If you are in involved with manufacturing or process managemen, you must have heard of Lean and Six Sigma.
To gain essential knowledge and skills in Lean Six Sigma, consider using Lean Six Sigma Introduction Training Course delivered by pdtraining in Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga and other cities in New Zealand.
Let us first understand what we mean by “lean” and “Six Sigma”.
About Six Sigma
- Six Sigma is a structured, data-driven process of solving critical issues from a business perspective that we haven’t been able to solve with current methodology.
- Six Sigma is the single most effective problem-solving methodology for improving business and organizational performance.
- The common measurement scale is called the Sigma capability or Z and is a universal scale. It is a scale like a yardstick measuring inches or a thermometer measuring temperature.
- The scale allows us to compare business processes in terms of the capability to stay within the quality limits established for that process.
- The Sigma scale measures Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO). Six Sigma equates to 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
What Six Sigma is and is not:
- Six Sigma is not an add-on to normal business activities.
- It is an integrated part of the improvement process.
- Six Sigma is management methodology driven by data.
- Six Sigma focuses on projects that will produce measurable business results.
- Six Sigma is not a standard, a certification or a metric like percentage.
- The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many” defects” you have in a process, you can systematically determine how to eliminate those and approach “zero defects”.
- Sigma is a value from 1 to 6 that signifies the maximum number of defects per million:
- 1 Sigma = 690,000 defects/million = 31% accurate
- 2 Sigma = 308,537 defects/million = 69.1463% accurate
- 3 Sigma = 66,807 defects/million = 93.3193% accurate
- 4 Sigma = 6,210 defects/million = 99.3790% accurate
- 5 Sigma = 233 defects/million = 99.9767% accurate
- 6 Sigma = 3.4 defects/million = 99.999997% accurate
- Six Sigma is about reducing variation.
- Six Sigma find out the facts before acting.
About Lean
“Lean” means continuously improving towards the ideal and achieving the shortest possible cycle time through the tireless reduction of waste.
- It is focused on eliminating waste in all processes
- It is about expanding capacity by reducing costs and shortening cycle times
- It is about understanding what is important to the customer
- It is not about eliminating people
Examples of Lean Projects:
- Reduced inventory
- Reduced floor space
- Quicker response times and shorter lead times
- Decreased defects, rework, scrap
- Increased overall productivity
History Behind Lean
The phrase “lean manufacturing” was coined in the 1980’s and has its roots in the Toyota Production System.
Most of the basic goals of lean manufacturing are common sense, and some fundamental thoughts have been traced back to the writings of Benjamin Franklin.
Henry Ford cited Franklin as a major influence on his lean business practices, which included Just-in-time manufacturing. The founders of Toyota designed a process with inspiration from Henry Ford and their visits to the United States to observe the assembly line and mass production that had made Ford rich. The process is called the Toyota Production System, and is the fundamental principle of lean manufacturing.
Two books have since shaped the ideologies of Lean: “The machine that changed the world” (1990) and “Lean Thinking” (1996).
The goal of this training is to:
- