LOGIN/SIGNUP

Home  Blog  A Brief Introduction To Lean, Six Sigma And Lean Six Sigma

426
Shares

By: Ankit Rastogi

12 MAR 2018

A Brief Introduction To Lean, Six Sigma And Lean

Six Sigma

If you are starting to learn about the concepts of streamlining a business process, you are at the
right place. We will introduce you to the methodologies of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma.
People with no experience in this area can get an idea what it is all about. So let's begin:

Section I: Lean Methodology

What is Lean?
Lean is a systematic approach to reduce or eliminate activities that don't add value to the
process. It emphasizes removing wasteful steps in a process and taking the only value added
steps. The Lean method ensures high quality and customer satisfaction.

It helps in

reducing process cycle time,

improving product or service delivery time,

reducing or eliminating the chance of defect generation,

reducing the inventory levels and

optimizing resources for key improvements among others.

It is a never-ending approach to waste removal, thus promotes a continuous chain of

improvements.

What is “Value”?
Let’s understand what is "Value” in above de nition on Lean:

Depending on the type of business process & industry context, the customer de nes “value”.
“Value” is related to customer’s perception of product(s) or service(s), which he or she is willing to
pay for.

A process is set of activities, which converts inputs into outputs using resources. In a process,
these activities can be classi ed into three types. They are:

Non- Value-added activity: These activities do not add any value to the processor products.
They form the wasteful steps. A customer doesn’t pay for the costs associated with these
activities willingly. Rather, if present excessively they result in customer dissatisfaction.
 Value-added activity: These activities add value to the process and are essential. They
improve processes for productivity and quality.

Enabling value-added activity: These activities do not add value to a customer. They are
necessary for continuity of a process.

In any process, almost 80 – 85% activities are non-value adding activities. The aim of LEAN
approach is to identify them in the process. And use speci c lean tools to eliminate or reduce
them. Thus, Lean improves process e ciency.

You may also like - Six Sigma in Service Sector – A Comprehensive Review

Removing Waste:
Lean concept obtains its genesis from TPS – Toyota Production system. TPS model typically is
well suited for High Volume Production environment. However, Lean nds its application in any
environment, where process wastes are witnessed. Lean can be applied to manufacturing as well
as service industries. It causes no doubt that Lean, nowadays, is being adopted by service sectors
with both arms.

Process waste identi ed in Lean Methodology is known as “Muda”. Muda is a Japanese team for
wastes – introduced by the Japanese engineer Taiichi Ohno of (Toyota) in 1960s.

Using the Lean methodology, you can remove below mentioned eight types of waste
("DOWNTIME" is the acronym for the eight wastes). These wastes are further explained below:

Waste De nition of waste

The e orts involved inspecting for and xing

D Defects
errors, mistakes through reworks.

Producing more products or services that the

O Overproduction customer needs or downstream process can
use.

Idle time created when material, information,

people, or equipment is not ready. It includes
W Waiting high job set up time in manufacturing. Or
excessively high data processing time in the
service industry.

Not adequately leveraging peoples’ skills and

Non – Utilized creativity. Employee empowerment can
N
Talent counter this waste as advocated by Japanese
quality pioneers.

Moving products, equipment, material,

information, or people from one place to
T Transportation
another, without any value addition to nal
product or service.

Unnecessary/ Unwanted stocking or storage of

I Inventory information and/ or material (eg WIP, WIQ –
work in the queue)

Unnecessary movement of people or

machines that takes time and uses energy. It
M Motion
may cause fatigue to workman due to
unwanted movement of a body.

Process steps that do not add value to the

Extra
E product or service, including doing work
Processing
beyond a customer’s speci cation.

Table 1: Explanation of Eight Deadly Wastes

 You may also like - 8 Fatal Lean wastes: How to Identify them?

