Amile Institute

Lean Six Sigma is a tool that many people turn to when they need the best tools for waste elimination and process improvement. Lean Six Sigma is a combination of Lean Methodology and the Six Sigma Methodology, which is designed to apply the tools of both practices into one formula for problem solving and waste elimination within a company or organization. Using the principles of lean, there are many different types of wastes that can be eliminated, depending upon the company and their specific needs for waste elimination. All you need is the proper Six Sigma Training and a little experience.

If you take time to learn about the wastes that you have, you will likely realize that you have more than you might have initially thought. By looking deeper than the surface and using the tools of Lean Six Sigma to identify all areas of waste, why they happen, and how to eliminate them, you will be much better able to make your business more efficient.

For example, a doctor’s office sending patients who have appointments for specific reasons to a triage room is an unnecessary step in the process of patient flow. With the help of Lean Six Sigma, this process can be restructured so that the flow is more efficient and the triage isn’t wasting their time or the time of the patients, making the business operate better for everyone that is involved. The great thing about this combination is that you have very basic principles of waste elimination from Lean Enterprise or manufacturing, and that is coupled with the statistical analysis that is offered by the Six Sigma Process. Together, these two tools create a dynamic solution to many process improvement and waste elimination projects in various industries.

Lean processes can be applied anywhere waste and errors occur. This includes the front office as well as the shop floor and everywhere in between. The current state can be assessed using value stream mapping which is a Lean tool that identifies non-value added activities in a process. Here, individual problems can be solved, and those that are seen in conjunction with one another can also be analysed. The idea is to identify problems and find solutions for them so normal business operations do not have to change. Lean can also help companies eliminate wastes in the same manner.

Lean Six Sigma will eliminate wastes on many levels, and for many different reasons. If you have unnecessary waste in your processes, you can benefit from Lean Six Sigma projects just as well as anyone else. It doesn’t matter how big your company is or how many projects you need to take on, because the methodology is very basic and able to be molded to just about any industry and situation that exists. Once you have eliminated the wastes within your industry you will be much more efficient, which will increase your customer satisfaction, profitability, and even your overall workplace atmosphere in some cases.

In recent times, one of the most notable offshoots has been none other than Lean Six Sigma – it is already being touted as the next big thing in the world of quality improvement concepts, methodologies and systems. It would not be wrong to say that Lean Six Sigma is an advanced version of older variations of Six Sigma, because wherever possible it not only helps in reducing the defect rate but also helps in improving overall efficiency business processes by identifying and eliminating unnecessary sub-processes.

Many industries including the packaging industry is getting benefitted by employing Lean Six Sigma approaches. Let’s take a look how packaging industry is flourishing with the help of Lean Six Sigma methodologies.

Packaging materials play an important role to overall cost

You must be astonished to know that, in packaging industry, packaging materials( raw materials) play an imperative role to overall packaging costs. If a packaging company able to make even a small percentage change, it would result in a noteworthy reduction in overall costs.

Moreover, since most of the packaging company are concentrating on a single cost component, thus, the probability of achieving the desired results will increase dramatically. These are some of the prime reasons why the packaging industry showing proximity to Lean Six Sigma approaches. Lean process helps the businesses in streamlining their existing packaging processes and also, allowing them to utilize their existing manpower in the best way.

Since these days, the processes become more and more streamlined and organized, hence, the companies don’t need to employ additional manpower. And in this way, they can save a chunk of money which they can utilize in other ways. Depending on the demand of the market, organizations can also launch retrenchment or cost-cutting schemes once the desired level of efficiency has been achieved using Lean Six Sigma approaches.

Maintaining quality: the primary client requirement

The clients are very demanding these days. Most of the packaging clients demand the best possible quality in the least possible costs from the companies. And that’s why, packaging firms have implemented Lean Six Sigma method inside their organization. Lean Six Sigma is ideal because it reduces the cost without affecting the quality of the final outcome.

This is possible because Lean stresses conducting detailed analysis of all the components or say raw materials that might contribute towards the making of the final product. The analysis is done to find which components affect the quality the most and others that only play a minor role. This allows packaging companies to allocate the available funds wisely. The company usually spend the maximum amount to the major quality determinants and spend relatively less on peripheral components and inputs which may not play an important role to the overall quality of the final outcome.

This eventually results in significant cost savings, specially when a packaging firm takes adequate care to ensure that the Lean analysis is done in the prescribed manner.

Lean Six Sigma is an intricate system because it helps you to achieve that perfect balance of quality and low-cost operations. If you want to get the best results, then it is recommended to consult with the experienced and deft Black Belts or the Lean Six Sigma professionals who can handle the responsibility of implementing Lean projects in this steep competitive era.

