Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma organization structure

Lean Six Sigma is a managerial concept combining Lean and Six Sigma that results in the elimination of the seven kinds of wastes / muda (classified as Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Over-Processing, and Defects) and provision of goods and service at a rate of 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). A mnemonic for the wastes is "TIMWOOD".

The Lean Six Sigma concepts were first published in the book titled Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma with Lean Speed by Michael George in 2002. Lean Six Sigma utilises the DMAIC phases similar to that of Six Sigma. The Lean Six Sigma projects comprise the Lean's waste elimination projects and the Six Sigma projects based on the critical to quality characteristics. The DMAIC toolkit of Lean Six Sigma comprises all the Lean and Six Sigma tools. The training for Lean Six Sigma is provided through the belt based training system similar to that of Six Sigma. The belt personnel are designated as white belts, yellow belts, green belts, black belts and master black belts, similar to karate.

Lean Six Sigma were developed at a time when computers were not in widespread use. Today the situation is completely different. It seems very important to take into account in Lean Six Sigma projects also about automation. A rule of thumb coming from many years of application at GE is that the benefits of a Lean Sigma project come roughly 50% from organizational and layout modifications and 50% from digitization.

See also

• Business process
• Design for Six Sigma
• Lean manufacturing
• Six Sigma
• Total productive maintenance
• Total quality management

External links

• Lean Six Sigma for Real Business Results, IBM Redguide