Variation Is Costing You More Than You Think
Every defect, delay , and rework event in your operation has a root cause — and it’s almost always a product of uncontrolled process variation.
Scrap & Rework Costs
Uncontrolled variation produces out-of-spec parts — a direct, measurable hit to your margins.
Quality Escapes
Uncontrolled variation sends defects to customers, damaging trust and triggering costly returns.
Erratic throughput
Unpredictable processes make scheduling, capacity planning, and on-time delivery nearly impossible.
Firefighting Culture
Without a data-driven, repeatable framework, teams react to noise instead of signals.
Process Behavior Charts are the Answer!
Process behavior charts (PBCs) characterize process behavior as either predictable or unpredictable, directing time and attention to where they are needed most.
Improvement of a predictable process requires reengineering via the introduction of new technology, equipment, materials, and procedures.
Improvement of an unpredictable process requires assignable causes of exceptional variation be eliminated.
This distinction is the key to reducing costs and improving quality. It is the difference between improvement efforts that consume resources but go nowhere and those that deliver measurable results.
Common Causes of Routine Variation
Many in number but small in effect, common causes yield predictable process behavior. When necessary, mitigating common causes requires reengineering.
Assignable Causes of Exceptional Variation
Few in number but dominant in effect, assignable causes yield unpredictable process behavior. These must be found and permanently eliminated.
Process Behavior Charts
The roadmap for reducing costs & improving quality PBCs reveal what your process has done in the past, what it will do in the future, and what must be done to realize improvement.
“A phenomenon will be said to be controlled when, through the use of past experience, we can predict — at least within limits — how the phenomenon will behave in the future."
Walter A. Shewhart, Father of PBCs
Service One: Process Evaluation & Improvement
A systematic, product, process, and industry agnostic method for lasting improvement.
What We do
Establish a baseline — is the current state predictable or unpredictable?
What You Get
Stability
Predictable processes you can plan around
Investigate sources of variation
Facilitate sequential process changes and understand their impact
Establish control plan to sustain improvements long-term
Knowledge
Learn how your processes work and how to better manage them
Capable
Processes that consistently meet specifications
Defensible
Data-driven evidence for customers & auditors
Service Two: PBC Training for Engineering & Ops
We build capability in your team so the knowledge of improvement stays after our engagement ends.
Process characterization — predictable or unpredictable?
How to improve the two types of processes
Establishing and facilitating improvement & control plans
Engineers & Quality Professionals
How to build, interpret, and document process behavior charts
Quantifying the cost of variation and the savings of improvement
Reading and responding to process behavior charts
When to adjust a process and when to leave a process alone
Building a variation focused mindset on the production floor
Operators & Floor Supervisors
Understanding variation: common vs. assignable causes
HOW WE WORK
A systematic method for reducing costs and improving quality.
Assess
Establish a baseline
Collect and analyze process data to characterize the current state: predictable or unpredictable. Document findings.
Investigate
Perform detective work
Contextualize the findings of the baseline by spending time with the process. See the process in action. Talk to the people that do the work.
Improve
Target sources of variation
Work with your team to implement changes that mitigate common causes or eliminate assignable causes.
Control
Lock in the gains
New process knowledge, control plans and trained personnel keep the process predictable after our engagement ends.
Understanding Variation vs. Conventional Improvement
Different methods yield different results.
Conventional
Reacting to every data point
Confusing signals for noise and noise for signals
Knowing when to take action & when to leave things alone
Inspection as quality control
Building quality Into the process by addressing root causes
Tribal knowledge & gut feel
Data-driven evidence guides decision making
Temporary fixes & workarounds
Understanding Variation
Responding to only signals
Permanent elimination of assignable causes
Why Broken Quality?
We teach your team, not just fix the problems for you
Real manufacturing floor experience (we show don’t tell)
Vendor-independent, data-driven advice
Specialists in data-driven improvement using PBCs
Engagements sized for your operation
“Numerical literacy is not addressed by the traditional courses in the primary or secondary schools, nor is it addressed by advanced courses in mathematics. This is why even highly educated individuals can be numerically illiterate.”
Donald J. Wheeler, Understanding Variation
Industries We’ve Served
Our methods are product, process, and industry agnostic, allowing us to apply and refine our methodology into a finely tuned machine that adapts to your process, your people, and your operations
Automotive
OEM, Tier 1 & 2 suppliers, assembly, powertrain.
Aerospace
OEM commercial & military jet engine final assembly, precision machined parts.
Medical Device
Class II, ISO 13485 insulin delivery systems.
Defense
Military optical & targeting systems, ruggedized components, mil-spec manufacturing.
Industrial Automation
Single station robotic cells, multi-station fabrication & assembly lines, vision systems.
Real Results. Real Manufacturers.
The improvements below came from listening to the process, understanding its variation, and responding accordingly.
74% → 95%
First-Pass Yield Improvement
Aerospace Electronics
$215M
Contract Dispute Resolved
Defense Contractor
Identified the root cause of a government contract nonconformance, enabling acceptance of corrective actions and resolution of a $215 million contract dispute.
$494,460
Annual Scrap Eliminated
Medical Device OEM
+19 pts
Automation Throughput Increase
Industrial Automation
Eliminated $494,460 in annual scrap through targeted, data-driven process improvements — achieved without capital investment.
Increased first-pass yield of an In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) product at acceptance test from 74% to 95% — a 21-point improvement.
Increased automation-driven throughput by 19 percentage points, reducing overall cycle time.
Ready to Reduce Costs & Improve Quality?
Let’s Start the Conversation Today!
Compose a tailored process evaluation proposal
We'll review your top manufacturing, quality, and cost challenges
Start you on the road to building a predictable, capable operation, one process at a time
Email QualityIsBroken@gmail.com to start the conversation