LEAN AND MEAN

Going lean and cutting wastes along the supply chain will increase customer value, improve quality and boost profi t margin. Lean principles and Six Sigma are two programs to help achieve that.

The lean principles have their roots in the Japanese manufacturing industry, more specifi cally from the Toyota Production System. They help to identify and eliminate wastes, thereby increasing quality and cutting down production time and cost.

Another application of the lean principles is to fi nd kinks in the company and smooth the fl ow of the work processes. This approach takes a more holistic and macro view of the company by integrating all systems, processes and workfl ows in the most effi cient way possible to produce synergy. Six Sigma originated at Motorola as a program to increase quality by removing defects. Back then, the thinking was that quality cost money and the higher the quality, the more money it cost. But Motorola found otherwise. It discovered a connection between an increase in quality and a decrease in the cost of production.

Sigma is a statistical term used to measure deviation. A Six Sigma refers to a process in which 99.99966 percent of the manufactured products are expected to be free of defects, in other words 3.4 defects per million. Motorola uses Six Sigma as the objective for all its manufacturing operations. And from here the term became a byword for the management and engineering practices used to achieve it.

The important thing with lean principles and Six Sigma is that the top leadership of a company must show commitment and take the lead. They are not a fi xed state or objective but a dynamic continuous improvement process.

Leaders should not view lean principles and Six Sigma as just tools and methodologies, nor should they see them as an end. Leaders must establish them as a part of the overall culture of the company. In this way, the benefi ts derive from lean principles and Six Sigma will be sustainable in the long run.