If you are interested in learning the structured streamline of the business process, then you have landed in the right place to learn about the lean methodology. Here is the introduction to Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma. Let's get started.  

What is Lean?

Lean methodology is opted for optimizing the organizational system by eliminating waste within the system. The lean methodology makes the organization perform better, faster, and cheaper. It ensures to retain quality and thereby keeps the customer satisfied. 

So, what does Lean methodology do?

• It reduces the cycle time process
• Improves the product
• Improves delivery time
• Reduces inventory level
• Optimizing resources

Five Principles of Lean Methodology

Here is the list of principles of Lean Methodology

• Defining Value: The first step is to identify the customer who defines the value of the product. So as you identify the customer, figure out the customer requirements and expectations from the product, then classify it into value-added, non-value added, and enabling added value.
• Efficiency: It is important to create a workflow within the system for producing the product. By optimizing this process of creating a workflow, efficiency is increased.
• Mapping the stream: The process of value stream mapping helps to showcase the workflow process of the product. It helps in identifying and eliminating NVA activities. It reduces delay and improves quality.
• Continuous improvement: With the continuous and consistent effort to improve the business process and the changing customer needs. It ensures to give an error-free product to the customer.
• Establishing pull approach: Pull means providing the customer with what is needed in the right quantity. The pull approach is established by system beat time. Beat time is the time for a product to be ready to meet the customer's needs.

Lean Tools

• Kaizen: It focuses on small improvements. It improves the commitment toward the progress of the task.
• Poka Yoke: It is a tool to alert operators and find defects or failures.
• SMED: Reduces changeover time
• Jidoka: Helps to stop the production line when any defect occurs
• Heijunka: They work on Line Balancing. They focus on balancing the production line through the even distribution of tasks.
• Gemba: Helps to monitor the process of work, and ensure the execution happens within a given time. Records the observation made on the process of work and finds any error with the workflow.

Benefits of Lean Methodology

• Lean Methodology reduces waste
• They improve efficiency
• Improves the quality
• Higher employee-customer satisfaction
• Increases productivity
• Consistent satisfaction
• Visibility for Stakeholder
• Reduces cost
• Stability is increased
• Helps to focus on the improvement

What is Six Sigma?

It is the process of identifying the needs of customers and helps to understand the needs of the organization. Six Sigma primarily focuses on increasing revenue and ultimately improving the results of the organization. It prioritizes what is critical to the customer. Based on the requirement it shall help the organization to meet the target. It creates an environment for business improvements and better products and services.

Six Sigma can be applied to any industry for identifying and eliminating errors. It improves the efficiency of the organization.

Five Principles of Six Sigma

Here is the list of principles of Six Sigma

• Customer-oriented: The primary focus is on the customer requirement, it is for the benefit of the customer. The organization must clearly understand the needs of the customer. It helps in establishing quality to meet the demands.
• Finding the problem: Gather data from all the related areas. Verify whether the collected data is achieving the objective. Ensure to collect more information if required. Find the root cause of the problem.
• Eliminating the errors: As you have identified the problem, take the necessary steps to eliminate the errors. This elimination shall add value to the customer. Suppose the value chain is unable to detect the error, use any other various tools to find the problem.
• Collaborating Stakeholders: The process must collaborate with the stakeholders to contribute solutions to complex problems. In the end, the team needs to attain efficiency by applying the principle. Proper knowledge and training avoid project failure, and it ensures performance by avoiding risks.
• Flexible system: When the error is eliminated, the employee learns the approach towards the elimination of such errors in the future process. It helps to create a flexible environment for implementing the project. But the organization must adapt to changes. Examine the data and make appropriate changes.

Six Sigma tools

• DMAIC: It helps to define, analyze, and improve the strategy used in the organization
• Seven Wastes: The principle is to eliminate and reduce errors, the major seven wastes are demand, waiting for the next stage, equipment, material, worker, unnecessary transport, over-processing of parts, production of defective parts, and unnecessary movements of employees during work.
• 5s: It improves the workplace to be clean, safe, uncluttered, well organized and increases productivity.
• Flow: It is for the progressive achievement of tasks from design to launch, from raw material to becoming a finished product, and from order to delivery, to reduce error.

Benefits of Six Sigma

• It decreases waste
• Increases efficiency
• Applicable for any industry
• Reduces risk
• Avoids legal error
• Increases productivity
• More profit for the organization
• Improves customer satisfaction

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is the combined methodology of Lean and Six Sigma, primarily for reducing waste, eliminating defects, and increasing results. While Lean focuses on improving efficiency and Six Sigma focuses on how efficiency can lead to making a profit. When combined they are a more powerful tool, though the organization understands its role, responsibility, and requirements of the employee.

Importance of Lean Six Sigma

This integrated methodology is used in various other industries. It promotes the overall performance of the organization. The company could be product or service-based, Lean Six Sigma makes it efficient and gets committed to improving customer satisfaction. The ultimate objective is to improve production and eliminate waste. The quality improves and it is reflected in the results.

Benefits of Lean Six Sigma

• Strategic Planning: It focuses on the vision and mission statement of the organization, as it helps to achieve the ultimate goal. This strategic plan converts the statement to a quantifiable measure.
• Productivity: As it eliminates waste during various stages of delivering the product, there is productivity and ultimately increases profit.
• Satisfied employee: Productivity motivates the employee. It keeps the employee progressive and happier. As the organization implements LSS, the employee gets the natural tendency to avoid errors and eliminate waste.
• Supply Management: Since there is continuous improvement, the quality also improves. The suppliers must initiate to eliminate waste and reduce it as much as possible to witness better results.

The ultimate objective of Lean methodologies is to reduce waste. These approaches focus on continuous and consistent improvements. They improve efficiency, increases customer satisfaction, enhances profit, and curtails unnecessary costing. Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma have different approaches, it depends on the needs of the organization to opt for the best approach. To get your certification in Lean methodology, go through our website: https://goldstandardcertifications.com/, get certified in Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt