Good Term Paper On Lean & Sigma

Productivity and quality are some of the most important concepts in every organisation. For an organisation to be successful, it should be able to produce high quality goods and services at the lowest cost possible. Both quality and productivity have the potential to raise the level of a given organisation to international standards. Several factors are associated with both quality and productivity. It is essential for the organisation to employ certain tools that would enable it to produce high quality goods with the potential of fetching high prices with low production costs. The tools used for measuring quality as well as productivity should be very sensitive. This paper is set to discuss six lean and Sigma as a tool for measuring quality.
It is essential for an organisation or company to be able to produce outputs from inputs efficiently as well as effectively. For a company to scale the global markets, it must be able to meet both customers’ satisfaction as well as expectation. These expectations are always inclined towards low cost, high quality, as well as delivery of goods or services on time. Statistical Process Control (SPC) and control charts are essential quality management tools developed in the early 1900s (Morgan & Brenig-Jones, 2015). Walter Shewhart, who worked at the Western Electric (WE), developed the two concepts. The popularity of the SPC rose due to its success in the Bell Lab company located in Japan. Edwards Deming applied the method to in the 1970s to measure the quality of goods that were produced.
Additionally, other concepts were developed for quality management. These were developed in the 1980s. They include Total Quality Management as well as Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). The popularity of TQM rose after it won the two quality awards. The Total quality management was considered an outgrowth of the SPC. However, the SPC focused on an approach that was a little bit structured. On the other hand, BPR was concerned about totally discarding the previous processes (Morgan & Brenig-Jones, 2015). Total quality management and the statistical process control (SPC) developed a new concept that was introduced by Harry Mikel. Harry worked at the Motorola Corporation. He integrated both concepts into one complex quality control measure. The concept was referred to as the six sigma. After the introduction of the approach into the market, the six-sigma won an award in 1986. The then chief executive officer of the General Electricals (GE), Jack Welsh, then used it.
Jack Welsh developed the six-sigma approach into a tool that could be used by any organisation to measure the quality of its products. The popularity of the tool is attributed to the rise in the financial fortunes of the General Electricals. Jack Welsh continuously encouraged the departments within the organisation to focus on the quality of the products produced. It is essential to note that the six-sigma is attributed to Jack welsh since he advocated for its use by various organisations (Furterer, 2016). Some of the tools employed by the method in solving quality problems include analyse, control, improve, measure, as well as define. It is always abbreviated as DMAIC. The main purpose of these tools is to help in the elimination of waste. Additionally, they help in the simplification and organisation of work processes.
Another concept, Lean, was developed and became popular in the 1970s. Its main aim was the reduction of both cycle time and waste in the production of cars. The lean program led to high profits for the companies that employed it. This was attributed to the high quality of goods that were produced through the application of the program. Its main emphasis is to do a lot of work with fewer resources (Harry, Mann, De Hodgins, Hulbert, & Lacke, 2011). The Toyota production systems are credited for the development of the lean program. The industry emphasises on the production of goods with minimum waste. The program is regarded as environmental and costs friendly. Waste produced is minimal, and the defective products are then recycled. Additionally, the process enhances the use of fewer materials, fewer people, and fewer materials.
The lean program is always cost saving due to its use of minimal space, materials, and human resource. Due to its flexibility, the program developed into one of the most commonly used tools. The main idea of the program is to ensure maximisation of the value of the goods to the customer while minimising costs (Furterer, 2016). In essence, it means ensuring the production of quality goods and services with minimum resources. In most lean organisations, their main aim is to increase the customer value. They believe that an increase in customer value corresponds to an equal increase in the profits. Through the elimination of waste, fewer resources can be used in the production of goods and services.
In the early 1990s, the six-sigma and lean program were integrated into one complex tool for quality control. The result of the integration was the reduction of waste and increase in productivity (Morgan & Brenig-Jones, 2015). This combination was applied to several companies who were eager to apply the new method. The fusion of these two concepts can be attributed to Michael George. He authored a book ‘Lean Six Sigma’. Most of the statistical methods in the six-sigma have been integrated into the speedy production of the lean program. The integrated tools are almost similar to the primary tools. However, differences arise in data collection, data analysis, as well as representation. One of the main advantages of the integrated tool is the increased velocity of production, elimination of wastes, minimization of resources, as well as increased customer satisfaction.
When these tools are combined, the result is an improved collection of data that can be used to solve and transform quality issues in an organisation. It is essential to ensure that the tools are applied to completion for better results (Furterer, 2016). However, it is recommended that each tool should be applied at an optimum level. For instance, when the lean idea is adopted, it focuses on value addition while the six-sigma tools assist in the understanding and reduction of variation upon agreement on the value stream.
The advantage of integrating the lean and six-sigma is that it provides a strategy as well as creating an environment that allows for improvement in flow and elimination of wastes. Additionally, the tool is used to empower and encourage the staff to continuously work to identify opportunities for improvement in production (Furterer, 2016). The six-sigma assists in the quantification of problems, making decisions based on available evidence, reduction in variation, as well as identification of the root causes of variations. Furthermore, the approach seeks to quantify financial benefits as well as savings. With this, the organisation can focus their effort in areas with greater potentials. When these advantages of the six-sigma are combined with the speed and efficiency of the lean program, improvement in productivity as well as efficiency can be realised.