Six Sigma has evolved to become a methodology which is a sure shot way to success in the recent years. Most multinational companies, as well as start-ups, have started implementing Six Sigma in their business activities. Analyzing date from previous outcomes of companies can be a major factor that could help improve the company’s overall performance. Introducing Six Sigma methodology in these processes can greatly improve efficiency and reduce errors. Six Sigma also improves the quality of the product and brings greater customer satisfaction. It is effectively a data-driven approach that measures variations in processes and focuses on eliminating defects as best possible.

1. The tested methodology of success:

It was originally adopted by many technology companies like Motorola that implemented Six Sigma in their manufacturing processes. This brought down their number to defects by a large ratio and thus opened opportunities to other companies to implement this methodology on their own processes. It quickly became clear that it is applicable to most businesses, be it small scale or large scale industries.

2. Builds upon existing processes:

Six Sigma methodology basically depends on studying the existing processes involved in a business and making them better. It studies the possible outcomes, feasibility, and other factors such as time and cost to gauge the efficiency of processes. These are then modified to bring about the best possible results.

3. Root cause analysis:

One of the key advantages of applying Six Sigma in development stages is that it refines the processes. The leaders or managers can identify root causes of defects or the processes that cause these defects. They are equipped with the tools like process mapping analysis and cause-effect diagrams that are necessary to combat these causes and avoid them from occurring. This allows them to dig deeper into problems and reduce the time taken in rectifying issues.

4. Stating the problem:

Six Sigma also has a very important factor that is essential to bring out a solution to any problem That is, to state exactly what the problem is, or defining the problem. It uses the “5 Whys” technique, which is stating the problem and then asking “why”. You keep asking this question and evaluating the answers up to five times. This helps to remove layers of symptoms and discover the root cause. This can greatly reduce the time taken in identifying the problem.

Six Sigma is highly beneficial to highly complex tasks that are otherwise difficult to analyze and improve. It is highly data-driven and is a process-oriented approach. They help the organization to simplify tasks at hand without compromising on quality. It also helps identify opportunities that were previously invisible and increases efficiency and productivity. It also helps implement changes to complex processes without tampering with the integrity and flow of work. By continuously developing and implementing the changes, it also ensures that there is no halt in the work process.

Six Sigma Highlights:

The onset if the Digital era has ensured that most Businesses are being transformed drastically. With rising competition and the Globalization of every business on the internet, Business work towards to achieving the best results possible with leaving no room for errors. They need technology to convert their idea to reality and make it reach their customers who are distributed worldwide.

Six Sigma Lean Processes have helped millions of companies change their way of work and create a business model that works with the digital age. Let us take a look at the major highlights of how Lean Six Sigma coupled with Digital Transformation can change the world.

1. Keeping up with the Trends:

It assists companies to invest in technology and keep up with the latest trends. It provides a powerful toolkit that helps manage your product development cycle and transform companies. The methodology or way of thinking, guides companies in identifying what is needed to satisfy a customer, what makes your services valuable to them and how best to deliver it in the quickest possible way. It is a common misconception that the digitalization of businesses and application of Six Sigma principles applies only to the manufacturing industry. This, in fact, is applicable to diverse are of businesses. It encompasses a wide area of businesses such as legal, marketing, and IT sector as well. It also caters to small-scale startups and other industries that operate over a smaller market.

2. Lean Concepts for Digital Transformation:

There are many Lean concepts such as Lean User Experience (Lean UX), Lean IT, Lean Software Development, among others that implement the Lean way of thinking in digital transformation. Take Lean UX for example. It uses short cycles to create a hypothesis, test it, and create user experiences in a short span of time. Lean Software Development focuses on the elimination of waste and thereby creating fast deliveries. In IT companies that play a major role in the digitalization of the world, Lean IT uses tools to operations and services. This reduces the cost. The Lean Six Sigma combines the Lean’s practices with the Six Sigma statistical method. This optimizes the performance through the standardization of processes. It also identifies and Eliminates the main factors that cause bugs.

3. Standing Apart from the crowd:

Working together with the power of Digital, It has the ability to affect the market even more than it did before by simplifying processes and organizing them to achieve the best possible results. Digitization of companies, at the surface level, may look like just a way to keep up with the fast-paced world. But with Lean Six Sigma, a company is transformed completely. In order to succeed in business, a company needs to not just adapt to digital methods, but it also needs to change its habits, culture, leadership. All of which can be achieved with the application of the Lean principles. Companies that follow this methodology possess leaders and teams who learn and grow continuously. The companies become stable and achieve strong and consistent growth year by year. The internalization of Lean Six Sigma Principles brings about a permanent change as more and more organizations notice the importance and advantages of Digital Transformation.

