Six Sigma
- Reducing variability
- Reducing the number of mistakes that occur down to practically zero
- Improving performance in the eyes of the customer
- Reducing costs
- Measurement and metrics are central to the Six Sigma methodology
- Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) must be established
Lean and Six Sigma are thought by many to be conflicting strategies, but this is false and they are in fact complementary.
Six sigma
- Aims to reduce variation in order to deliver high quality services
- Recognises opportunities defined by customers
- Aims to eliminate errors/defects as defined by the customer
- Uses data to aid decision making
- Uses a powerful set of statistical & quality tools within an effective framework for problem solving
- Provides a prescriptive cultural infrastructure effective in obtaining long-term results
- Projects result in customer satisfaction and/or cost savings
Lean
- Aims to maximise service/process speed
- Uses tools to analyse flow & delay times in a process
- Distinguishes between “value-added” and “non-value-added” work and aims to eliminate the root causes of “non-value-added” activities
- Provides a mechanism for quantifying & eliminating the cost of complexity
Organisations cannot focus on just speed (Lean) or just quality (Six Sigma) Lean Six Sigma is a good strategy. The two strategies reinforce each other.
The Six Sigma approach is ideal for researchers from all disciplines as it provides a structured methodology to problem solving using the recognised DMAIC approach first developed by Motorola. Many successful organisations across the world have since adopted the strategy
A Six Sigma Green Belt training certificate will be extremely useful for a researcher moving forward to start work within an organisation as it demonstrates that they are trained in this key process improvement methodology that is recognised worldwide to improve competitiveness and efficiency.