Six Sigma focuses on reducing defects, while Lean Six Sigma focuses on reducing waste. While the goals are essentially the same-streamlining process for efficiency-the differences between Lean vs. Teams often find that achieving truly lean processes requires starting through the entire value stream mapping process multiple times to create ever-increasing improvements.Īlso Read: What Is Lean Management? Principles & Everything You Need to Know The Differences Between Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma The goal of Lean Six Sigma is to seek perfection by constantly reviewing processes and continuing to eliminate non-value. This can produce cost-saving efficiencies to benefit companies and customers. This reduces the lead time for product delivery and can eliminate waste, such as inventory holding costs for excess raw materials. Improving process flow shortens the time to market for product delivery, making it easier for customers to “pull” products from you when needed. As such, teams need to think cross-functionally when creating a flow to employ a holistic approach. Often, removing waste in one step can create additional bottlenecks in subsequent steps. The remaining steps must flow smoothly without bottlenecks once the waste has been eliminated from the value stream. A typical value stream map might include the customer ordering process, project acceptance and design, procurement of raw materials through supply chains, production, administration, billing, and delivery.Īt each step in the process, the goal is to identify areas that do not create value and find ways to eliminate wasteful steps. Sometimes called process re-engineering, each incremental step in the flow is detailed. Mapping the value stream requires documenting every step in the process, from customer requests to deliveries. This process helps establish the value of improvements, the impact of changes, and the end goal. For example, Lean Six Sigma teams will want to understand timelines for producing and delivering goods or services, the appropriate price points versus costs, and project requirements or expectations that must be met. To improve performance, Lean Six Sigma focuses on the value defined by customer or client needs. While both methodology target process improvements, Lean Six Sigma uses five lean principles: Lean Six Sigma focuses more on eliminating waste, such as processes and procedures that do not add value. Six Sigma is designed to reduce process variation and enhance process control. Six Sigma is designed for continuous improvement, so once all five phases are complete, the cycle starts anew to drive even better outcomes by identifying and resolving additional bottlenecks in processes.Īlso Read: Six Sigma Green Belt Salary: Here’s Everything You Should Know What is Lean Six Sigma? Have we standardized improvements to become standard operating procedures?.What are the outcomes of process changes?.Teams will monitor progress and answer these questions: The final step is the control phase, which includes the implementation of the solution and assurance that goals are achieved. When, where, and how do we implement the optimal solution?.Which solutions achieve optimal results?.What are all of the possible solutions?.Team members will research and detail the answers to these questions: With data in hand and an understanding of the root cause, it’s time to examine potential solutions. How does this root cause impact the output?.What does the data tell us about the root cause?.The next step in DMAIC is to analyze the root cause of system problems that impact productivity and efficiency. What is the performance of the current process?.During this phase, Six Sigma teams must answer questions such as: Before starting a project, it’s essential to set benchmarks to measure the impact of changes. The measurement phase ensures we can quantify the problem and accurately assess improvement. You must also define the project management team, who will participate, how you will undertake the analysis, and the key stakeholders involved.Īlso Read: What is Quality Management? A Complete Guide Measure In the first phase of Six Sigma, you define the project scope and existing process you are trying to improve by answering these questions: Six Sigma focuses on five core principles, known by the acronym DMAIC. The Six Sigma methodology uses statistical analysis to streamline processes, reduce variations, and lower defect rates in production for continuous improvement. We will explain the difference between Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma, identify the processes each methodology uses to improve efficiency, the factors to consider when choosing a methodology, and where to get Lean Six Sigma training to hone your skills. However, they approach the process in slightly different ways. Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma both strive to accomplish similar goals: to create more efficient processes that produce greater value.
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