Bonita Robertson leads the Lean/Six Sigma team at Broadwell Consulting, LLC. She oversees the Lean/Six Sigma demand (supply) chain for over 200 manufacturing plants worldwide, on multiple continents in a host of different languages.  She has helped establish Internal Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt Certification programs worldwide. 

Her true passion is implementing value added processes that not only eliminate waste and reduce variance, but most importantly are "sustainable." 

Calculating process effectiveness is something many businesses would like to execute, but are frequently unsuccessful at carrying out. Gauging overall performance is noticeably less complicated when an organization utilizes a standardized system with recorded process and quality indicators such as the Six Sigma, Lean, or Lean Six Sigma approaches.  The origins of both Lean and Six Sigma date back to a period when the manufacturing sector faced a great deal of pressure for improved quality and speed. Lean initiated as a technique for perfecting automobile manufacturing, while Six Sigma was set up as a quality initiative that would eliminate significant problems by minimizing deviation in procedures. Some of the earliest advocates of Lean Six Sigma were leading manufacturing firms such as Caterpillar and GE Capital.

Background/Historical Overview

Six Sigma began as a group of procedures developed to enhance production in manufacturing and do away with flaws and weaknesses in system processes. However, it was later expanded to include additional forms of business procedures. Motorola’s Bill Smith first developed the specifics of Six Sigma in 1986 and Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola. Six Sigma was empowered by a number of previous quality enhancement approaches, including TQM and Zero Defects.

Lean Manufacturing, also known as Lean Production, or simply Lean, is a process that looks at the operation from the viewpoint of the client. Therefore, ‘value’ is determined as any technique or procedure that the client would be willing to invest in. The objective is to deliver value and quality with a reduced amount of labor. Perhaps one of the first mentions of Lean Manufacturing was in a 1988 article by John Krafcik, former quality engineer with Toyota, titled, “Triumph of the Lean Production System." Following the release of this article in the Sloan Management Review, the theory gained momentum throughout the 1990s and continued into the 21st century.

Lean Six Sigma
In recent years, some management experts and scholars have determined that Lean and Six Sigma are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the two methodologies actually complement each other and using them in tandem may provide firms with additional benefits. Combining the practices affords an organization the opportunity to improve the balanced process while focusing on improving quality of service within a set time limit.

How Does It Work??
To understand Lean Six Sigma, one should have a basic understanding of its primary components:  


Six Sigma
--Focus on computable financial results from all Six Sigma projects.
--Emphasizes senior operations management and support.
--Frontrunners are utilized to lead and execute the Six Sigma initiative.
--An organizational commitment to decision-making based on verifiable data.

Lean
--Views the organization as a whole.
--Streamlines the flow of products and services company-wide.
--Delivers a better experience to the end customers.


Success Stories
There are many organizations that have realized process improvements through the use of Lean and Six Sigma procedures. The following three firms have obtained success in terms of process improvement utilizing Six Sigma, Lean, or Lean Six Sigma methodologies:

3M
3M was ‘reinvented’ when James McNerney took the helm as CEO and brought Six Sigma with him from his stint at GE. He used detailed statistical analysis to develop data that helped improve quality, lower costs, and increase efficiency.

GE
GE is easily a leader in terms of Six Sigma experience and success. The company was an early adopter of Six Sigma practices, launching its initial Six Sigma efforts in 1995. Jack Welch's commitment to Six Sigma had a measurable impact on GE’s bottom line.

Acme Electric Corp.
Acme Electric Corp., an Actuant brand, has been manufacturing Power Conditioning Equipment for industrial, commercial and OEM applications for over eighty-five years. The firm is the largest manufacturer of electrical transformers in the United States. In 2002, Acme began training key personnel in Six Sigma. Acme Electric saved $200,000 and freed up $1 million in cash in just two years.

Is Lean Six Sigma Right For You?
Only your organization can answer that question. However, if you would like to improve the quality of your product or service, decrease your time-to-market, and reduce the waste and number of process defects, you should seriously consider using Six Sigma Lean methodologies to improve your business processes.

Lean/Six Sigma 2010 Conferences

Kim Taylor Certified Master  BlackBelt

Jim Borg Certified Master  BlackBelt

Process of Implementing  an Internal LEAN Environment

Step one:
The first thing that you are going to need to do is to make sure that your upper management or senior management is onboard and are willing to practice what they are preaching. Employees most often learn by example and nobody sets more of an example than your upper management, so in order to implement lean manufacturing it must started from the top and work its way down.

