Lean Six Sigma FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

 

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is an integrated set of methodologies that encompasses both Lean and Six Sigma concepts. It combines two powerful approaches to provide the tools necessary to address all aspects of quality, cost, and delivery. Both Lean and Six Sigma methodologies have a strong customer and quality focus and rely on continual improvement, which enable them to be effectively synergistic.
Lean focuses on providing products and services at competitive prices by eliminating waste and its drivers, whereas Six Sigma focuses on minimizing and reducing process variations that lead to defects. Lean Six Sigma integrates traditional Six Sigma thinking and methods with Lean thinking and approaches to allow organizations to achieve value more quickly at the lowest possible cost.
 

How is Lean Six Sigma different from Lean or Six Sigma individually?

Lean Six Sigma combines the strength of Six Sigma’s data-driven analysis with the straightforward Lean approaches to eliminating waste and its drivers. The resulting blend of the two methodologies provides a more robust toolset that organizations can use to solve problems, employing those tools and techniques that are best suited for the specific problem being addressed. The flexibility of Lean Six Sigma both blends Lean methodologies with the Six Sigma DMAIC model and allows Lean approaches to be used on their own within the DMAIC model.

How does Lean Six Sigma differ from past management initiatives?

Lean Six Sigma incorporates and builds on many of the successful elements of past initiatives. It combines the Six Sigma performance measure that evaluates processes based on their ability to meet customer requirements with Lean approaches to reducing and eliminating waste and its drivers, creating value more quickly, at the lowest possible cost.

To achieve this result, Lean Six Sigma combines the two powerful approaches of Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma to provide the tools to address all aspects of quality, cost, and delivery. Lean Six Sigma offers specific qualitative and quantitative strategies for all three phases of management—process (re)design, process management, and process improvement.
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What is the goal of Lean Six Sigma?

The goal of Lean Six Sigma is to help organizations to create value more quickly at the lowest possible cost. To achieve this goal Lean Six Sigma strives to drive out waste while aligning processes with customers.

What is the advantage of the integration of Lean Six Sigma?

The integration of Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma to create Lean Six Sigma offers organizations distinct advantages:

  • Combines two powerful toolsets to allow organizations to address all aspects of quality, cost, and delivery.
  • Fosters a focus on understanding and meeting customer requirements in the most cost-effective manner possible.
  • Creates a process focus for organizations.
  • Allows organizations to accrue significant benefits by driving out waste while aligning processes with customers’ needs, wants, and expectations.
  • Facilitates measurable tracking of improvement.
  • Promotes greater participation across all levels of the organization.
  • Increases employment of continual improvement concepts into everyday work.
     

How does Lean Six Sigma apply to process management?

Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques can be used to identify, document, measure, monitor, and control critical processes, ensuring that performance meets customer requirements.

How does Lean Six Sigma apply to process improvement?

Process improvement is required when an organization’s performance is not meeting customer requirements. Lean Six Sigma provides a comprehensive set of tools, techniques, and approaches to allow an organization to fully identify and understand customer requirements, analyze its existing performance against those requirements, implement solutions to address performance gaps, and maintain the improved state in an ongoing manner. Lean Six Sigma utilizes the tools and techniques that are best suited for the specific problem being addressed..

How does Lean Six Sigma apply to Process (re)design?

Process (re)design is required when an organization does not have the existing capabilities to meet customer requirements which require new products or services to be developed.

Lean Six Sigma provides a comprehensive set of tools, techniques, and approaches to allow an organization to gather customer requirements, develop specifications based on those requirements, develop and implement solutions to meet the requirements, and verify the requirements have been met by the new product or service. Solutions are built to drive out waste while aligning processes with customers.

If I have an existing Six Sigma program, can I incorporate Lean into it for an integrated Lean Six Sigma strategy?

Yes. Many organizations that are already following Six Sigma are now incorporating Lean into their programs. Oriel Incorporated can work with your organization to integrate Lean concepts and tools into your existing structure, giving you the flexibility to use the tools and techniques that are best suited for the specific problem being addressed.

If I have an existing Lean program, can I incorporate Six Sigma into it for an integrated Lean Six Sigma strategy?

