Lean 6 Sigma

Lean six sigma training is now being utilized by companies worldwide to increase sales, reduce costs, cut cycle times, improve profitability, and eliminate waste.

First six sigma training was used by just a few major corporations in the early 90′s. Then by the early 2000′s many companies were implementing lean manufacturing.

By 2005, six sigma had gained in popularity with mid size corporations, as lean manufacturing training continued to gain traction.

Within the last couple years, many companies are now combining both methods into a program called lean six sigma. As the name implies, it is the combination of lean and six sigma into one improvement initiative.

With companies all over the world now trying to implement two large disciplines in one program, it is critical to find the right training to provide employees. There are many types, from one or two day programs to online courses lasting several months.

The one or two day live programs are generally an overview which is necessary for top executives and department heads prior to diving into the full scale programs. Week long programs are often delivered because of the cost of live training. While this may be enough for the department heads, the employees doing the implementation need a much deeper understanding of the concepts in order to utilize and integrate both lean and six sigma into the initiative to maximize improvement.

Lean manufacturing concepts often take several weeks to learn and should be learned while beginning an implementation. As the saying goes, you learn by doing.

Six sigma, on the other hand, takes several months for most people to grasp the concepts unless they have considerable experience with statistics such as hypothesis testing, regression analysis, design of experiments, and design for six sigma.

The beauty of online courses is the cost to learn a large subject. Once developed, it doesn’t cost any more to deliver a large training course than a few hour course. The benefit is a thorough understanding of the concepts. The downside is the self motivation necessary to sit down and take a course on your own.

The benefit of a live course is the instruction method is common to trainees. Everyone learns the same material and questions can be asked. The downside is the information is rather shallow in depth.

Online courses are the way to go, but make sure you’re ready to study on your own without being nudged by an instructor.

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Any system invented or developed for improving a process or product is not foolproof. A new principle or system is like a trickling stream which, in the course of its evolutionary journey, is either joined by a number of other contributories or it itself ends up contributing to a bigger stream of thought and system. The synergy produced by this phenomenon benefits innumerable individuals and organizations.

The integration of Lean management tools and Six Sigma produces a synergy that can work wonders for many companies.

In order to achieve the integration with Six Sigma it is imperative that Lean management tools are incorporated with caution and wisdom. If not done properly, it can cause considerable damage.

Recent experiments in a business unit of a Fortune 10 company found five Lean tools and principles that can be safely introduced into a Six Sigma framework.

-Cause-and-Effect Diagram or Ishikawa and 5 Whys: When concrete statistical data is not available in the Analyze phase, it becomes difficult to identify the root causes of a problem.

On such occasions, applying 5 whys in conjunction with the cause and effect diagram can make the job easier. It is a visual tool to logically organize possible causes of a problem area.

-Takt Time: The German word “Takt” meaning ‘beat’, is the time it takes to finish a project to the fulfillment of customers’ demands. During the Analyze phase, the cycle times can be compared to current SLAs (Service Legal Agreements) for processes that involve cycle times.

In the event of a mismatch exceeding tolerance levels, improvements will be needed for matching the cycle time with the takt time.

-Value Stream Mapping: During the Analyze phase, a value stream map helps categorize value enabling, value adding and non-value adding activities. The focus is on identifying and eliminating the non-value added activities in each process step, leading to the reduction in the waiting period between consecutive steps wherever possible.

The process becomes compact, which is beneficial in the process improvement projects that are aimed at reduction of variation. Value stream mapping can be made a part of a Kaizen cycle that is included in the Analyze and Improve phases.

-Mistake-Proofing or Poka Yoke: This Japanese phrase, meaning mistake proofing, can be used to fine tune process steps. It is also useful when creating a new system with DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify).

The Pareto analysis and Ishikawa chart bring out the problems of the current process. During the Improve and Design phases, ways for error elimination can be investigated and the process improved or redesigned in its entirety.

For example, in a software system where data needs to be entered, if there are two options such as ‘end’ and ‘quit’ which seem similar in utility, there can be mouse-over text added, specifying the utility of each option in clear terms.

-Heijunka Or Load Balancing: This system of production design is aimed at providing a more even and consistent flow of process work. In the Design phase, the principle can be used to eliminate the bottlenecks that may have been identified in the Analyze phase.

Load balancing can be used to introduce a level load balance in the system that introduces push systems to eliminate bottlenecks. Load balancing helps reduce inventory as well.

A workout can be undertaken to design a roadmap for the integration of lean and Six Sigma and include the lean tools and principles into the system. This will help improve the tangible benefits and turnaround time for improvement projects.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for six sigma professionals including, lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
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What to Know About Lean Six Sigma

Lean manufacturing system is all about identifying and getting rid of waste and guaranteeing maximum return at the minimum frame of time.

Employing the state of the art SMED Single Minute Exchange of Die, the forceful Lean methodology, attempts in reducing waste in a producing process. The process is based on the theory of Lean 6 Sigma, which desires to be understood if you need to avail the desired result of lean manufacturing system.
Let?s understand the lean six sigma laws :
The Law of the Market -Ensuring quality is indeed the kernel element which helps a business to achieve success. Although the concept of Lean management emphasises on the significant aspect of not overspending and on avoiding excess it is undeniably not the case that you can ultimately get away with this too far as the quality must be matched with the customer’s's standards.
The first law of the lean six sigma implies that the parameters like Customer crucial to Quality, Return on Invested Capital ( ROIC ) and Net Present price ( NPV ) are the scores on which a project wishes to pass in order to become successful.
significant however the flexibleness is also required as a process works faster if there is a decent level of flexibleness inside it.
The Law of Focus – The law of focus focusses on the activities, which causes delay.

This doesn’t mean that focusing on such issues will incur slippage in other aspects, as the law counsels, that all of these duties should be allotted to folk who ensure prompt delivery.
The Law of speed – The fourth law of the’lean six sigma’ suggests that the speed of any process is reciprocally proportional to the amount of uncompleted work. The law guarantees that if work is completed in the minimum time the project as a whole may also be delivered as promptly as practical.

Lean 6 Sigma can be practically applied to ensure accomplishment in producing businesses. As an interesting point if you understand how to use the lean manufacturing system and the SMED Single Minute Exchange of Die technique to your benefit, you can create a much efficient business with better customer satisfaction and improved productivity.

You can gain a lot of knowledge about lean manufacturing here.
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