When these tools are used separately, they are still able to benefit the organisations that use them. This is because the Lean program will be in pursuit of waste elimination while Six Sigma is concerned with perfection. However, a combination of the two produces excellent results. This results in the production of quality products at a higher speed than individual tools (Harry et al., 2011). Lean thinking, as well as management, seeks to reduce the steps involved in the creation of customer value and to provide faster feedback on possible errors or customer demands. This enables the Sigma to work faster due to consistent and fast provision of information. The faster realisation of the correctable problems allows the organisation to change their operations quickly to accommodate the changes.
The implementation of the lean sigma approach requires three steps. These steps must be applied in sequence to ensure that the tool is properly utilised. The initial step requires the management to determine the plan of the organisation’s project that is applicable. The plan should apply to both lean and six sigma approaches. After the identification of the projects, the lean program should be the first approach to be implemented. This is because it gives immediate feedback to the organisation (Morgan & Brenig-Jones, 2015). The lean can provide feedback on any errors or inefficiencies that have occurred during the implementation of the project. After the lean has provided feedback, the six-sigma can then be applied. The six-sigma should be able to correct all the inefficiencies that were uncovered by the lean.
In the contemporary business world, most organisations apply the integrated lean sigma approach. This has been hugely successful due to the popularity of both lean and six-sigma approaches. However, certain complications have threatened to derail the efforts created by the integrated approach (Furterer, 2016). The two programs have led to the destruction of the cultures as well as the financial stability of certain firms. When adequate planning is not put in place, the programs often compete for resources. This culture clash may lead to inefficacy in both approaches. Lean processes require shorter but intensive approaches while the six-sigma require less intensive approaches. For the six-sigma, the company needs to develop ‘black belts’ who use computers in the collection and analysis of data.
The approach enables businesses to improve their profits by monitoring and designing the day-to-day activities. The activities are carried out in a way allowing the company to minimise resources as well as improve the effectiveness of the operations. This also helps individual organisations to minimise wastes (Furterer, 2016). However, certain factors must be adhered to for the lean sigma approach to be successful. These factors include the commitment from the management, focused resources, common language or tools, as well as discipline in the project approach. It is essential for the management to be committed to the success of the projects. This would enable the employees to be motivated by the achievement of the organisations objectives.
Resources of the organisations should be focused on the achievement of the objectives of the project. The employees need to be trained to ensure that they can help in the implementation of the lean six-sigma project. They need to be trained on the principles of the approach. This would help them develop a culture that integrates the lean six-sigma approach. Besides, it is crucial for the organisation to develop a common language as well tools for the achievement of the objectives (Harry et al., 2011). This is important since differing tools cannot be used in the achievement of any organisations objectives. Unity in tools as well as languages is an important element in these operations. The other factor that must be keenly observed is the customers.
It is also essential to understand the key features of the lean six-sigma approach. This enables the managers to know how to deal with these factors for the improvement of the effectiveness and speed of the operations of the organisation (Morgan & Brenig-Jones, 2015). The features include satisfaction in customer demands, improvement in the processes, decision making using facts, as well as training of employees. The customer is considered as the most crucial element in the lean sigma approach. The focus on the customers comes from both the sigma and lean as independent approaches. In the lean, the customers are integrated into the project enabling them to significantly pull the product increasing its speed. Therefore, the demands of the customer must be given priority in the particular approach.
The other feature is the improvement in the processes of the organisation. Due to the increase in the speed of production, the lean six-sigma approaches are efficient as well as effective regarding resources, space, materials and speed. The improvement in the process is due to the seamless integration of the two approaches (Harry et al., 2011). The lean approach increases speed while the Sigma improves efficiency as well as productivity. The Sigma also has a potential to reduce any detected variations and errors. The metrics and statistical tools of the six-sigma are used to monitor as well as evaluate the project. These tools can then be used to determine the upper lower limits of the performance of these activities.
Besides, the lean sigma approach uses evidence-based decision-making in the operations of the organisations. Most of the statistical tools of the six-sigma operate under this feature. They help in the collection of information and data for decision-making. They provide information concerning the quality of the output of the operations (Morgan & Brenig-Jones, 2015). This helps the management to gauge the performance of the organisations. Through these analytical tools, identification of the problems facing the organisations become easy compared to using any of the two approaches independently. Besides, the employees should be trained to ensure they can conduct the operations of the integrated approach.
In summary, the integrated lean and Sigma approach is an essential tool in the management of various projects in an organisation. Due to increased speed and productivity, the approach is suitable for most complex organisations. It is recommendable that organisations use the approach in the improvement of the processes.
References
Furterer, S. L. (2016). Lean Six-Sigma in service: applications and case studies. Florida: CRC Press.
Harry, M., Mann, P. S., De Hodgins, O. C., Hulbert, R. L., & Lacke, C. J. (2011). The practitioner's guide to statistics and lean Six Sigma for process improvements. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Morgan, J., & Brenig-Jones, M. (2015). Lean Six-Sigma for Dummies. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.