarily be made using recordings made by the
instructor and occasionally relevant Youtube videos.
Resources (or Review) PDFs of course notes will be distributed to the class via myCourses and
readings from the notes will be assigned for each module.
Participation Students are expected to participate by watching recordings in a timely
fashion, read notes available for each module, and take part in discussion
forums as they are assigned. Also, completion of the assigned STIPS
modules in a timely manner as evidenced by earning the Badge for each
module.
Assignments Graded homework assignments will be given and a final team project
based on a comprehensive designed experiment will be required. All
assignments are to be completed in a timely fashion and submitted
electronically in PDF format through the original Assignment location
on myCourses. Hand written assignments are no longer accepted.

Grades
The final grade is based upon the final exam (take home), participation in
discussion forums, completion of the homework, quizzes, and completion of
STIPS modules.
Item % of final Requirements
grade
STIPS & 40% Number of quizzes will be determined during the semester
Quizzes
Class 10% Participation in Discussion forums when assigned.
Participation
Homework 25% Your solutions for the homework are to be submitted
electronically via myCourses; simply upload your
completed assignment through the original assignment
posted on myCourses. Electronic submittals for regular
homework must be in PDF format. Uploading the
assignments via myCourses is important for grading
purposes.
Final Exam 25% Take home exam that will also be submitted electronically
though myCourses.

Policy on Late Submissions and Quizzes

• An assignment can be submitted late up to one week after the due date
if sufficient reason is given for the lateness.
• Quizzes deployed through myCourses will be locked after the due
date and will not be reopened, so students must complete the online
quiz within the allotted time and typically will be given two
opportunities to complete each quiz.

Student to Instructor Communication Expectations

Questions related to assignments should be directed to me via email or

virtual office hours. Email communication should be concise and focused as
I tend to receive a great deal of email and do not have the bandwidth to read
long rambling communications. As an example, if you have a homework
question clearly state the exact item (in words) in the homework (do not just
say question 2) you have a question about and be very clear as to what you
want to know. Of course, I will not give explicit answers to homework
problems so questions should be for clarification or direction in working to a
solution. Also, please do not send attachments via email asking to me to
examine partial or complete solutions to homework for correctness. I will
not provide feedback on such attachments if they are sent to me.
 SIX SIGMA FOR CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT AND DESIGN ONLINE
SYLLABUS
Course ID: MATH 737/837 FALL 2020

Course Schedule by Module (This is a preliminary schedule for planning purposes

only, actual coverage and assignments will vary during the semester)

Week Date Topics Covered Assignments

One & Two Aug 31 – Module 1: Learn • Watch assigned Module 1 videos on JMP
Sep 14 JMP • Do assigned readings for Module 2
Module 2: Define • Watch assigned videos for Module 2
Phase Part 1, • Complete STIPS Module 1
Overview of Six • Complete STIPS Module 1 Quiz and upload
Sigma, Lean badge to Canvas as proof of completion.
Principles, Statistical
Thinking & Problem
Solving, Project
Charters, Data
Collection
Three & Four Sep 14 – Module 3: Define • Complete Module 3 assigned readings
Sep 28 Phase Part 2, Basic • Watch assigned Module 3 videos
Statistics for Six • Complete STIPS Module 2 Exploratory Data
Sigma Analysis through section 2.2
Five Sep 28 – Module 4: Define • Complete Module 4 assigned readings
Oct 05 Phase Part 3, • Watch assigned Module 4 videos
Exploring Data • Complete STIPS Module 2.3 through section 2.6
• Complete STIPS Module 2 Quiz and upload
Badge to Canvas as proof of completion.
Six Oct 05 – Module 5: Measure • Complete Module 5 assigned readings
Oct 12 Phase Part 1: • Complete of STIPS Module section 3.3 Quality
Measurement Methods
Systems Analysis • Watch assigned Module 5 videos
• Complete Homework Assignment #1
Seven Oct 12 – Module 6: Measure • Complete Module 6 assigned readings
Oct 19 Phase Part 2: • Watch assigned Module 6 videos
Process Capability • Complete STIPS Module 3.1 and 3.2 and earn
Badge for STIPS Module 3 Quality Methods
and upload Badge to Canvas as proof of
completion.
• Complete Homework Assignment #2
Eight Oct 19 – Module 7: Analyze • Complete Module 7 assigned readings
Oct 26 Phase Part 1, • Watch assigned Module 7 videos
Statistical Intervals • Complete STIPS Module 4 sections: Overview,
 and Hypothesis 4.1 and part of 4.2
testing for Six • Complete quiz for on Confidence Intervals and
Sigma Hypothesis Testing
Nine and Ten Oct 26 – Module 8: Analyze • Complete Module 8 assigned readings
Nov 09 Phase Part 2, • Watch assigned Module 8videos
Comparing • Complete STIPS Module 4.4
Populations in Six • Complete STIPS Module 4 Quiz and upload
Sigma Badge to Canvas as proof of completion

