Lean Six Sigma is really a term to describe three related functions relevant to Business Excellence. It is:
- A statistic for measuring process capability
- An disciplined and logical improvement methodology
- An overall business excellence management approach
The term Sigma is derived from statistical measurement and denotes one standard deviation away from the mean average of a set of data represented in a bell curve graph.
So then if, for example, the ‘set of data’ represents the output of a business process, the use of Sigma could be to show what percentage of the process was ‘good’ and what was ‘bad’ in relation to what the customer required.
Very roughly, 1 Sigma would mean that about 33% of what was produced met customer requirements, and 6 Sigma would mean that 99.9999666% of what was produced met customer requirements.
This level of excellence has tremendous bearing upon any industry that requires excellence to stay in business. Just think of the importance to industries like the medical field or essential services (water, power etc)
Lean Six Sigma is one of the world’s leading methodologies in business improvement. Lean Six Sigma has been effectively deployed to:
- Enhance customer satisfaction
- Achieve significant cost savings
- Increase business-related productivity processes
- Generate new markets
- Generate better revenues and margins
- Manage and deliver sustainable and measurable improvement in an organisation.
Our unique course design explores the Improvement Journey through an experiential learning methodology that maximises the participants’ understanding of Business Excellence theory through the development of Lean Six Sigma skills.
Some people think of Lean Six Sigma as the ‘same old stuff’ rebadged and rebranded for sale. It’s quite true – Lean Six Sigma is NOT new. The base concepts, one may argue, are centuries old. They also draw upon the ‘canon of excellence’ from esteemed thinkers like Juran, Crosby and Deming, to name a few.
Where Lean Six Sigma is unique is its total view of measured excellence throughout any process under scrutiny, whether production or people-based processes. The keen focus on measurement of processes ‘before and after’ and an appreciation of the financial impact on the business of any ‘improvement activity’ by Lean Six Sigma makes it invaluable to any organisations seeking excellence and improved bottom line.