The Five Principles of Lean

These Lean principles can be applied to any process to reduce the wastes. They are:

Image Source: https://blogs.mtu.edu/improvement/2014/01/08/back-to-the-basics-5-principles-

of-lean/

Figure 2: Lean Principles

1. De ne Value: The customer de nes the value of a product or service. Hence, the rst step is
to identify customers. Ask yourself, what does the customer value? Figure out customer’s
expectations from your products or services. Classify the process activities into Non-Value
added, Value-added and Enabling value added.

2. Map the value stream: The value stream mapping shows the work ow process steps for a
product or service. The value stream mapping helps to identify & eliminate NVA activities.
This eventually helps you to reduce the process delays and thereby improves quality of
product/service.

3. Create Flow: Create ow to the customer by ensuring continuous ow system in producing

product or service. Flow will optimize the process to maximize process e ciency.

4. Establish Pull: establish pull approach by meeting system beat time. The beat time is the
rate at which a product must be ready to meet the customer demand. JIT (Just in time) is a
tool promoting Pull system. This ensures smooth work ow of the process without any
disruptions. It also helps to diminish inventory level.

5. Seek Continuous Improvement: Finally, you must put consistent e orts to improve the
existing business processes to cater ever-changing customer needs. This ensures
elimination of waste and defects free products & quality service to customers.

Introduction to some important Lean tools:

1. VSM (Value stream mapping): As already discussed, VSM helps to identify process wastes
and causes of these wastes.

2. Kaizen: It’s a continuous improvement approach focusing on small – small improvements. It

involves the commitment of down level people in the organization towards process
improvements, facilitated by subordinates and supported by management.

3. Just in Time: It’s a pull approach to meet customer demands as & when it ows from a
customer.

4. SMED (Single minute exchange of dies): It improves equipment changeover time. It works
on a principle of reducing changeover time to within ten minutes.

5. Poke Yoke: It’s a mistake-proo ng device used in assembly to alert operators on defects or
failures.
 6. Jidoka (Autonomation): Also known as intelligent automation. It stops the assembly or
production line if a defect occurs.

7. Heijunka: It’s the concept of Line Balancing. The aim is to evenly distribute the load by
balancing production lines.

8. Gemba (Go & See): The aim is to go to the actual place of work. Observe the process and
executions in real time with care. Record the observations. It’s another way to nd process
pitfalls.

9. Kanban: It’s a signal system to manage inventory level. Kanban boards can be displayed and
managed to see the current inventory level on a real time basis. It also alerts to the
management to bring the attention over excessive inventory. Excessive inventory ties up the
working capital and blocks it from productive usage.

Now let’s understand about management approach of Six Sigma.

You may also like - Lean Six Sigma methodologies: How do they improve Health Care industry?

Section II: Six Sigma

What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma is a data-driven problem-solving methodology. The focus is on process variations and
emphasis is given to customer satisfaction. Continous process improvement with low defects is
the goal of this method.

The goal of Six Sigma:

The aim of Six Sigma is to make a process e ective with - 99.99996 % defect free. This means a
six sigma process produces in 3.4 defects per million opportunities or less as a result.

Six Sigma is a structured problem-solving methodology. Problem-solving in Six Sigma is done

using the DMAIC framework. There are ve stages in this framework. They are

De ne,

Measure,

Analyse,

Improve,

Control.

Source: Pinterest

Six Sigma
Description of Phase
Phase

In this stage, project objectives are outlined. A

project charter is an important component of this
 phase. A project charter is a blueprint document
for a six sigma project. A typical charter contains
the following information:

Business case

Problem statement

Goal statement
De ne
Project scope

Resources

Timelines

Estimated bene ts

This charter gives an overview of a six sigma

project and is approved by top management to
give a go-ahead to six sigma project.

Process variables are measured at this stage.

Process data is collected. The baseline is obtained
Measure
and metrics are compared with nal performance
metrics. Process capability is obtained.

Root cause analysis is done at this stage. Complex

analysis tools are utilized to identify the root
causes of a defect. Tools like histograms, Pareto
Analyse charts, shbone diagrams are used to identify the
root causes. Hypotheses tests are conducted to
verify and validate root causes, Viz Regression test,
ANOVA test, Chi-square etc.

