Lean & Six Sigma Increases Competitiveness

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In the current business environment, uppermost on the minds of most CEOs and Business Unit leaders is the question of how to increase business and simultaneously trim costs. Many companies are searching for ways to achieve this in a strategic manner. Most currently manage to do this tactically. The Lean & Six Sigma approach is a powerful way to increase profitability and reduce costs for any company. Lean & Six Sigma principles and tools are now being applied to companies from both the Services and Manufacturing Sectors.

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Goal-Oriented

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One of the characteristics of Lean & Six Sigma is a heightened state of awareness by the entire workforce concerning their shared goals and their progress towards these goals by providing constant feedback on progress and doing this rapidly. The goals of each team and department are aligned with mid-term goals of the company. The bar is raised every quarter to bring the organization closer to it's mid term goals quarter by quarter.

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Visual Management

Visual Management techniques are frequently used wherein charts, dashboards, computer screens, white boards etc are placed at prominent positions and provide performance information to keep the workforce informed in a timely manner of the progress they are making vis a vis their team goals as well as the company goals.

 

Removing Waste from the Organization

 

Lean & Six Sigma focuses on removing waste from processes across the organization. Waste is caused by non-value add activities which do not meet any customer need. Such activities should be eliminated. Waste is also caused by errors and defects, long waiting times and delays, lack of staff motivation, " walls" that exist between departments, lack of team work, poor communications and numerous hand-offs in any process. Waste needs to be relentlessly taken out of any organization.

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Builds Continuous Improvement Culture

 

Lean & Six Sigma helps to build a continuous improvement culture through the execution of Rapid Improvement Team (RIT) events, also called kaizens. Often the teams become self-directed and decide themselves what improvements to work on for these RIT events and not the management. This creates ownership for the intended improvement.

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Celebrate Successes

 

Rapid and visible progress takes place in a Lean & Six Sigma Enterprise. Incremental improvements and successes are always celebrated, often in a simple manner. This encourages the teams and it adds to their enthusiasm towards making further improvements. Incentives are closely tied to performance vis a vis goals. The workforce is empowered and decisions are made as close to the ground as possible.

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Lean and Six Sigma Brings Results

 

Lean and Six Sigma is not a cure-all for everything. It starts with your company's vision and works within your business strategy and throughout the whole organization to mobilize the workforce to drive towards your organization s mid-term goals. Lean & Six Sigma when properly implemented results in reduced costs, faster processes, and better quality products and services. The Lean & Six Sigma concepts are simple. The challenge lies in the proper implementation of the Lean & Six Sigma approach and this is where we can assist you.