Lean Six Sigma
What is Lean Six Sigma?
The root of both Lean and Six Sigma reach back to post World War II needs for increased speed and quality in the manufacturing industry. Lean rose as a method for optimizing automotive manufacturing; Six Sigma evolved as a quality initiative to eliminate defects by reducing variation in processes in the semiconductor industry.
Lean Six Sigma is an improvement methodology that maximizes value by achieving the fastest rate of improvement in customer satisfaction, cost, quality, process speed, and invested capital. The fusion of Lean and Six Sigma improvement methods is required because:
- Lean cannot bring a process under statistical control
- Six Sigma alone cannot dramatically improve process speed or reduce invested capital
- Both enable the reduction of the cost of complexity
In short, what sets Lean Six Sigma apart from its individual components is the recognition that you cannot do "just quality" or "just speed," you need the balanced process that can help an organization to focus on improving service quality, as defined by the customer within a set time limit.
How do you apply Lean principles to your Supply Chain?
Become a Lean Enterprise role model by making the decisions and following the practices that have a positive effect throughout your enterprise, from internal processes to supplier interactions. Identify your core competencies so logical choices can be made about which resources are needed for your make-buy decisions. Outsourcing involves more than make-buy decisions; it also includes choosing the right suppliers and developing the right supply chain processes, both of which have far-reaching impact on your bottom line. Be sure that your core suppliers and their systems and philosophies are compatible with yours, and that they are at a comparable level of operational excellence. Communication, continuous improvement through training, and an interlocking structure are key components to a successful supply chain model.The principles of lean can—and should—be applied throughout your supply chain. Just as you use lean to attack waste on your plant floor, you can use lean to root out wastes and errors in the supply chain—too many steps, too many stops, and any errors that consume extra time, people and/or materials. Involve the principles of lean in your pre-production planning around acquiring defect-free supplies from quality suppliers on time.
Benefits:
- Discover waste in your supply chain
- Determine and implement actions to decrease waste in the supply chain
- Identify design deficiencies and avoid waste in your supply chain before it’s created
- Increase supply chain performance
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