Book excerpt: Thousands of companies have discovered the value of Six Sigma in streamlining operations, cutting costs, improving quality, and increasing profitability. A Guide to Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement for Practitioners and Students, Second Edition gives green belts, black belts, champions, and students a complete executive framework for understanding quality and implementing Lean Six Sigma. Building on the widely praised first edition, top Six Sigma experts Howard Gitlow and Richard Melnyck add today's most recent and important lean and process control system applications. Step by step, they systematically walk you through the five-step DMAIC implementation process, with detailed examples and many real-world case studies. You'll find practical coverage of Six Sigma statistics and management techniques, and realistic solutions for many common implementation obstacles. Coverage includes: A realistic overview of Six Sigma Management Six Sigma roles, responsibilities, and terminology Managing Six Sigma with Dashboards and Control Charts Mastering each DMAIC phase: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control Understanding foundational Six Sigma statistics: probability, probability distributions, sampling distributions, and interval estimation Testing hypotheses and designing experiments Pursuing Six Sigma Champion or Green Belt Certification, and more