Step two:
The next thing that you are going to need to do is to pick a project leader. Keep in mind when picking the project leader you are going to want to pick somebody who gets along well with others, is well liked and respected by their employees, not to mention somebody who has a persuasive personality. The reason you want somebody like this is because they are going to be responsible for bringing together teams from a cross functional environment.

Step three:
The next thing that you are going to need to do is to pick a small group of people, around 3 to 5 people, from different departments. These people you are picking are going to be working with the project leader in implementing lean manufacturing. And since they are going to be in charge of switching over to lean manufacturing you are going to want to make sure that they are enthusiastic about it and support it.

Step four:
After you have picked out your entire team, the project manager and the 3 to 5 people from the different departments, you are going to want to begin training the team on lean manufacturing. What you are going to be teaching this team is the various lean tools and techniques.

Step five: 
After training the team on the various lean tools and techniques you are going to want to choose the most appropriate techniques for your company you can decide as a team or use management's decision in this case. After choosing the right techniques for your company you are going to want to prioritize them so that you can implement them in the order you feel is most important. But keep in mind that you do not have to implement all of the lean tools and techniques; you should only implement the ones that work the best for your company.

Step six:
After you have decided what you are going to you will need to address the entire workforce as to what you are doing. When you are talking to the workforce be sure to tell them why you are choosing to implement lean, how it will affect them and what you require from the employees.

Step seven:
You do not want to just suddenly switch your entire company over to lean what you are going to want to do is to select one area (pilot area) and one project (pilot project) where you can begin to implement lean. When introducing lean you will want to introduce something that is easy and will give you results immediately.

Step eight:
Make sure that you continue with this program for at least 2 to 3 months so that you can learn from your mistakes. Once you have gotten the hang of the first project you can begin the process for implementing lean in other areas of the workplace.

            

The Six Sigma approach to identifying and resolving common business challenges has been gaining momentum in recent years, and many leading companies have already enjoyed great success with the program.  Understanding these advantages and how they can impact your company, your reputation and your bottom line is important.  If you think your own company may be able to benefit from the Six Sigma approach, just consider some of these important advantages.

The Six Sigma process allows businesses to catch defects in their products before they reach the customer.  This reduces the possibility of costly recalls, while maintaining the reputation for quality the firm has worked so hard to achieve.

The Six Sigma approach is focused on the customer – not on the needs of the corporation.  Companies who have been through the Six Sigma process understand that without the support of customers they will not succeed.
With the Six Sigma process companies can reduce the cycle time of their products.  Bringing new products to market quickly gives companies a competitive advantage and helps them to maintain their profitability even in a challenging business climate.

The quality created by the Six Sigma process can build customer loyalty and establish a reputation for quality.  Company reputation is a critical component of success, and smart companies are already using the Six Sigma process to identify weak links in the quality control process and build better and more reliable products.

With Six Sigma decisions are based on quantifiable hard data, not feelings and hunches.  Data based decisions are critical, and the Six Sigma process teaches managers how to gather data and use it to make intelligent and informed decisions.

The Six Sigma approach lets companies better manage their time.  No matter what the business, employee time is costly, and it is critical that time not be wasted.  By changing the way they do things, companies can better utilize the resources they already have in place, resulting in cost savings and greater efficiencies.

Six Sigma provides a systematic approach to problem solving and quality improvement.  Through the Six Sigma method companies learn to identify problem areas in their business and address those issues head on.  Many who have been through the Six Sigma process are surprised to learn that the areas most at risk were the ones they thought were working the best.

The Six Sigma approach can motivate employees by empowering them to make decisions.  Employee motivation is a real challenge for many companies, but companies who have been through the Six Sigma process often report that the morale of their workers increases dramatically during the course of the program.  The team building and ownership exercises in the Six Sigma process can motivate employees and encourage them to give 110% to the effort.

Six Sigma concepts can lead to better relationships with customers and clients.  The quality improvements resulting from the implementation of Six Sigma concepts can improve the way customers view the company, resulting in better customer relations and increased business.  The customer focused approach of the Six Sigma process helps businesses improve quality and focus on the needs of each customer.

The Six Sigma process also provides companies with a more thorough understanding of all their processes, including the things they already do well and the places where improvement is possible.  A better understanding of the existing processes will help companies improve those processes and make them better and more customer focused.

With so many potential advantages it is no wonder so many smart companies are jumping on the Six Sigma bandwagon.  The principles of Six Sigma have been used to improve the processes of businesses as diverse as hospitals and manufacturing firms, and chances are those same concepts can help your company as well.