Why Every Workplace Should Know About Lean Six Sigma

August 19 2020 - Are you ready to take your organization to the next level? If you want to achieve your mission with the ultimate in speed and efficiency, then you need to explore Lean Six Sigma.

What is Lean Six Sigma, and how can it help your organization? Keep reading to find out!

Lean Six Sigma: The Basics

First things first - what is Lean Six Sigma? It's the combination of two "continuous improvement methods" - Lean and Six Sigma. Both are based on defining processes and finding ways to make them faster and more efficient.

A process is the series of steps involved in anything we do. This could range from tying your shoe to manufacturing a complex piece of electronics. Process improvement involves reworking the process to remove any steps that are wasteful or inefficient.

When organizations continually work on improving their processes, they will grow and thrive by leaps and bounds when compared with organizations that do not.

The Process

Lean is a methodology that uses what's known as the PDCA method. This stands for Plan - Do - Check - Adjust. It also employs tools knows as "8 Wastes" and "5S." These are designed to remove steps that aren't beneficial and create and maintain an intuitive workspace.

Six Sigma uses the DMAIC method. This stands for Define - Measure - Analyze - Improve - Control. This system's primary tools are Control Charts and FMEA (Failure Modes & Effects Analysis).

Lean Six Sigma combines these methods and tools to create a problem-solving culture within an organization. It makes "finding a better way" a core tenant of the organization and turns it into a daily habit for everyone involved.

Incredible Benefits

When an organization uses these methodologies to streamline its processes, the benefits quickly follow. Some of the things you'll notice include:

• Improved customer experience
• Increased loyalty
• Higher bottom-line results
• Lower costs / less waste
• Better ability to adapt to everyday challenges
• Improved production capacity
• Higher profitability
• Increased employee morale
• Improved employee development

The results are the same for any size organization, from a huge corporation to a small business. In fact, smaller organizations often benefit more due to having fewer people to manage and less red tape to navigate.

Lean Six Sigma Certification

Since Lean Six Sigma is a complex process, the certification is broken down into distinct levels. It begins with the very basics - white belt certification. You can then progress through yellow, green, and black belt, and eventually to master black belt and champion.

Many organizations start out with a goal of having all employees reach Six Sigma yellow belt level. This allows them to participate in teams and report process issues to green and black belts.

Are You Ready to Start Your Lean Six Sigma Journey?

If all of this information seems a bit overwhelming, it's okay. Once you learn a bit more about Lean Six Sigma, it will all make more sense!

Hopefully, this post has provided a simple introduction and encouraged you to keep exploring this incredible methodology! Before you head off to explore it in greater detail, spend a few more minutes scrolling through our blog posts. You'll find lots more information to help you grow and improve your organization.