Once nal root causes are identi ed, solutions

need to be formed to improve the process. Steps to
identify, test and implement the solutions to
Improve eliminate root causes are part of this stage.
Simulation studies, Design of experiments,
Prototyping are some of the techniques used here
to improve and maximize process performance.

After implementing the solutions, the performance

of the solutions must be recorded. A control
system must be in place to monitor the
performance post improvement. And a response
plan is developed to handle solution failure.
Control Process standardization through Control plans &
work instructions is typically a part of this phase.
Control charts show the process performance.
Project bene ts are discussed and veri ed against
estimated one. The main purpose of this phase is
to ensure holding the gains.

Table 2: Six Sigma Phases and their descriptions

You may also like - Six Sigma Certi cation: How does it bene t your career & organization?

Section III: Lean Six Sigma

What is Lean Six Sigma?
De ning Lean Six Sigma:
ASQ (The American Society for Quality) states,
“Lean Six Sigma is a fact-based, data-driven philosophy of improvement that values defect
prevention over defect detection. It drives customer satisfaction and bottom-line results by
reducing variation, waste, and cycle time, while promoting the use of work standardization and
ow, thereby creating a competitive advantage. It applies anywhere variation and waste exist, and
every employee should be involved.”

Lean Six Sigma combines the strategies of Lean and Six Sigma. Lean principles help to reduce or
eliminate process wastes. Six Sigma focuses on variation - reduction in process. Thereby, the
principles of Lean Six Sigma help to improve the e ciency and quality of the process.

Source: www.circle6consulting.com

Why is Lean Six Sigma gaining the importance in today’s

scenario?
Today’s environment is very dynamic. Lean or six sigma approach in this dynamic environment
cannot bring full potential to improvements if applied in isolation. Integration of Lean & Six Sigma
ensures exceptional improvements. In this management approach, traditionally the lean
methodology is used rst to remove the waste in a process. Later, the Six Sigma tools are used to
improve process variations. However, these two methods go hand in hand in today’s time. The
ultimate objective is to improve processes by reducing variation and eliminating waste. It’s a
continuous improvement process, where Lean methods and Six Sigma approaches, both take
their turn during PDCA. The extent of approaches may di er depending upon process
complexities or improvement sought. The combination of these two methods helps to develop
streamlined processes with high quality & results. It improves bottom-line pro ts and helps
meeting business goals.

The integrated Lean Six Sigma management approach is being used across sectors and
industries. It promotes to exceptional changes in organization's performance. Lean Six Sigma
leads to enjoying competitive advantages in various companies in the world. They can be a
product or service-oriented companies. The LSS methodology improves processes and makes
them e cient. The key to success is management support, employee engagement and
commitment to improving customer satisfaction.

Final Takeaway:
In a nutshell, Lean methodology aims at waste reduction in process, while six sigma aims at
reduction of process variation. However, both the approaches go hand in hand to realize the full
potential of process improvements. An integrated approach of lean six sigma helps improving
process e ciency, optimizing resources and increasing customer satisfaction, while improving
pro ts and curtailing cost.
Hope, now you understand the di erences between these three management approaches. They
have their bene ts when applied to di erent business processes. They improve the quality of
existing processes and make you a better manager.

Become a Lean expert Now!

About The Author
Discerning experience of more than 9 years in Quality Management System, Quality Assurance, Process
Improvement, Operational Excellence, Project Management, Quality Audits, Training & Development; Ankit has
demonstrated abilities in driving Lean Six Sigma projects and conducting Lean Six Sigma workshops in production
and service environments. His credentials include but are not limited to, ASQ certi ed Six Sigma Black Belt, QMS
9001:2015 Lead Auditor, Certi ed Project Management Professional, Lean Practitioner and Certi ed TQM
Professional. For driving operational excellence by deploying Quality Management tools and implementing best
business practices, he has been rewarded and recognized on many occasions by peers & employers. Also, he is a
vivid technical writer in the Project Management and Quality Management domains

Ankit Rastogi

POPULAR POSTS

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Top 10 reasons you should know

to get an AWS Certi cation
RAID Log: How is it useful for a Project Manager?

