Lean Six Sigma is the system preferred by businesses around the world to streamline, improve, and optimize any and every aspect of their organization.

What sets this system apart from everything else is its fusion of waste-reducing methods from Lean Manufacturing combined with the product defect-reducing methods of Six Sigma.

While you may know what Lean Six Sigma is, it’s sometimes hard to understand what it will look like once you implement it.

In today’s post, we’ll help you understand what Lean Six Sigma looks like in practice by describing 8 of its most powerful tools

But before we do that, we’ll give you some context for the system by walking you through Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma separately, and then define Lean Six Sigma itself.

 

What is Lean?

Lean Manufacturing is a system for maximizing product value for the customer while minimizing waste without sacrificing productivity.

Lean manufacturing as we know it today has its roots in the Toyota Production System (TPS), but before it was known as TPS, they simply called it just-in-time manufacturing.

There were 3 things the Toyota Production System attempted to prevent:

1. Muda –  Everything in your manufacturing process that creates waste or causes constraints on creating a valuable product.

2. Mura – Everything that creates inconsistent and inefficient work flows.

3. Muri – All tasks or loads that put too much stress on your employees or machines.

In Muda, there are 8 wastes you should work to eliminate:

1. Defects

2. Overproduction

3. Waiting

4. Not utilizing talent

5. Transportation

6. Inventory excess

7. Motion waste

8. Excess processing

There were also 5 principles that every Lean manufacturing system adhered to:

1. Value – A company delivers the most valuable product to the customer.

2. Value Stream – Map out the steps and processes required to manufacture those valuable products.

3. Flow – Undergo the process of ensuring all of your value-adding steps flow smoothly without interruptions, delays, or bottlenecks.

4. Pull – Products are built on a “just-in-time” basis so that materials aren’t stockpiled and customers receive their orders within weeks, instead of months.

5. Perfection – Make Lean thinking and process improvement a core part of your company culture.

 

What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a data-driven process that seeks to reduce product defects down to 3.4 defective parts per million, or 99.99966{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} defect-free products over the long-term.

In other words, the goal is to produce nearly perfect products for your customers.

By using statistical models, Six Sigma practitioners will methodically improve and enhance a company’s manufacturing process until they reach the level of Six Sigma.

In all Six Sigma projects, there are 2 main methods of achieving the same defect-free goals. Below, we detail these 2 methods.

The first and most-used method in Six Sigma is a 5-step process called DMAIC:

1. Define

2. Measure

3. Analyze

4. Improve

5. Control

The DMAIC process uses data and measured objectives to create a cycle of continuous improvement in your manufacturing methods.

While DMAIC is useful for improving your current processes, DMADV is used to develop a new process, product, or service.

DMADV stands for:

1. Define

2. Measure

3. Analyze

4. Design

5. Verify

The DMADV process uses data and thorough analyses to help you create an efficient process or develop a high-quality product or service.

At their core, Lean and Six Sigma both seek to optimize the manufacturing process in order to provide the highest quality products to their customers. They simply use different methods and focus on different activities.

These differences complement one another, which brings us to the merging of these two methods into Lean Six Sigma.

 

What Is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is the fusion of Lean Manufacturing with Six Sigma to create a complete system that removes waste and reduces process variation for streamlined manufacturing and optimal product output.

Lean Six Sigma primarily uses Six Sigma processes and methods as the backbone of the system – such as DMAIC and the belt system – to drive focused improvements in manufacturing while incorporating many techniques and tools from Lean to reduce wasteful steps and processes

To help you understand the specific processes and techniques Lean Six Sigma uses to improve your manufacturing, here are some of the main tools you’ll implement if your company adopts the Lean Six Sigma system.

 

What are the Tools of Lean Six Sigma?

The 5 Whys

The 5 Whys is a tool used to determine the root cause of problems within your organization. It’s often deployed as part of the Analyze phase in DMAIC.

The 5 Whys works like this:

– Write down the problem you’re having so everyone on your team can focus on it specifically.

– Ask why the problem occurred.

– If your first answer isn’t the root cause of the problem, ask why again.

– Repeat this step at least 5 times to find the true root cause of the problem.

You can ask why more than 5 times, but it seems that after 5 whys are asked, you will have clarity on the cause of your problem.

The 5S System

The 5S system is a method of organizing your workplace materials for quicker access and better maintenance. This system is essential for eliminating waste that is produced by poor workstations and tools in poor condition.

The 5 S’s are:

1. Seiri (Sort) – Remove all unnecessary items for your current production, leaving only what is necessary.

2. Seiton (Set In Order) – Organize remaining items and label them accordingly.

3. Seiso (Shine) – Clean and inspect your work area and everything in it every day.

4. Seiketsu (Standardize) – Write out your standards for the Sort, Set In Order, and Shine steps above.

5. Shitsuke (Sustain) – Apply the standards you’ve set for your company and make them habits for everyone in your organization.

