An alternate form of Six Sigma Training is Lean Six Sigma. Although it is an altered form it has many of its own capacities, and knowing the differences can add to your quality improvement projects, more then you may think possible. Although the basis fundamentals of Six Sigma are still evident in Lean, there are a few additions that set it apart.
There are eight elements of waste that Lean Six Sigma focuses on. It has been proven that once these areas are removed from a company, their quality has improved. The following is a list of what the Lean process considers to be waste and examples to each area.
-Wasted Human Talent: Anyone that is without a specific job function or who’s work may be slowing the process down.
-Defects: Any product or process that is not working properly. Before they can be eliminated, however, they will require a fixable solution.
-Inventory: This refers to an over sized “To Do” list of work. You never want to have to much product waiting to be worked on. A doctors office, for example, does not want to have to many patients in the waiting room at one time.
-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 employees standing around waiting to unload a truck that hasn’t arrived is a good example.
-Motion: When talking about motion, it is pretty self explanatory. It refers to the moving around of people when there is absolutely no need for it. An great example of this is when you make an appointment for a clinic and you are sent to triage, then back to the waiting room and then to the exam room. Everything should just be down right in the exam room.
-Transportation: Any form of ineffective transportation that is used to move people or a product. If it is not necessary then it is wasteful and not needed.
-Process Waste: Anything that needs to be done within the company, but does not add any value to the process, product or service. For example, a manager may be required to fill out paperwork each night, but it has nothing to do with improving the product or customer service.
Understanding these areas of waste will assist you company with enhancing the quality of the projects you produce.
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