Experimental Design for New Product Development

When a new product development effort begins, we have a clear plan to get to completion. However, part way through we start feeling it is much harder than expected. If you have ever felt that way, this video will talk about some ideas that might make it easier. It will never be simple, but it can be much less painful. Having worked to resolve the highest technical risk on a large Army program, I know it can be achieved. [Read more…]

Do you ever get frustrated with long Product Development processes? Why does it happen? Is it always this way? We have produced development speed records for multiple companies. There are principles for advancing technology but also finishing in a practical time. [Read more…]

People appreciate great leaders. What sets them apart? What characteristics can be applied and learned? Vague or high level descriptions do not help implement leadership for a team. This video provides practical considerations. [Read more…]

As organizations focus more on data, the quality of data is important. But what does it mean? How do we know if we have it? This video provides some insights for understanding your data situation. [Read more…]

Design of Experiments is a great approach for confident modeling of systems. It does have limitations. What are the limits? How can those be dealt with? How important is it for practical systems? [Read more…]

Many organizations are using online meetings. With work from home being so popular, this is an important area to improve. How can they be used to be more effective? How can a leader make the most of the meeting, and the features available? Which options are best for a given situation? [Read more…]

When approaching design validation, what can make us increase our success rate? This video hits highlights of how we approach validation. [Read more…]

While the push for remote working or work from home is efficient, there are some downsides that people need to be aware of. This video discusses certain advantages for in person situations. [Read more…]

As organizations engage virtual teams, they still need interactive training on certain topics. How can this be done with multiple locations? What about colleges, high schools and elementary schools? While details can vary depending on age, the tips provided come from years of academic and industrial training situations. Contact us to learn more to help for your specific situation. [Read more…]

As working at home and virtual teams grow, so does the need for effective online meetings. Having done this in our corporate and consulting life, including with international organizations, we thought we should share some tips with you. [Read more…]

People like the idea of working from home but how can we be most effective? This video provides tips from over 14 years of experience working from home full time. [Read more…]

Development challenges are rarely simple. Is your team rolling the dice in hopes it gets resolved quickly? Do you start with two dice in your hand, yet are hoping for a Yahtzee? Understand the risks and impacts and make sure the plan is appropriate. [Read more…]

Many problem solving processes include separate steps for determining root cause and generating potential solutions. In cases where a clear and single cause is identified, maybe there is some sense to this. However, for complex situations the causes tend to be tangled together through interactions, which cannot be determined with simple comparative tests. A well constructed Design of Experiments can uncover the causes and expose the solution at the same time. [Read more…]

On the surface, it is easy to run a test. What is less easy is gathering the required and desired information. Set up and analysis do not matter if the data is of low quality. Consider these points to improve your effectiveness. [Read more…]

Collecting information about a problem is easy at first. Ideas just flow. At a certain point the question is, did we cover enough ground? Are we missing anything? The Cause and Effect Diagram is a tool to visually help ensure we are broad in our approach. [Read more…]