 

Value Stream Mapping

Another tool used in the Analyze phase of DMAIC as well as in Lean Manufacturing – making it perfect for Lean Six Sigma – is value stream mapping.

A value stream map shows the flow of materials and information in one of your processes and was developed to help you improve and optimize flow throughout your organization.

There are 3 things value stream mapping helps you identify:

1. Value-enabling activities

2. Value-adding activities

3. Non-value adding activities

The whole purpose of this map is to eliminate all of your non-value adding activities and eliminate wait times between consecutive steps in your processes so that your processes become more compact, precise, and swift.

 

Regression Analysis

A regression analysis is a statistical process for estimating and understanding the relationship between variables.

You would use it to define the mathematical relationship between an output variable (y) and any number of input variables (x1, x2, etc.)

Graphing these inputs and outputs helps you visualize patterns or deviance from desired patterns in your workflow.

Be cautious when performing a regression analysis, though, if you want to avoid statistical illusions. Here are a few things to remember when performing a regression analysis:

• When two variables are found to be correlated, it is tempting to assume that this shows that one variable causes the other, resulting in the logical fallacy known as correlation does not imply causation.
• Two or more variables in your regression model could be highly correlated, making it difficult to isolate their individual effects on the dependent variable, referred to as Multicollinearity.
• When the error term in one time period is positively correlated with the error term in the previous time period, you’ll encounter the problem of (positive first-order) autocorrelation.

 

Pareto Chart

The Pareto chart graphically displays the differences between groups of data, allowing Lean Six Sigma teams to identify the largest issues facing the process.

The y-axis represents a cumulative percentage and a defect frequency, while the x-axis represents the groups of response variables displayed as bars, such as machine design or machine parts.

This chart is often lauded as one of the most important tools in the Lean Six Sigma toolbox for helping teams uncover the 20{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} of sources that cause 80{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} of problems in their processes.

 

FMEA

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) helps businesses identify and eliminate weak points in the early stages of any product or process.

Developed in the 1950s, FMEA is used to review components, assemblies, and subsystems to identify failure modes and their causes and effects.

Lean Six Sigma practitioners use FMEA to improve the quality of their processes, services, and products by detecting and fixing problems before they occur.

 

Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)

Kaizen is the practice of continually observing, identifying, and implementing incremental improvements in the manufacturing process.

It encourages all managers and employees to be involved in the process of manufacturing improvements.

Kaizen ensures that waste will be gradually reduced through the collective talents and knowledge of everyone in the company working together to change the smallest inefficiencies daily.

 

Poka-yoke (Mistake Proofing)

Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means mistake proofing. It’s a process by which employees work to identify and eliminate the causes of human errors throughout the manufacture and production processes.

For example, a poka-yoke could be changing the phrasing on machine buttons to eliminate worker confusion or it could be adding a safety brake to mobile equipment to prevent accidents.

 

How Do You Implement Lean Six Sigma?

If Lean Six Sigma sounds like the right fit for your organization, we suggest checking out these resources to learn more about the methodology and how you can get trained and certified to use it.

If you want to start improving areas of your business outside of manufacturing or production, you can check out our posts on creating a successful stocktaking process, reducing your costs of inventory, and optimizing your rate of inventory turnover.

And if you want to make it easy to automate and manage your inventory processes, we’ll give you a free trial of our cloud-based inventory management system.

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If you want to improve your products and manufacturing, there are two major methods you’re likely to use:

Lean vs Six Sigma.

Lean manufacturing is well-known for eliminating waste while Six Sigma is well-known for decreasing product defects.

In some ways, these methods are closely related. In other ways, they’re very different.

We’ll help you decide which of these methods you should put into practice in your factory by comparing their differences.

First, let’s define Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma.

What is Lean?

The Lean manufacturing system, often referred to as Lean manufacturing, Lean production, or simply “Lean” is a system for maximizing product value for the customer while minimizing waste without sacrificing productivity.

Lean manufacturing as we know it today has its roots in the Toyota Production System (TPS), which was created by Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda in Japan between 1948 and 1975.

Before it was known as TPS, they simply called it just-in-time manufacturing.

There were 3 things the Toyota Production System attempted to prevent:

• Muda –  Everything in your manufacturing process that creates waste or causes constraints on creating a valuable product.
• Mura – Everything that creates inconsistent and inefficient work flows.
• Muri – All tasks or loads that put too much stress on your employees or machines.

There were also 5 principles that every Lean manufacturing system adhered to:

1. Value – A company delivers the most valuable product to the customer.
2. Value Stream – Map out the steps and processes required to manufacture those valuable products.
3. Flow – Undergo the process of ensuring all of your value-adding steps flow smoothly without interruptions, delays, or bottlenecks.
4. Pull – Products are built on a “just-in-time” basis so that materials aren’t stockpiled and customers receive their orders within weeks, instead of months.
5. Perfection – Make Lean thinking and process improvement a core part of your company culture.