Ever since the beginning of the Industrial revolution, enterprises have been trying to bring about changes in the way their industries work to bring better profits. With the increased competition everyone is looking for improving their business processes. Therefore it becomes important that companies implement a culture of continuous improvement in their lives.

The Japanese call the term “Continuous improvement” as “kaizen”. It is a philosophy that involves improving the product, the process, the design and the way the teams handle these processes. It is a different way of looking at the project as a whole. The goal is not to reach a particular target but to never stop the improvement process.

This can make a great impact on the way companies work and how they visualize their goals. It is, however, true that changing the existing culture of an organization is very difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that once you start the process you adhere to it, to get the best possible outcomes. It may not be flashy or instantly informative, but it does bring long-term advantages to your business. Let us look at the steps you need to take to implement such a culture in your organization.

1. Get the organization committed:

It is not enough if only the management or leaders commit to changing the culture of an organization. It is necessary for every employee of the organization to commit themselves to this transformation towards continuous improvement.

2. Make it a part of the routine:

Continuous improvement shouldn’t be an additional burden to your normal tasks. It should become a part of your routine. It should be implemented as a small change that is implemented on a daily basis that over time converts to a big step in the positive direction.

3. Incentives:

While people look at these new changes as just another new initiative, it is difficult to incorporate it as a work culture. Therefore, you need to tie this to the work of each individual. Giving them incentives to successfully carry out new tasks for continuous improvement is one way to motivate them to accept the new work culture.

4. Measure the results:

Just like continuous improvement, a continuous check of the results is also mandatory. Continuous improvement as a work culture is highly metrics driven. This means that it may take a long time to show results, but analyzing the results obtained is essential to the success of this methodology.

5. Communication:

As these initiatives may not give immediate or quick results, it is not transformative instantly. Therefore people may lose focus or motivation for working towards it. Therefore communication plays a key role in letting people know what is going on and the progress being made.

6. Patience:

Creating an entirely new culture and changing the existing one can take a lot of time. Therefore, you need to make a commitment and sustain it. It has to be a relentless approach that is disciplined and regular. Therefore a company that undertakes Kaizen should be patient and persistent.

7. Repetition:

Once you see your business improving steadily, the efforts must not be abandoned. The process must be repeated again and continue the improvement steadily further.

Most leading companies have embraced Six Sigma as their way of business. They often use it as a measure of quality and success. It is as effective today as it was 30 years ago when it was first implemented. In every business we continuously see the power of Six Sigma transforming companies and leaders worldwide. From service industries to software industries; from multinational companies to small enterprises, from customized production to mass production; Six Sigma has played a major role in their success.

Let us look at the secrets of the Six Sigma certification and how it is an application for Customer Value.

1. Focusing on Customer Value:

Six Sigma emphasizes that a project should focus on what the customer wants. You should understand the need of the customer and what they see as value or quality. The goal of the project should be to meet or exceed such expectations of the customer. You should, therefore, divert your focus on what will delight the customer and differentiate your product from the others available in the market. Better products mean happier customers and better business. Understanding the needs of your customer is also the starting point for reducing waste and being efficient in terms of customer value.

2. Process Mindset:

You need to keep the strategic goals of the company in mind a toil to achieve them. A process is a sequence of steps the will consume a part of your resources and time, take input from previous steps and produce well-defined outputs. Defining or designing an efficient process flow with the goals in mind allows a clear visualization of each step and a measurement of the process performance. This information can allow you to prioritize efforts in such a way that You can achieve the goals as well as track the internal efforts towards the goal. This will enable you to achieve better performance and improve efficiency.

3. Company Motivation:

A motivated group of people is the best resource available to any company and can guarantee the best possible results. This increases the productivity of the group and also the quality of work performed by them. The involvement of employees in a process must be studied and understood while planning a project. Taking into account their experience and ideas can have a significant impact on the outcome of the project.

Therefore you bring active involvement and responsibility to everyone in the company. By having constant performance measures, you bring about an overall motivation to all members of the team and encourage them to work towards a common goal instead of competing among themselves. This also gives them the chance to learn and develop themselves, making them better assets to the company.

Many studies have been conducted on the possibilities of introducing public sector performance management methodologies such as Six Sigma and Lean in the public sector. Most governments around the world conduct large-scale projects that are very expensive and critical to the development of the country. Governments resort to outsourcing, privatization, etc. deliver services to their citizens. This adds to the existing cost of the project. The permanent solution is therefore to improve the managerial system of the government. Methods like Lean and Six Sigma focus on value and process improvement and have the potential to create great managers and leaders.

