Lean Six Sigma

Many people have heard of Six Sigma and know that it deals with reducing defects, improving quality and eliminating variation. Lean is a discipline focused on improving process speed and eliminating waste. Lean Six Sigma is the synergistic union between the two, as quality improves speed and speed improves quality. By integrating Lean speed and Six Sigma quality, the rate of improvement in quality, cost and speed increases much faster and goes much further than either discipline could achieve separately.

Lean Six Sigma is the combination of two tool kits around process improvement that are essential to success in a company. Lean deals with improving the speed of a process by reducing waste and eliminating non-value added steps. Six Sigma improves performance by focusing on those aspects of a process that are critical to quality from the customer perspective and eliminating variation in that process.

Lean utilizes "Kaizen events" -- intensive, typically week-long improvement sessions -- to quickly identify improvement opportunities and goes one step further than a tradition process map in its use of value stream mapping. Six Sigma uses a formal project methodology known as DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) to allow project efforts to bring measurable and repeatable results. Whereas, Lean Six Sigma uses the combination of these two.

Lean Six Sigma would leverage all the standards, documented process, and data already available in your organization. Lean Six Sigma would introduce tools that would help develop process maps with a level of measurable detail that allows identification of non-value-added steps (removal of which will make processes more efficient). It introduces another level of customer focus and a formal methodology (DMAIC) to execute change across functions. It also would engage management and leverage dedicated resources against the projects with the biggest financial impacts to the strategy of the organization.

These are the additional tools or tactics Lean Six Sigma brings to continuous improvement efforts in an ISO9000 company:

• Voice of the Customer as a definition of quality.
• Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) as a structured improvement methodology.
• Concept of focus on improving critical process "inputs" rather than just "outputs," so root causes are attacked and not just symptoms.
• CEO and P&L owners are trained and actively engaged in process.
• Value-based benefit matrix used to select projects specifically to support strategy and near-term results.
• Defined organization and set of roles (Black Belts, Champions, Sponsors) creates accountability for improvement.
• Critical mass of resources dedicated to process improvement.
• Integration of Lean tools to remove waste and non-value added process complexity/drives speed of delivery (Kaizen events and value stream mapping).

Lean Six Sigma combines the two most important improvement trends of our time: making work better (using Six Sigma) and making work faster (using Lean principles).  The "Lean Six Sigma" term refers to a philosophy, goal, and/or methodology utilized to drive out waste and improve the quality, cost and time performance of any business. These methods provide companies with a series of interventions and statistical tools that lead to breakthrough profitability and quantum gains in quality.