Six Sigma Vs. Lean Six Sigma
Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing are business management and improvement strategies that attempt to reduce the costs of production; when these two methodologies are combined, it results in a business philosophy known as Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma is based on Six Sigma methodologies that reduce costs of manufacturing by eliminating defects with the addition of Lean Manufacturing techniques that reduce costs by eliminating waste and unnecessary inventory.
Other People Are Reading
-
History
-
Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing both have their roots in manufacturing industries that stressed quality, efficiency and speed. Lean Manufacturing gained popularity in optimizing automotive manufacturing, specifically with Toyota's Production System, while Six Sigma evolved in the technology industry where eliminating product defects can help companies save money. Six Sigma was invented and implemented in 1986 by Bill Smith, a Motorola quality manager who was influenced by, yet unsatisfied with previous quality improvement philosophies such as Total Quality Management and Zero Defects. Motorola has trademarked the methodologies and techniques of Six Sigma (see References).
Facts
-
Sigma is a mathematical term used to measure and analyze a function's deviation from perfection. According to Motorola University, the company's research and product development initiative, "in January 15, 1987, Motorola officially launched and announced Six Sigma and set the Six Sigma goal: achieving less than 3.4 defects per million opportunities."
-
Objective
-
According to David Drickhamer, author of "Where Lean Meets Six Sigma," "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 focus first on the lean manufacturing aspect to reduce inventory and eliminate waste and then turn their attention to Six Sigma methods to improve quality by solving the causes of defects.
Benefits
-
Each of these methods benefits from being implemented together. Six Sigma contributes statistical methods to control the variation and quality of outputs which Lean Manufacturing is lacking. Six Sigma recognizes that to eliminate defects, which results in wasted resources and/or customer dissatisfaction, a company must reduce the amount of variation in the process (see References). Increased standardization reduces this variation and allows for more consistent, high quality products.
On the other hand, Lean Manufacturing has the ability to improve process speed and reduce the use of resources which Six Sigma isn't designed to accomplish. Lean Manufacturing increases process velocity by analyzing delay times in the process flow. Lean Manufacturing looks to remove all non-value adding activities such as unnecessary transportation and storage of inventory, overproduction or employees experiencing delay times before having the necessary components to complete their activity (see References).
Considerations
-
According to Drickhamer, "proponents of Six Sigma and lean manufacturing have frequently clashed over the alleged superiority of one ideology above the other" (see References). While this is often the case, their differences and unique benefits can be combined to form a better, more balanced managerial philosophy.
-