What is Six Sigma?

6 Sigma, or Six Sigma is a data-driven process that seeks to reduce product defects down to 3.4 defective parts per million, or 99.99966{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} defect-free products over the long-term.

In other words, the goal is to produce nearly perfect products for your customers.

By using statistical models, Six Sigma practitioners will methodically improve and enhance a company’s manufacturing process until they reach the level of Six Sigma.

In all Six Sigma projects, there are 2 main methods of achieving the same defect-free goals. Below, we detail these 2 methods.

The first and most-used method in Six Sigma is a 5-step process called DMAIC:

• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Improve
• Control

The DMAIC process uses data and measured objectives to create a cycle of continuous improvement in your manufacturing methods.

While DMAIC is useful for improving your current processes, DMADV is used to develop a new process, product, or service.

DMADV stands for:

• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Design
• Verify

The DMADV process uses data and thorough analyses to help you create an efficient process or develop a high-quality product or service.

At their core, Lean and Six Sigma both seek to optimize the manufacturing process in order to provide the highest quality products to their customers. They simply go about it in different ways.

Let’s compare their unique processes for achieving similar goals.

Lean vs Six Sigma: What are Their Differences?

Tools and Philosophy vs Mathematical Models and Statistics

Lean is a philosophy of organizational-wide improvement and a collection of techniques that can be applied in any order to affect organizational change over time. The main focus of which is overall flow and increased productivity along with decreased waste – but without a specified time period for completion.

Six Sigma is a quantitative, mathematical approach to organizational change. Instead of general techniques and principles applied daily and indefinitely, Six Sigma focuses on one aspect of the business and works diligently to improve it before moving on to another aspect of the business.

Continuous Improvement vs Problem-Solving

Lean manufacturing represents a large body of knowledge that insists on continuous, daily improvements, known as the kaizen approach. These improvements can be applied to any piece of equipment, any manufacturing method, and any type of waste throughout the organization.

Six sigma is a problem-solving methodology that uses its collection of tools to fix a specific project over a specific time period. All Six Sigma’s resources are targeted on this one project until the problem is fixed.

While Lean encourages daily, general improvements, Six Sigma demands data-based, specific improvements for specific projects.

Bottom-up Approach vs Top-Down Approach

Lean doesn’t require a hierarchical structure of qualified “masters” to implement the changes. Every individual employee, regardless of their roles in the business is encouraged to participate in actively improving the manufacturing process.

Six sigma requires a hierarchical structure of various experts with various belts, signifying their level of experience and knowledge in the Six Sigma way.

With the Lean approach, you can walk into your factory today and instruct everyone on what to look for and give them methods for applying changes they see fit.

With Six Sigma, you’ll have to hire a certified expert who will assemble a team, identify a problem, and direct that team until the problem is solved.

In Lean, you let everyone test and experiment to see what works and what doesn’t – a bottom-up approach.

In Six Sigma, you let the qualified professional leading the team decide when you’ve completed the project – a top-down approach.

Lean vs Six Sigma: Which Method Should You Implement?

If you’d rather improve the operations of your organization using the collective power and knowledge of your employees, then Lean is the method for you.

If you’d rather use the guidance of a trained professional to fix certain problems in your organization’s operations, then Six Sigma is the method for you.

Yet, both of these methods offer techniques and strategies that every organization can benefit from.

Since they do have similar goals and complementary features, many companies have integrated these methodologies into one system, known as Lean Six Sigma.

In our next post, we’ll dig into Lean Six Sigma and show you how beneficial it can be to combine these two methodologies into a complete system for total manufacturing improvements.

If you want to go beyond manufacturing improvements and into inventory management improvements, you don’t have to wait for our next post.

We can show you how to optimize that part of your business right now.

Do you want your products to have fewer defects and your manufacturing process to have less variability?

Then you need 6 Sigma.

Through intensive training, focused projects, and effective statistical analyses, 6 Sigma could save your business a lot of money.

Fortune 500 companies have saved an estimated $427 billion after implementing the 6 Sigma methodology, according to iSixSigma magazine.

There’s plenty of information about 6 Sigma along with training courses to get certified and start using the process.

Instead of going over everything about 6 Sigma here, we’ll give you a brief overview of the two main methodologies used in the process so you’ll know what to expect if you decide to implement 6 Sigma.

But first, let’s define 6 Sigma.

What is 6 Sigma?

6 Sigma, or Six Sigma is a data-driven process that seeks to reduce product defects down to 3.4 defective parts per million, or 99.99966{cb377218d5687e54e8ee9149518f87201a393a7c1db5e8076e9d750029ec0dc3} defect-free products over the long-term.

