Tribal Knowledge

Tribal Knowledge - Tribal knowledge is any unwritten information that is not commonly known by others within a company. This term is used most when referencing information that may need to be known by others in order to produce Quality_ product or service. The information may be key to Quality_ performance but it may also be totally incorrect. Unlike similar forms of artisan intelligence, tribal knowledge can be converted into company property. It is often a good source of test factors during improvement efforts.

Example 1: A measurement system was out of control and the inspectors began fighting over what they believed to be the accurate gages. Gage R&R showed that 92% of the variation came from how the inspectors used the gage, not the gage itself.

Example 2: A product line was re-started after being down for two years but the original operators had to be re-hired in order to produce product that worked.

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: iSixSigma, 28 February 2011 10:57:31, https:web.archive.org/web/20111109014246/http:www.isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_glossary