Which philosophy is best - six sigma or lean manufacturing?
Which philosophy is best - six sigma or lean manufacturing? This argument gives rise to frequent clashes over the alleged superiority of one over the other, resources conflicts and conflicting cultural approaches to improvement. Can these strategies be integrated?
My view is that six sigma focuses too much on the elite people in an orgainsation becoming black-belts, being left alone to crunch numbers and work on projects remote from the factory floor. In contrast, most lean activities are centered on teamwork.
Bringing the two concepts together delivers faster results by establishing baseline performance levels and focusing the use of statistical tools where they will have the most impact. Most companies using both methodologies began by applying basic lean-manufacturing techniques to eliminate waste. As the water line is lowered to expose the problems, they discovered the need for even more advanced methods of uncovering the root cause of abnormalities.
Once lean techniques eliminate much of the noise from a process, Six Sigma offers a sequential problem-solving procedure, the DMAIC cycle (design/measure, analyze, improve and control), and statistical tools so that potential causes are not overlooked, and viable solutions to chronic problems can be discovered.
In one respect, Lean’s really an enabler for Six Sigma.
Management direction and project selection are key. Highly trained black belts shouldn’t be spending months on projects that won’t have a bottom-line impact or can be solved with basic tools. Conversely, the solutions to many complex and long-standing problems can’t be resolved using intuitive methods in a week or less.
The bottom line is that there are some basic skills that are going to fix a huge amount of your problems. If you go and make everything a Six Sigma problem, you’re going to constipate your system and waste a lot of resources.
Related Reading:
ADVANCES IN INTELLIGENT INFORMATION PROCESSING: TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS (Statistical Science and Interdisciplinary Research)
The Six Sigma Way Team Fieldbook: An Implementation Guide for Process Improvement Teams
The 7 Key Principles of Successful Recovery: The Basic Tools for Progress, Growth and Happiness
The Lean Office: Collected Practices & Cases (Insights on Implementation)
Statistical Tools for Nonlinear Regression: A Practical Guide with S-Plus and R Examples (Springer Series in Statistics)
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