Lean six sigma focuses on removing waste from the workplace in all its forms.
Lean Six Sigma is an altered form of Six Sigma Training,
but also a process all its own in many capacities. Knowing the vital differences that come with Lean can prove to add more to your quality improvement projects than you might have thought possible. There are basic fundamentals of Six Sigma that will not be absent in the Lean process, but there are also a few additions to the process that make it what it is.
Lean Six Sigma is focused on eight elements of waste, or work that doesn't add value to an organization or company. It has been discovered that many places that eliminate these wasteful areas can actually enhance quality with just that elimination alone. The following is a list of the wastes according to the Lean process, along with examples of what each one refers to:
-Wasted human talent: this includes men and women who don't have a specific job function within the process or are simply slowing down the process with their presence.
-Defects: This can be products or processes that are not right. These obviously need solutions to fix them before they can be eliminated.
-Inventory: Too much product waiting to be worked. This can also refer to too many patients in a doctor's waiting room, for example.
-Overproduction: Having too much of anything before it is needed can get in the way of efficient process operation.
-Wasted time: Waiting on product to arrive, idle time that could be better spent on various processes or activities. Having five personnel standing around waiting to unload a truck that hasn't arrived is a good example.
-Motion: Simply put, too much unnecessary movement by men and women. For example, a clinic that sends patients to triage when they have booked appointments is wasted movement because they can go straight to the exam room.
-Transportation: Ineffective transportation that moves individuals and products can be wasteful when it isn't needed. Imagine a warehouse using a forklift to deliver items across the factory to a truck, when the production line could be streamlined to deliver right into the truck off of the line.
-Process Waste: Things that have to be done, but don't add value to the process, product, or service at hand. For example, a bank manager has to process a lot of paperwork, but this does not help customers or increase the bank's ability to serve those customers in most cases.
Understanding these waste products will enhance the quality improvement projects that you approach using Lean Six Sigma processes.