Yes. Because of the complementary nature of the methodologies, Six Sigma can be integrated into an existing Lean program. Oriel Incorporated can work with your organization to effectively integrate Six Sigma concepts and tools into your existing Lean system, giving you the flexibility to use the tools and techniques that are best suited for the specific problem being addressed.

What would it take for my organization to implement Lean Six Sigma?

There are seven essential steps to implementing Lean Six Sigma:

  1. Top management understanding the necessity of Lean Six Sigma and making the commitment to implement it successfully.
  2. Access to current information on customer needs—your critical data pool.
  3. A process management system to measure current performance and identify where you need to make improvements.
  4. Resources—coaches, Black Belts, and Green Belts—trained to design and improve processes and to assist process owners.
  5. Ongoing management involvement and review to reinforce process management, improvement, and design.
  6. Communication to ensure that customer focus and Lean Six Sigma methods are embraced throughout the organization.
  7. Assigned responsibilities for Lean Six Sigma within the organization.
     

How long does it take the Lean Six Sigma management philosophies to become established in an organization?

It can take anywhere from two to five years for Lean Six Sigma management philosophies to become completely established in an organization—there are no shortcuts. Progress depends on how well top management leads the initiative. If top management is out front leading the effort by both encouragement and example, then Lean Six Sigma will permeate the organization more quickly and more permanently. .

How do I know which processes my organization should target for improvement?

Not every process needs immediate improvement. Start by considering which processes concern your customers the most and place your priorities there. For example, a grocery chain might learn from surveys that their customers care less about how many varieties of tomatoes are for sale than they do about how those tomatoes are grown and how safely they are processed.

How does my organization select Lean Six Sigma projects to undertake?

There is a systematic process for selection. It begins with the organization’s top management, who identify what processes are “hurting” the organization the most and then translate the broad topics into executable projects. Based on the nature of the problem being addressed, the appropriate Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques are then applied. Once the projects are prioritized, then process improvement teams are assigned to work on them.

How do I know when to use which set of tools in a blended Lean Six Sigma approach?

The appropriate set of Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques are applied based on the nature of the problem being addressed. When the root cause is unknown, the solution(s) are not known, and advanced statistical analysis is required, the DMAIC method can be employed. This may involve incorporating Lean approaches in the IMPROVE phase as part of the solution(s). This method of improvement is executed in a project manner.

In some instances when a solution is not apparent, a known Lean approach can be applied to address a problem and implement a solution without any further statistical analysis. In this case, the Lean DMAIC method can be applied. This involves using primarily Lean tools throughout the DMAIC phases and executing the improvement in a Lean (Kaizen or blitz) event.
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What is a Lean/kaizen/blitz event?

A Lean (kaizen or blitz) event is an intense, brief team effort to apply specific Lean approaches to reduce waste, defects, and cycle time while implementing improvements in a particular process or department.

How much training is required to implement a successful Lean Six Sigma program?

There are various levels of expertise that exist within the Lean Six Sigma structure. Based on each of the levels, the training requirements vary. Here is a list of some of the most-recognized qualification levels:

  • Lean Six Sigma Black Belt: This is an individual who has acquired advanced expertise in DMAIC, Lean DMAIC, and DMADV and is capable of leading a major improvement or (re)design project.

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt candidates are assessed in three stages:

  1. The organization ensures that the candidate possesses the personal skills, leadership prowess, and experience to lead project teams.
  2. The candidate attends an intensive five-week training program; the five week-long sessions are spaced about a month apart. The candidate must pass a written examination at the end of each session and after all five sessions have been completed.
  3. The candidate leads, from inception to conclusion, a successful Lean Six Sigma project that has been authorized and validated by the organization, and submits a report to the examiner. This report must demonstrate the candidate’s mastery of the tools and methods of Lean Six Sigma. Any tools not required by the project itself can be demonstrated by means of separate case studies conducted and reported by the candidate.

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt: This is an individual who has sufficient expertise in DMAIC and Lean DMAIC (or DMADV) to contribute to a major improvement or (re)design project through data collection, analysis, and other activities. Although Lean Six Sigma Green Belts typically perform in a supplementary role, they may sometimes lead smaller scale improvement projects.

Candidates take a three-week training class and must pass a written examination. Project work is normally assigned and evaluated by the organization itself.