Subject areaProcess and organisation
Lean Six Sigma combines two methods: lean, which removes waste, and Six Sigma, which uses statistical tools to reduce the variability of a process and therefore its errors.
Six Sigma was born at Motorola in the mid-1980s, and the name refers to a process that fails fewer than 3.4 times in a million. Michael George made the combination systematic with «Lean Six Sigma» (2002). The method runs in five phases, summed up by the acronym DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control).
In marketing and sales it is useful when a result swings for no visible reason: conversion rates that change from month to month, response times to enquiries that vary from one salesperson to another. Lean makes the process shorter, Six Sigma makes it predictable.
Source: Michael L. George, Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma Quality with Lean Speed, 2002.
An example
A mechanical components manufacturer notices that quotes go out sometimes in a day, sometimes in three weeks. Using DMAIC it measures the path of every quote, finds that the delays come from requests with incomplete technical drawings, and introduces a form that makes them arrive complete.
Enrico Giubertoni. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may quote, translate and adapt this entry with the author’s name and a link, stating any changes. For commercial use, write to info@enricogiubertoni.com
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