Eleven Nov 09 – Module 9:Analyze • Complete Module 9 assigned readings

Nov 16 Phase Part 3, • Watch assigned Module 9 videos
Inference for • Complete STIPS Module 7 (Week 8 on
nominal data, Coursera) section 7.2 only
Partition Analysis, • Complete STIPS Module 5 through section 5.2
Correlation, Simple • Complete Homework Assignment #3
Linear Regression
Twelve & Nov 16 – Module 10: Improve • Complete Module 10, 11 assigned readings
Thirteen Nov 23 Phase Part 1 and • Watch assigned Module 10, 11 videos
(Thanksgiving Module 11: Improve • Complete Discussion Forum assignment (Lady
Break) Phase Part 2, Tasting Tea)
Multiple Linear • Complete STIPS Module 5 section 5.3
Regression, Design • Complete STIPS Module 6
of Experiments, •
Improve Phase
Activities
Fourteen Nov 30 – Module 12 Control • Complete Module 12 assigned readings
(Last Week of Dec 07 Phase Activities. • Watch assigned Module 12 videos
Classes) • Complete Quiz for STIPS Module 6 and
upload Badge to Canvas as proof of
completion
Fourteen Dec 07 – Distribute Final • Clean up any loose ends from the semester
Dec 11 Exam • The final exam is due by the end of day Dec
14th. Further details will be provided during the
semester.

Tentative Outline of Course Topics Arranged by DMAIC phase or stage

(please be aware that many topics will occur in more than one stage)

Define

• Six Sigma and Lean Overview, Project Selection and Definition.

• The DMAIC process for continuous improvement and DMADV
process for design.
• Six Sigma roles and responsibilities.
• Voice of the Customer and introduction to Quality Function
 SIX SIGMA FOR CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT AND DESIGN ONLINE
SYLLABUS
Course ID: MATH 737/837 FALL 2020

Deployment and identification of Critical to Quality

characteristics (CTQs).
• Project Charter creation and Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
identification.
• Basic team building and tools.
• Process visualization with SIPOC Models, Process Mapping,
Value Stream Mapping, Cause and Effect (Ishikawa) Diagrams,
Affinity Diagrams (the list is not exhaustive).

Measure

• Understanding types of process variation: common cause, special

cause, and systematic. Dangers of process tampering.
• Basics of probability distributions with emphasis on the Normal.
• Statistical Process Control (SPC) to access process stability,
baseline current process behavior.
• Accessing or collecting data and pre-processing data prior to
formal analysis, identifying data quality issues.
• Exploring, Visualizing, and describing data.
• Basic one-sample statistical inference (statistical intervals and
tests).
• Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA).
• Process Capability Analysis (current baseline performance) ,
including process capability indices, PPM defect rates, and sigma
quality level metrics.

Analyze

• Two and multiple sample inference (e.g., ANOVA)

• Statistical Modeling including Simple and Multiple Linear
Regression, Logistic Regression and CART to identify causal
relationships.
• Introduction to Design of Experiments and Optimization for
 validation of causal relationships and verification of potential
solutions.
• Basic non-statistical root cause analysis and concepts.

Improve

• Improve phase activities

• Use of tools such as brainstorming, multivoting, and nominal
group techniques for identifying solutions and improvements
(note many of these topics were also covered in the Define phase).
• Solution selection matrices (Pugh matrices) and selection criteria.
• ROI analysis for identified solutions.
• Optimization of a solution using statistical tools and models.
• Implementation and Communication plans.
• Mistake Proofing and FMEA

Control

• Control phase activities

• Process Control plans.
• Out of control action plans (OCAP).
• Implementation of SPC for KPIs, CTQ’s, and other key process
input and output variables.
• SPC to monitor process stability and maintenance.
• Assess process capability after implementation of improvements
(previously discussed in the Measure phase).
• Final process and project documentation.
• Transfer plans: from project team to a

Green Belt Certification

Students who successfully pass Math 737/837 and subsequently pass a 100
question Certification Exam, will be certified as Six Sigma Green Belt
practitioners. The exam is typically offered following the end of the
semester in which Math 737/837 is offered. The exam is online and open
book. Details will be provided during the semester.

University Disability Accommodations

 SIX SIGMA FOR CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT AND DESIGN ONLINE
SYLLABUS
Course ID: MATH 737/837 FALL 2020

The University is committed to providing students with documented

disabilities equal access to all university programs and facilities. If you think
you have a disability requiring accommodations, you must register with
Disability Services for Students (DSS). Contact DSS at (603) 862-2607 or
[email protected]. If you have received Accommodation Letters for
this course from DSS, please provide me with that information privately in
my office so that we can review those accommodations. Of course, you
should always feel free to discuss any disability issues with me and all such
conversations are kept in strict confidence.

Emotional or Mental Health Distress: Your academic success in this

course is very important to me. If, during the semester, you find emotional
or mental health issues are affecting that success, please contact the
University’s Counseling Center (3 rd fl, Smith Hall; 603 862-2090/TTY: 7-
1-1), which provides counseling appointments and other mental health
services .

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

Students are required to abide by the UNH Academic Honesty as described
in the student handbook . Students are expected to submit their own
original work and further guidelines will be issued with specific assignments
during the semester; plagiarism will not be tolerated, especially copying
homework from one another and cheating on quizzes. The rules will be
enforced. An important links on academic honesty is given below

https://www.unh.edu/student-life/09-academic-honesty