Glossary
Whether you’re new to the quality and continuous improvement arena or a seasoned expert seeking detailed information on a specific quality topic, you should find what you need in our Glossary of Terms.
Explore the concepts, tools, applications and technical terms that make up the world of continuous improvement.
Main Effect
The influence a single factor has upon the response when it is changed from one level to another.
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Marginal Mean Plots
The Marginal Mean Plots is a statistical method used in Design of Experiments to inform the tester of the impact each variable and each level of variable has upon the event being measured and the Standard Deviation.
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Master Black Belts
Master Black Belts are Lean Six Sigma continuous improvement experts that are responsible for the strategic implementation of Lean Six Sigma programs within an organisation. Some of the key responsibilities include the training and mentoring of Green and Black Belts, helping to select critical improvement projects and to maintain the integrity of the Lean Six Sigma programs and methodologies.
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Mean
Mean, also called the average is calculated by adding all of the sample values together and dividing by the number of samples (n).
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Mean Square Between (MSB)
The Mean Square Between (MSB) is a general statistical measure of variance. The MSB is the variance associated with group differences.
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Mean Square Error (MSE)
The Mean Square Error (MSE) is an estimate of the population variance in the analysis of variance. The smaller the Mean Squared Error, the closer the fit is to the data.
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Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
The Mean Time Between Failures of a repairable product calculation assume that the system is repaired after each failure and then returned to service immediately. MTBF only represents a top-level statistic and therefore is not suitable for predicting detailed time of failure, due to the uncertainty in the actual failure distribution which manifests itself in variability in the time to failure distribution.
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Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)
Measurement Systems Analysis is a statistical technique that measures the amount of variability that originates from the measurement system itself. The system includes the operator and the equipment used to perform the actual measurement. statistical technique that quantifies the amount of variability that originates from the measurement system itself.
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Median
Median is the middle value of a data set when the values are arranged in either ascending or descending order.
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Minitab
Minitab is a software program designed to perform basic and advanced statistical calculations. Minitab is often used in conjunction with the implementation of Six Sigma and other statistics based process improvement methods.
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Mistake Proofing
Mistake Proofing, also called Error Proofing or Poka-Yoke is a series of techniques that help operators avoid mistakes in their work by reducing the opportunity for errors to occur.
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Mode
In statistical terms Mode means the most frequent value assumed by a random variable or occurring in a sampling of a random variable. The term is applied to both Probability Distributions and to collections of Experimental Data. The mode is a way of identifying important information about a random variable or a population in a single quantity. The mode is in general different from mean and median, and may be very different for strongly skewed distributions.
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Muda
Muda is a Japanese term to describe any activity which is wasteful. Used in Lean Six Sigma, Muda uses up time or resources, but does not add any value from the perspective of the customer.
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Multiple Regression
Multiple Regression is a statistical model where several independent variables are used to predict one dependent variable.
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Multivoting
Multivoting narrows a large list of possibilities to a smaller list of the top priorities or to a final selection. Multivoting is preferable to straight voting because it allows an item that is favored by all, but not the top choice of any, to rise to the top.