The efficiency of the company you run is paramount. And a systematization of the internal procedures used by your employees may be necessary for your organization to record a steady and predictable increase in profitability. Are you interested in improving the techniques used by your company?
Do you aim to achieve leadership in your market? In this regard, you may be wondering what is Lean Six Sigma and how it can help you. In a nutshell, Lean Six Sigma is a set of procedures and a distinct methodology by which your company can reduce manufacturing waste and increase the quality of products or services offered.
Your company probably operates in a competitive field where financial success or failure is closely linked to the decisions made by management. A successful company that can compete with players in national or international markets must first use a methodology in which the efficiency of the services or products is in tune with the investments in employee training and equipment modernization.
Lean Six Sigma is a set of two distinct methodologies whose origins date back to the mid-20th century. But they remain as relevant now as they were more than fifty years ago.
Lean and Six Sigma are complementary methodologies that ultimately serve the same purpose. Improving the performance of your organization, increasing user satisfaction, and helping achieve a higher market share. What is Lean Six Sigma?
It is a guide to help your business reduce manufacturing errors and promote profitability growth using a set of objective tools, including statistical analysis. Lean Six Sigma eliminates the subjective factor from the equation that, in any company, can be the weak link, leading to a decrease in the efficiency of the implemented processes.
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Efficiency is the Keyword
Have you always wondered what is Lean Six Sigma? Then, you would not be alone. Lean Six Sigma is a buzzword thrown around often in the business world without an exact definition behind it. In reality, Lean Six Sigma refers to two different but complementary schools of thought that aim to improve the profitability of companies.
Lean is a methodology that focuses on reducing waste in the manufacturing process. Initially, the concept was used for machine building industries, where the losses per thousand objects could be massive. But Lean can be applied to a diverse range of businesses.
In Lean methodology, the result must be the reduction of production waiting times, the stopping of excessive production that does not consider the market requirements, and an increase in the productivity of human employees. To work, Lean methodology involves identifying the individual value of the products or services offered to each consumer, mapping the value flow of the company, noting areas where there are losses, and eliminating waste based on the information gathered in the first steps.
Once profitability is increased, the Lean methodology requires a standardization of the used processes and aims for continuous improvements that focus on the value of employees. But what about Six Sigma?
A Different Approach
Six Sigma is a methodology, which in its current form, has been used since the 1980s. However, many people don’t know precisely the steps behind it. Are you interested in discovering what is Lean Six Sigma and how it can help? In this case, you are a person who wants the best for your company. Six Sigma utilizes an approach abbreviated as DMAIC. Which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.
In the “Define” phase, companies that want to use the Six Sigma methodology must analyze their internal processes to concisely define the goals of the enterprise and those of the target audience. And this will help to create a road map of necessary changes.
The “Measure” step requires collecting data defining the company’s success and finding performance indicators that can demonstrate the effectiveness of the implemented internal strategy. The “Analysis” phase is about identifying the factors that can decrease the efficiency of your internal processes.
At the same time, the “Improve” and “Control” steps involve using statistical tools to modify the variables that can increase productivity and keep the market growth of your firm at an optimal level.
Six Sigma is a data-driven method whose ultimate goal is to reduce manufacturing process errors and improve the company’s profitability by utilizing employees’ expertise. As the name of the plan says, the ultimate goal is for the company to reach a “Six Sigma” quality standard, which must, by definition, have less than 3.4 defects for every million products offered.
Such a number is unrealistic, but with the help of statistical tools that remove the human factor from the equation, your firm could get close.
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What Happens When Lean and Six Sigma Are Combined?
In short, the ultimate impact can be a substantial increase in quality and profitability for services or products manufactured by your enterprise. By reducing defects in the production process of your firm’s products, the overall quality of your brand could be improved, which will significantly affect your future marketing efforts.
A good systematization of the internal processes used by your staff could result in increased efficiency and lower costs for your customers. Furthermore, client satisfaction will likely increase because the ultimate focus will be on their needs.
In the Lean Six Sigma methodology, the human factor is removed from the discussion and is instead replaced with a data-first approach that will use data gauging software such as JMP or Excel with the SigmaXL add-on to identify the effectiveness of the methodology used and lay the foundation for your future internal strategies.
When Lean and Six Sigma are combined, the result is a focus on the continuous development of your services. And that, in the long run, could have a crucial effect on the increased profitability of your enterprise.
The Best Tool for Your Firm
What is Lean Six Sigma? It’s an established methodology that could bring your business to the level it deserves while substantially increasing the profitability of your services or products.
The Lean Six Sigma methodology can help you identify the aspects of your company that are underperforming, can be a method by which you can eliminate waste and record the business processes valuable to customers, and may represent a tool by which you can standardize the internal operations of your organization.
Like with other methods used by the management of national or international companies, the success of the Six Sigma methodology will depend on the quality of the internal processes you have implemented, will be in close relation with the experience of your employees, and will be more noticeable if your company operates in a field where internal production efficiency is essential for profitability.
Lean Six Sigma can be a tool for your professional success. And the process of investing in this methodology could be one of your best ideas.