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

RAID Log: How is it useful for a

Project Manager?

IT Service Manager: The Hero of 2020

OCTOBER 29, 2018

IT Service Manager: The Hero of

2020

An Ultimate Guide to Control Charts in Six Sigma

OCTOBER 26, 2018

An Ultimate Guide to Control

Charts in Six Sigma

OCTOBER 23, 2018

Top 10 Popular Linux Distros for

Penetration Testing and Ethical
Hacking

OCTOBER 16, 2018

Scrum Master vs Project

Manager: How are they di erent?

Popular Courses

Project Management Professional® Training

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

PMI-ACP

CSM

ITIL-Foundation

PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner

Join us!

Become our trainer

Become our a liate

Create a course

Careers

Contact & Support

Sales

 sales@greycampus.com

 USA +1 855 542 2678

 USA +1 347 994 9941

 IND +91 741 666 4433

 HKG +852 5808 4350

Support

 support@greycampus.com

Company

About us

Customer Speak

Contact us

For Enterprise

Sitemap

Privacy policy

Cookie policy

Terms of use

FAQ

Cancellation / Rescheduling policy

Project Management : PMP® Certi cation Training | CAPM® Certi cation Training | PRINCE2® Foundation Training Classes |
PRINCE2® Practitioner Training Classes | PRINCE2® Foundation and Practitioner Combo | Microsoft Project Training
Quality Management : Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Training & Certi cation | Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Training & Certi cation |
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Training & Certi cation | Lean Six Sigma Green & Black Belt Training & Certi cation Combo |
Six Sigma Yellow Belt Training & Certi cation | Six Sigma Green Belt Training & Certi cation | Six Sigma Black Belt Training & Certi cation |
Six Sigma Green & Black Belt Training & Certi cation Combo | MiniTab Training
Agile and Scrum : PMI-ACP® Certi cation Training | Certi ed ScrumMaster® (CSM®) Training and Certi cation Course
IT Service Management : ITIL® Foundation Training & Certi cation | ITIL Intermediate Service Transition Training |
ITIL® Intermediate Service Operations Training | ITIL Intermediate Continual Service Improvement (CSI) Training | Service Management Training
Information Technology : Arti cial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Foundation Course | CCNA Routing & Switching Training |
AWS Certi ed Solutions Architect - Associate | AWS Certi ed SysOps Administrator - Associate | AWS Certi ed DevOps Engineer - Professional |
CEH (V10) - Certi ed Ethical Hacker Training | Big Data Hadoop Developer Training & Certi cation | MCSE Server Infrastructure Training |
MCSE Desktop Infrastructure Training | MCSE Data Platform Training | MCSE Enterprise Devices and Apps Training | MCSE Private Cloud Training |
MCSE Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Training | MCSE Communication Training | Internet of Things-IoT 101 | CompTIA Network+ Training |
CCNP Routing and Switching Training | CISSP Certi cation Training | CISA Certi ed Information Systems Auditor Course | EC-Council Certi ed Security Analyst |
EC-Council Certi ed Secure Programmer.Net | Certi ed Chief Information Security O cer | EC-Council Disaster Recovery Professional |
Certi ed Network Defender | Data Visualization using Tableau | Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator |
Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions (70-533) | MCSA Certi cation (Microsoft Certi ed Solutions Associate) | Stepping into Windows PowerShell
Others : MS Excel 2013 Advanced Training | Microsoft Access 2013 for Database Managers | CompTIA A+ Training | GNS3 Training | AngularJS Training |
Ruby Programming | Python Basics Training | PIG Training

GreyCampus
© Workshops This
By site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies and to our privacy policy.
City Got it!

 United States