Which is better, Lean or Six Sigma?
Every business needs to understand the consequences of choosing a Lean or Six Sigma program!
The question often comes up about which system delivers the best results Lean or Six Sigma? It’s important that every management team understands the consequences of choosing one over the other. Which one should you choose? Which one will deliver the best results?
I think the best way to decide is to look at what industry is turning towards to help with their continuous improvement process. A 2010 study conducted by The Avery Point Group did an analysis of the job market to determine the talent requirements in specific industries. What they found was interesting because it really helps companies to focus their resources and seek improvement using the common thinking around the world today. The Avery Point Group found that 35% more companies are seeking people with the talent to apply Lean Principles over Six Sigma. Why is this happening today?
In the current financial crisis that is occurring throughout the global economy many organizations are seeking a cost effective system to help improve their processes. Many business owners understand that if they are not improving, they are simply treading water or drowning. Albert Einstein said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.” However, many organizations are stuck in a cycle of crisis management where they are repeating the same destructive behavior.
Lean focuses on identifying and eliminating waste. It is simple to teach and very cost effective. Companies can start to identify “opportunities for improvement” immediately with just a few lean tools in their continuous improvement toolkit. Using Lean requires a team of employees to conduct a Rapid Improvement (RIE) or Kaizen event. Typically, these will take between 3 to 5 days to complete and a few weeks to implement the process improvements and sustain them. Lean is an easy, quick and effective system for improving any business process.
Six Sigma is focused on the identification and elimination of variation in a business process. It is a more difficult to teach the tools and implement the system because it requires expensive training to establish a core group of green and black belts. A framework or roadmap known as “DMAIC” is used for Six Sigma project work. This guides the team through the application process. Six Sigma projects will often take longer to complete, which can be several months and sometimes years. Six Sigma, just like Lean can be applied to improve any business process.
When one delves deeper into the Lean vs. Six Sigma discussion there are opportunities for applying both in any industry. We have seen the development of Lean Government, Lean Healthcare, Lean Business Processes, etc. All use Lean and Six Sigma successfully to improve their processes, however Lean is the fastest and more cost effective over the two systems. Ishikawa said “95% of all problems can be solved using the seven quality tools”, and Lean uses these tools just the same as Six Sigma does. I believe that for most companies Lean is the better choice over Six Sigma. It is easy to train their employees about Lean Principles and get them to start improving their own work processes in a fast and cost effective manner. There are many online training courses which help to reduce the cost of Lean training overall. Check out the this site http://www.leancertificationonline.com/ and sign up for their free 30 days access to their online Lean training course called “Lean Awareness”.
Lean Six Sigma, would that be a mineral, a plant or an animal? Part 2
How does a business know if it’s making the right choice with Lean Six Sigma?
Lean Six Sigma is a management system using the DMAIC model, which requires a support infrastructure for long term sustainment. An organization must exhibit a high level of internal discipline to implement and sustain a Lean Six Sigma process. Many organizations do not have the discipline to do this. In fact, for many who have chosen to implement Lean Six Sigma will find it to be overkill. What they need is an easier method to help improve their processes.
The number one procedure that can cure many of the ills experienced by any industry is basic problem solving tools. Ishikawa was known as the father of quality circles and for his popular use of the cause and effect diagram. He stated that “95% of all problems could be solved using seven basic quality tools.” These seven tools are the Cause and Effect Diagram, Check Sheet, Control Charts, Histogram, Pareto Chart, Scatter Diagram, and Stratification (which is sometimes replaced with a Flow Chart or Run Chart).
In my experience many of the companies that are spending a fortune on creating Black Belts, need to rethink and maybe change their focus. A better choice would be to start to train all their employees to become problem solvers. It is a less expensive solution than implementing Lean Six Sigma and it can be taught in less time. The time required for problem solving training is days, instead of the weeks or even months for a Lean Six Sigma training.
I actually support and use Lean Six Sigma with my own clients. I know its potential and its limitations. Lean Six Sigma has earned its place in the continuous process improvement field. My problem is that it is being used where it is not always the best solution for the client. I consider this to be a little insincere, when a client is told they will reap massive benefits by implementing it. Lean Six Sigma has also become used as a marketing tool by many companies to try to put them ahead of their competitors. However, eventually they must demonstrate real improvement and not just sales hype.
Lean Six Sigma, would that be a mineral, a plant or an animal? Part 1
How does a business know if it’s making the right choice with Lean Six Sigma?
I am receiving lots of emails about Lean Six Sigma. People are asking me all kinds of questions about it. What is it? How do you get trained in it? Does it work? It goes on and on with endless questions about it. What is this telling me about Lean Six Sigma, when lots of people are searching for information? It tells me that the system has a mystic about it, and that you need a key to enter the hallowed halls of the Lean Six Sigma fraternity. So, what is the key? It’s called a “Black Belt”, get one of these and you will be accepted into the LSS brotherhood. However, if you don’t have one you will remain an outsider.
It’s amazing how systems become accepted as buzz words. I must be getting older because I can remember when “Just in Time and Lean” first became buzz words. Lean Six Sigma is the latest system to be elevated into a buzz phrase. I can also remember when three-sigma (3 σ) was the goal of any world class organization. However, today it’s all focused on attaining six-sigma (6 σ). It would appear that no business can survive without it. How many companies are actually capable of attaining and sustaining 6 σ? Well, according to the doctrine of Lean Six Sigma, any company is able to accomplish it. How practical is it for a company to work towards this goal?
Lean Six Sigma is touted just like sugar candy being sold in a candy store. The result of eating too much candy is a sugar high and then the emotional downer that follows. Implementing a new system because it seems to be the latest thing to do is buying into the hype, just like the sugar high. There are companies implementing Lean Six Sigma and spending lots of money to train their people to Black Belt level. I know that many will regret their decision. Why is this?
We will discuss “Why” in Part 2 of the next blog entry.
