Lean Six Sigma is a strategy for continuous improvement in performance through the elimination of wasted time and resource throughout the business. Sigma is a statistical concept that represents the amount of variation in a process relative to customer requirements or specifications. When a process operates at the six sigma level, the variation is so small that the resulting products and services are 99.9997% defect free.
In addition to being a statistical measure of variation, the term six sigma also refers to a business philosophy of focusing on continuous improvement by:
- understanding customers needs
- analysing business processes
- instituting proper measurement methods
While Six Sigma corresponds to being 99.9997% defect free, not all business processes need to attain this high a goal. Companies can also use the Six Sigma methodology to identify which of their key business processes would benefit most from improvement and then focus their improvement there.
Significant Service Impact at 99.9% Quality, Equivalent to Sigma Level 4:
- At least 20,000 wrong drug prescriptions per year
- Unsafe drinking water for almost 1 hour each month
- No telephone service for nearly 10 minutes each week
- 25,000 lost or incorrectly delivered articles of mail per hour
- Over 9,000 wrong convictions per year
Process Capability
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Why Lean Six Sigma?
- It is a key element of an overall Organisational Six Sigma improvement strategy
- To increase margin
- To reduce the time it takes to get solutions to customers
- To move stock value from stability to growth
- To improve competitive position
- To support the business imperatives
Lean Six Sigma Project Methodology: DMAIC
Business process improvement can be achieved by using the DMAIC project methodology. DMAIC consists of 5 distinct phases:
- Define the problem, the voice of the customer, and the project goals.
- Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
- Analyse the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out root cause of the defect under investigation.
- Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques such as design of experiments, mistake proofing, and standard work to create a new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.
- Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical process control, production boards, and visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the process.
The DMAIC Process Flow
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Lean and Six Sigma certification:
To gain an in depth understanding of Lean Six Sigma philosophies, methodologies and tools Evolution offer the following Lean Six Sigma certification programmes:
Six Sigma:
Lean Sigma:
Six Sigma Belts
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Please feel free to contact us to see how our Lean Six Sigma Programmes can assist in the elimination of wasted time and resources throughout your organisation.
[Learning Resource: Minitab Theater]
- Video: Value Stream Mapping
- Video: Lean Six Sigma Soft Tools
- Video: Process Mapping
