Page 315 - Six Sigma Demystified

Part 3 s i x s i g m a to o l s 295

range of businesses. While the lean methods have been a hot topic in business
only since the 1970s, it is well acknowledged that Henry Ford pioneered many
of these same techniques.

When to Use

Lean encompasses a variety of tools useful throughout DMAIC. Lean tools
discussed elsewhere in Part 3 include 5S, level loading, process cycle efficiency,
spaghetti diagrams, and velocity.

Methodology

Several of the lean methods are fairly well known in and of themselves. Just-in-
time, for example, has been a buzzword within automotive manufacturing for
over two decades. Other well-known methods include kanban (Japanese for
cards), kaizen (which refers to rapid improvement), and 5S.
There may be some confusion regarding the use of lean methods and Six
Sigma. Some recent practitioners of Six Sigma have struggled in their Six Sigma
deployment by retaining separate functional teams responsible for lean deploy-
ment. Six Sigma is an umbrella deployment strategy for implementing value-
added improvement projects aligned with an organization’s business strategy.
Lean provides essential methods to define value and waste to improve an orga-
nization’s responsiveness to customer needs. As such, the lean methods enhance
the Six Sigma strategy and can be seen as critical methods for accomplishing
the Six Sigma goals.
Lean focus is on three areas: visibility, velocity, and value. Visibility, also

known as transparency or visual control, broadens our awareness of problems.
Visibility implies that problems become immediately (or very quickly) known
to all stakeholders so that action may be taken. Visibility fosters an “all hands
on deck” philosophy: Stakeholders stop what they’re doing to help relieve the
bottleneck caused by process problems.
Velocity, sometimes known as flow, refers to the speed of process delivery.
Speed provides flexibility and improved responsiveness to customer demands.
By reducing process lead times, we can quickly respond to new orders or
changes required by the customer.
Value simply is the opposite of waste. Value can be defined as something for
which the customer is willing to pay. If a process step does not produce value,