In other words, the goal is to produce nearly perfect products for your customers.

By using statistical models, 6 Sigma practitioners will methodically improve and enhance a company’s manufacturing process until they reach the level of 6 Sigma.

6 Sigma originated at Motorola in the mid-80’s when engineer Bill Smith approached CEO Bob Galvin with ideas for improving product performance by optimizing the manufacturing process.

Bob was inspired by these ideas and created the “Six Sigma Quality Program.”

In 1996, the CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, launched his own 6 Sigma program and became a global evangelist for the process.

In all 6 Sigma projects, there are 2 main methods of achieving the same defect-free goals. Below, we detail these 2 methods.

6 Sigma Methodology: DMAIC

The first and most-used method in 6 Sigma is a 5-step process called DMAIC:

• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Improve
• Control

The DMAIC process uses data and measured objectives to create a cycle of continuous improvement in your manufacturing methods.

Here’s a breakdown of each step:

Define

The first step in DMAIC is define. The purpose of this step is to identify the main problem in your business, your goal for improvement, any resources you may need to reach your goal, the scope of the project, and the timeline for completing the project.

Businesses typically use a project charter to organize the details of this step in the process.

Here are a few things you should do in the define stage:

• Write down everything you know about your customer
• Write down what they expect from your product, including features and specifications
• Write down the current problem you’re having with your products
• Write down the problems with your manufacturing process that cause problems in your products
• Write down your objectives for the project as a whole

Measure

The second step in DMAIC is measure. The purpose of this step is to decide what you’ll be measuring throughout your project to compare it to the final results to know if you’ve made progress at all.

First, you should assess your baseline performance by answering the question “How good is your manufacturing process and quality of product output right now?” and then, get your team involved in deciding what will be measured to assess your final performance.

Analyze

The third step in DMAIC is analyze. The purpose of this step is to identify the root causes of the problems in your manufacturing process. Create a long list of potential root causes for product defects and then narrow the list down to the top 3-5 causes.

Now, start collecting and measuring data on those causes to validate them as actual root causes or not.

Here is a variety of tools to use in the analyze stage.

Improve

The fourth step in DMAIC is improve. The purpose of this step is to find and implement a solution to the problems you identified in the analyze step.

Brainstorm and apply both standard and creative solutions to the key root causes in order to permanently improve your processes.

You should also test each solution to determine its effectiveness, and once an effective solution is found, you should detail an implementation plan and deploy the solution.

Control

The fifth and final step in DMAIC is control. The purpose of this step is to maintain the progress you’ve made thus far and prevent your manufacturing processes to slip back into previous inefficiencies.

To keep control, you should monitor the improvements you’ve made, regularly analyze them to ensure they’re working properly, and create a response plan in case one of your processes becomes unstable.

6 Sigma Methodology: DMADV

While DMAIC is useful for improving your current processes, DMADV is used to develop a new process, product, or service.

DMADV stands for:

• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Design
• Verify

The DMADV process uses data and thorough analyses to help you create an efficient process or develop a high-quality product or service.

Here’s a breakdown of each step in the process:

Define

The first step in DMADV is define. The purpose of the step is similar to the “define” step in DMAIC: identify the reasons why you’re developing a new process, product, or service.

Write down those reasons, and then set measurable goals and milestones that align with your budget and objectives.

Make sure to include the customers perspective when establishing your purpose for the project to ensure that what you create is customer-centered.

Measurement

The second step in DMADV is measurement. The purpose of this step is to identify the factors that are critical to quality.

Define the requirements and features for your project, the target market for the project, and the design components and parameters to measure the quality of the final product.

Once you’ve identified all the critical quality factors, translate them into clear project goals.

Analysis

The third phase in DMADV is analysis. The purpose of this step is to establish the metrics by which you’ll analyze the final product.

Construct simulations of the process, product, or service, develop conceptual designs, and evaluate and select the best components.

Design

The fourth step in DMADV is design. The purpose of this step is to produce the final, detailed design of the process, product, or service.

After you’ve developed the final product, you should release it for customer or user feedback.

Verify

The fifth and final phase of DMADV is verify. The purpose of this step is to gather the feedback you received in the design phase and use it to make necessary changes and modifications to your process, product, or service to remove any and all defects and errors.

This is an ongoing step that ends once you’ve successfully reached your goals you set forth in the define step.

Putting 6 Sigma into Practice

Now that you know what 6 Sigma looks like in practice, you’re better prepared to decide if 6 Sigma is right for your business or not.

Here’s a long list of resources to help you get started.

If 6 Sigma isn’t right for you at this time, but you’re still interested in improving your manufacturing process, then check out a similar process for streamlining your business called lean manufacturing.

And if you’re interested in improving other areas of your business, then find out how DEAR can upgrade and automate your inventory management.