The main motivation behind the adoption of Six Sigma methodologies for the Private sector is profit. These methodologies can:

• Measure performance
• Determining inefficiency
• Improving processes
• Eliminating defect

Now let us compare this to the Public Sector Scenario. Here the motivation of the profit is not expected. There are however many ways in which through Six Sigma organizations of the public sector find ways of improving their value and re-evaluating their functions.

This re-evaluation is the process where new leaders are encouraged to take on new roles and engage themselves in improving the existing processes. This brings in a new way of thinking and innovative ideas to the fore. Lean and Six Sigma also encourage the employees to work in teams and departments to work with one another. This improves communication and cross-collaboration of teams. There are some questions that arise while we think about implementing Six Sigma in the Public Sector. Let us take a look at these.

1. Transferability:

While there are many advantages to employing Six Sigma in the public Sector there is still the question of who should introduce these methods into this sector. If the government or managers of a particular body decide to take it up and implement it, they may be able to see the great improvements in the outcome of the team.

2. Who is the Customer?

A large part of Six Sigma focuses on rendering services to customers. In the public sector, the question arises on who is the customer in such a scenario. It may be right to consider the taxpayers or the general public may be considered as the customers here. In some cases, however, the taxpayer is not directly the recipient of the service. But it is to be kept in mind that the main motive behind the public sector is the welfare of the citizens and the development of the nation.

3. Legislative Obligations:

In the private sector, it is quite easy to identify which processes may bring more profit and reduce defects using Six Sigma. But in the public sector, there are legislative obligations that can allow you to make changes to processes only to a certain limit. But it is to be taken into account that these methodologies bring in sufficient drop in costs and improve user satisfaction.

From studies conducted in various locations, we can conclude that Six Sigma does improve Cost and Savings, stable leadership and organizational structure. Unique characteristics such as politics and resource constraints may impede its overall success. Therefore all the Pros and Cons have to be analyzed carefully before implementing such schemes in the future.

Data is causing a revolution in businesses and this has been brought about by realizing the potential of effectively analyzing the data that is available to us. Six Sigma allows businesses to reduce or even totally eliminate defects in their business processes by analyzing data. Most companies better themselves by working towards the ideal Six Sigma goal and produce outcomes that improve customer satisfaction and beneficial outcomes multi fold.

It is generally a tool that modern companies use to evaluate existing processes and the possible outcomes, thereby identifying areas for the scope of improvement. It defines goals, measures progress, Designs new methodologies and verifies the outcome. Let us now look at some of the major areas that companies should lay focus upon to achieve the best possible results from Six Sigma.

1. Customer Satisfaction:

While attracting new customers to your business is a very important aspect of your business, retaining your current customers and maintain long-term business links with them is very advantageous for your business. The rapid improvement of customer satisfaction facilitated by Six Sigma, Ensures that your customers remain loyal to you. Six Sigma studies the data available and points out the critical aspects of a product that plays a major role in customer satisfaction.

2. Time Management:

A lot of companies lose sight of their goal or their quality standards while they rush to meet deadlines. These goals or standards are often not set taking time management into account. Six Sigma helps you set Smart Goals on an efficient Timeline that helps achieve the best possible results.

3. Cycle Time:

Very often the timelines planned out at the beginning of a project are not adhered to. This results in shabby work performed closer to the deadline, or the deadline being pushed altogether. Six Sigma implements a special team that watches the performance of the team and decide upon an ideal time frame for a task and ensures that problems related to the same can be identified and fixed.

4. The motivation of Employees:

The more motivated your employees, the better they perform. This makes them work with the company’s interest in mind. Six Sigma’s tools and techniques help employees to stay motivated and put in their best. This, in turn, improves the morale of a team and makes it easier for employees to work together towards a common goal.

5. Strategy Development:

All good businesses need a good strategy. This is one of the main areas Six Sigma focuses on. It identifies specific areas where a company need to perform better to improve its status in the market and works on building a strategy for the same.

6. Supply Chain:

The products that a company produces largely depends on the suppliers. By decreasing the supply points in a chain, the number of defects can be reduced significantly. Such improvements can cause a lot of improvement in the overall outcome of the products. Six Sigma is a tool that can greatly assist in identifying such flaws and making improvements to your business as a whole.

Quality management basically consists of written guidelines and procedures that apply to all the processes and is essentially the foundation of the process. It enumerates the key processes and methods for preventing failures and achieving good results. It very essential for businesses to have a structured QMS (Quality Management system to manage the projects and processes, protecting their brand and customer’s interest.

