Written by: Mayur M
Reviewed by: Dr. Anita Stalin (PhD)
LeanSixSigma
In current business scenarios, with fast growing competitiveness, control over manufacturing, service, productivity and customer satisfaction becomes tougher and more challenging.
In this space, Lean and Six Sigma (LSS) synergies become ‘key’ towards targeted business strategies that enhance productivity and customer satisfaction and there is a significant amount of research on implementing these strategies sequentially.
Additionally, research has also demonstrated the versatility of LSS in terms of the various sectors it could be applied to. In fact, an important take away from various studies is that LSS could be applied at a greater level to the non-manufacturing sector, as compared to the manufacturing sector (58% vs. 42%, respectively).
It has been our experience as LSS trainers, that people from all sectors and fields see benefits in adopting the LSS in their organisation.
Benefits that have been experienced due to application of LSS in the manufacturing industries are:
- Inventory reduction
- Reduced costs attributed to poor quality
- Improvement in customer satisfaction
- Defect-free process implementation
- Improved productivity
Benefits that have been experienced due to application of LSS in the service sectors (financial, healthcare and education) are:
- Improved operation efficiencies
- Reduced margin of error
- Reduced cost
- Improved service quality
- Reduction in processes that are not value-adding
- Improved job satisfaction
- Reduced customer complaints
During the last two decades, there has been an increasing pressure from customers for greater valuer from their purchases; either related to delivery time, quality, customer service and cost feasibility. This has encouraged many industries to move towards reducing waste and boosting outputs, and ultimately has led to the adoption of LSS.
Source: Singh M and Rathi R. (2018). A structured review of Lean Six Sigma in various industrial
Sectors. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma. DOI: 10.1108/IJLSS-03-2018-0018