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How Do Lean and Six Sigma Work Together?

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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • March 4, 2017 at 5:46 am #55639

    prudhvi ram attanti
    Participant

    How does Six Sigma work together with lean manufacturing concepts?

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    March 4, 2017 at 10:26 am #200876

    Katie Barry
    ✔️ iSixSigma Staff
    ★★★★★★★★★★
    Keymaster

    @prudhvi309 It appears that you did not search our site before asking your question. If you search you will find how they work together.

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    March 4, 2017 at 9:27 pm #200882

    Shamshul othman
    Participant

    Six sigma initially started off as defect reduction method, but in managing corporations, defects are not the only issues to win customers or making profits. Resources optimization also a huge issue when it comes to profit and loss. So beside defects which always refer to non conformance of the final products, resources utilization also need to continuously be reduced to improve profitability. From my practice in a japanese mnfg environment improvement subjects are beyond lean six sigma and defects. We improved attendace rate, line capacity, machine footprint, we even use it in pricing strategies, value engineering of procurements costs etc

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    March 6, 2017 at 7:36 am #200908

    Chris Seider
    ★★★★★★★★★★
    Participant

    @KatieBerry nice to see more traffic but there’s quite a few “interesting” threads started.

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    March 6, 2017 at 3:33 pm #200916

    MBBinWI
    ★★★★★★★★★★
    Participant

    @prudhvi309 – why would you think they work together?

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    January 24, 2020 at 12:04 pm #245726

    stephanieareid
    Participant

    @MBBinWI My sentiments exactly. It is interesting to see how folks try so hard to marry Lean and six sigma whereas I see them as completely separate. Lean (the Toyota way) is the holistic approach to operating a successful business and six sigma is a tool to be used on specific improvement projects (although I believe it unnecessary to use at all). Folks who have a “Lean Six Sigma” certification think they know anything remotely Lean but after working with some of them, it is clear that their teachers have failed them in Lean teachings. Lean isn’t just something you decide to do one day and start doing it, no! It is the way of life, part of the company’s culture and most importantly is a mandate that comes from leadership who have a strong buy-in to the proper way to approach Lean and expresses the need for their entire company to adopt Lean thinking. Six sigma does not provide this at all and instead takes more of a project management approach.

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    January 24, 2020 at 3:22 pm #245738

    GPS1111
    Participant

    This slide I use for training helps explain both the differences and how they work together.  The do have some commonality of tools but the value each brings has a definite divide.  Short answer one is more concerned with velocity and throughput and the other concerned with quality of product in that process.LSS

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    January 24, 2020 at 10:08 pm #245745

    MBBinWI
    ★★★★★★★★★★
    Participant

    @stephanieareid – you mis-interpret my comment.  I don’t doubt that they work together – I was merely inquiring how the original poster thought they work together.  Too many posters here look for others to do their homework (due diligence that they could figure out themselves if they just did some basic work).

    My years of experience show me that they do work together.  One of the wastes that Lean seeks to reduce is defects – which are often caused by being out of acceptable tolerance.  That is where six sigma can be applied.

    You sound like many zealots who latch on to their favorite approach/methodology/tool which becomes their hammer and every problem is a nail (the same can be said for many six sigma practitioners, by the way).  I would encourage you to critically evaluate the problem that you are looking to address and apply the correct tool.  By the way, Lean and Six Sigma are merely a couple of them.  You should keep learning new ways to solve problems – or better yet, create a new one where no existing ones seem to be adequate.

    Good luck.  And open up your mind to other approaches.  It will make you a better problem solver.

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