 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The combination of the two methodologies, called Lean Six Sigma, is
used by medium and large businesses around the world, and is a
rigorous, business focused, proven approach to improving business
results. 
Large enterprises and medium sized companies have come to accept process improvement using Lean Six Sigma as a well accepted approach to improve key business processes and bottom line financial results. Process improvement projects are useful for eliminating or significantly reducing profit-sapping waste and defects from nearly any process in any industry, whether service- or manufacturing-oriented. A Brief Introduction to Lean Six Sigma
| Motorola invented Six Sigma in the late 1980’s in response to
Japanese manufacturer’s taking market share in the paging business,
generally because of Motorola’s poor quality and higher price. Six
Sigma focuses on improving quality and the bottom line while delighting
internal or external customers. |  | Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, named "Manager of the Century" by
Fortune magazine, credited Six Sigma with saving the company over $1
billion per year from 1996 through 1999 alone and increasing operating
margins by about 5%. |  | Other enterprises, from Motorola to Honeywell, credit it with
saving them from 1% to 4% of revenue annually.1 Bringing that down to
earth a bit for a midsized company selling $30 million per year, that
would translate to bottom line annual savings of between $300k and $1.2
million. Savings are triggered by being able to quantify the cost of poor quality, including
- “Hidden factories” where rework and recycling of material is done,
- Handling thousands of customer complaints each year,
- Acquiring new customers versus building on an existing base and growing it, and
- Designing and introducing products or services which have defects and/or don’t meet customer needs.
|  | Lean Thinking is a fundamental tenet of the Toyota Production
System, and is credited helped Toyota become the largest automobile
company in the world, recently overtaking General Motors. This was
accomplished while saving money and delivering high quality products
which inspire customer loyalty |
|
|
|
|
|