There are many benefits to implementing a QMS as a part of your Lean Sigma mission. Some of the benefits include achieving organization goals, better customer satisfaction, reduce errors and thereby produce consistent products etc. It also facilitates better communication, improved documentation and makes it easier to measure the performance of individuals as well as the team.

So what does QMS include? It includes the documentation of policy and quality objectives. It also sets guidelines for effective planning, operation, monitor, and control.
Successful implementation of QMS using Lean Sigma strategies involves the following steps:

1. Mapping out the process:

The map of your process allows you to define and visualize your goal. The interaction of various internal processes is also defined in the map. The flow of action from one stage to another is clearly stated in this step.

2. Define Your Quality Policy:

Delivering quality products is your main goal as a company to your clients. Therefore you need to be clear on your quality policy. This will lead to continuous improvement towards and the end goal of customer satisfaction.

3. Define Your Quality Objectives:

Each employee must be aware of your quality policy and must follow it in order to meet the requirements set for his part of the process. He must be able to appreciate his influence on the quality of the product as a whole. The objective gives you a measure to gauge the performance of the company with respect to the quality factor.

4. Track and monitor Critical Success factors:

There are some critical success factors such as Product Quality, Process Improvement, Customer Satisfaction which play an important role in the overall success of a company. Such factors are identified. This data is then is then tracked and monitored. The analysis is presented to the leader who will the re-evaluate the goals and targets to achieve the best possible results.

5. Define Defects for Every Process:

Defects are any product that has a flaw or deficiency. In order to identify the flaw and correct it, we need to define what is categorized as a defect first. This process may include defining a process to record defects and identifying the various defects in products as well as processes.

6. Develop Documents and Records:

You need to define documentation formats and processes. Start from scratch and work your way up as you discover a new process that works for your business.

7. Define Quality Process:

You need to continuously evaluate the quality of your products. This includes corrective and preventive measures, improving communication, and internal audits.

8. Continuous monitoring and improvement of performance:

Use QMS effectively to collect data, analyze this data and identify areas which need to be improved. Implement activities to improve these areas and achieving new performance targets. Conduct regular appraisals that can encourage better performance in the identified areas.

Six Sigma is a highly effective strategy for running a business. In the healthcare industry, it can be quite challenging to implement these strategies owing to the constantly changing business scenario, under staffing, lack of funds and leadership. But implementing Six Sigma can be highly beneficial in this Industry just like any other. Though Healthcare is primarily dependant on doctors, there a number of other highly dependent processes and work together to make modern-day healthcare possible. In order to analyze how Six Sigma can benefit the healthcare industry, first, we shall look at the challenges faced by Six Sigma while being implemented in Healthcare.

• The number of consumers is only going to increase in vast numbers over the next few years as there is going to be a large population in the age group of 60 to 80. Therefore there is no threat of the scenario changing.
• Lack of finances in this sector has also impeded the implementation of Six Sigma. But with the clear boom of the healthcare firms in the coming years, there is no limit to the potential of Six Sigma in this domain.
• Staffing shortage leads to overworking of the employees present. This makes them hesitant to adapt to large changes in their working methods. It is also generally considered as not an attractive place to work.

We need to note that Six Sigma is basically a methodology that can help reduce process costs and perform processes in the most efficient way to achieve the best possible results. Therefore, this is the best way to combat all the above-mentioned problems in the healthcare industry. This can also play a major role in drastically decreasing medical errors and reduce the cost of healthcare services.

Now, what is Six Sigma?

It is a process used to eliminate defects and achieve better results by continuously evaluating your processes and formulating better strategies. It provides a framework to identify processes that can be improved to better address your client’s requirements. Let us look at how these frameworks can be applied to a healthcare industry.

1. Six Sigma focuses on variation. This is very important in the healthcare industry as achieving consistent results is of high importance to the reputation of the institution. Therefore physicians may be needed to analyze the data available and to identify the best method to employ a procedure. This can bring substantial improvements in clinical processes.

2. There are many healthcare chains present today such as pharmaceuticals, hospitals, clinics etc. These have become possible through the consolidation of various firms in the industry and therefore need to stabilize their organizational systems.

3. It encourages professional to give their best. Nurses, Doctors, Managers, Pharmacists, all perform their tasks in an organized and orderly fashion. This creates an easy interface between the various professionals thereby helping them perform better.

Having seen the advantages of implementing Six Sigma in the Healthcare industry, it is obvious that it is highly beneficial to provide better and consistent health care to the population. It also encourages all healthcare professionals to work together as a team. This gives a friendly and trustworthy environment to patients and other co-workers.