Lean Six Sigma Clears the 'Cloud'

What do you see in the picture?

The answer is that you may either see a young girl or an old lady and if you look closer you might see both! (concentrate on the eye or ear!)

Just like in any process, each person will perceive the process in their own individual way. A process can seem to be performing well from the outset but there may be an underlying problem that we are not aware of. In recent trends many companies or service industries applied Lean Manufacturing methods in order to quickly 'modify' their processes to reduce wastages and improve costs.

Lean tools are excellent methodologies to be applied but the 'cloud' may still remain in which it may be embedded deep within the process itself. In simple terms we may only have harvested 'low hanging fruits' from the tree. How do we differentiate that our improvement activities made significant improvements to the process? How can we make sure that these improvements can be sustained over a long period of time?

This is where the use of statistical tools comes into play when combined with lean manufacturing techniques and hence, the Lean Six Sigma appears. The use of six sigma principles in conjunction with lean manufacturing clears this 'cloud' through statistical measures. Do you beg to differ?

Six Sigma for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Six Sigma is a structured methodology that utilises statistical tools to improve a process. The process can be in any industry not only restricted to manufacturing. The process can range from building an airplane to serving pizza in a restaurant. It can also range from tendering for a government project to writing a prescription for a patient.

Nevertheless, I often hear complaints that Six Sigma is only suitable for large corporations such as Multi National Corporations (MNCs) and not the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) due to lack of funds and resources. It is fair to say that implementing six sigma can be initially an expensive affair that can tie up resources and usually involves the participation of independent consultants to make the implementation successful.

However, as I mentioned earlier, six sigma is about improving (even streamlining) a process and should not have any boundaries betweeen MNCs or SMEs. The level of Six Sigma may defer in which the MNCs or SMEs may limit the number of Yellow, Green and Black Belts to have in their companies based on available funds and resources. The question is that: are there any other elements than can restrict or limit the level of six sigma implementation between MNCs & SMEs or is it only suitable for MNCs?