Lean and Lean Six Sigma
Lean and Lean Six Sigma are a set of methods companies can apply to any manufacturing, transactional or service process to reduce waste, eliminate non-value-added actions and cut time.
Lean methods have a rich and proven history that began in the automobile industry at Ford in the 1920s in a rudimentary way, and at Toyota in the 1950s in a more advanced way. Combining Lean with Six Sigma can produce a program that brings both short-term results – through the power of Lean – and long-term change through the power of Six Sigma. It is for this reason many companies are turning to a combined Lean and Six Sigma effort.
Who Uses Lean and Lean Six Sigma?
BMGI’s combined Lean and Six Sigma programs are designed to incorporate the best of both methodologies, but Lean continues to have its own unique principles, tools, and even practitioners A great number of companies have implemented Lean principles and techniques, including Alcoa, Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the manufacturing sector. Transactional and service companies have also applied Lean and Lean Six Sigma with success, benefiting from its time-saving, waste-removing and efficiency-gaining ways.
More examples of big-name companies that have employed Lean thinking and principles are Dell in optimizing demand-driven flow, eBay in bringing products and consumers together in real time and Microsoft in compressing its software development cycle. Healthcare concerns are implementing Lean too as they streamline the processes involved in patient care Companies typically use Lean to make immediate operational improvements as a direct output of “Kaizen events.” BMGI uses a methodology called SCORE to run Kaizen events, which typically yield benefits sooner than other methods, primarily because SCORE keeps the Kaizen team together day after day until the needed Lean improvements are made.
Results from SCORE Kaizen events can be seen immediately, often within a single week. Kaizen events also uncover a list of improvement opportunities for ongoing attention with Lean tools, or process improvement tools like Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma.
Want To Learn More?
For more information about BMGI’s Lean and Lean Six Sigma programs please contact us at BMGInquiry@bmgi.com or 1-800-467-4462
