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Areas of Focus

     Lean Sigma as practiced by the Institute is based on a systemic, holistic philosophy of sustained improvement. This approach concentrates on three major areas of interest:

  • Driving out Waste, making value flow – Lean
  • Reducing unwanted Variation in processes – Six Sigma
  • Fostering Resilient Discipline - Culture
  • Driving out Waste, making value flow (Lean)

     Lean is an improvement methodology that identifies waste within business processes and then works to remove that waste. Driving out waste and making value flow to the customer creates speed. Speed is essential to the effective delivery of services. There are seven types of waste evident in many enterprises and processes.

  • Defects – quality issues arising in product, service, or interaction
  • Overproduction – making or doing greater quantity than is needed now
  • Transportation – any and all movement of materials or information
  • Waiting – delays in process steps of human interactions
  • Inventory – excess goods and services, kept ‘just in case’
  • Motion – process or product steps requiring more movement than necessary
  • Processing – activities more complex than necessary to function effectively

     Wastes create variation in the quality and delivery of services and destroy discipline, resulting in more wastes.

Reducing Unwanted Variation (Six Sigma)

The disciplines of Six Sigma reduce unwanted variation to a minimum. We seek to reduce defects (services that do not meet specification) to around 3 parts per million.

     All processes and interactions contain variation. Some variation is inevitable; some may even be wanted or needed. Needed variation is resilience, or the ability to adapt to a new situation.

     Unwanted variation, however, is the enemy. Unwanted variation creates problems, causes wastes, and robs the enterprise of vigor.

     Six Sigma utilizes a five step process called DMAIC:

  • Define the problem, to gain consensus and direction
  • Measure the effects, to understand the problem
  • Analyze to find root cause(s), in order to eliminate them
  • Improve the process, to prescribed new levels of performance
  • Control the new improved process, to prevent backsliding

Fostering Resilient Discipline (Culture)

Effective enterprises display what we call resilient discipline. Resilient discipline combines the power of repeatable processes and interactions with the ability to respond to new situations and endeavors. It resides at individual, group and organizational levels, and is critical to sustained success.

     Lack of resilient discipline creates waste and variation, slows the delivery of services, and stifles innovation. In our experience, even the best ‘technical’ processes do not sustain high levels of performance without it.

The Power of Combination

In our experience, each area of focus contributes either positively or negatively to the other two. As a result we recommend pursuit of all three, at each phase of implementation. Lasting success lies in this powerful combination.

 

Lean Sigma Home -- Areas of Focus -- Phases -- Vision & Benefits -- Brochure of the Offerings (pdf) -- Contacts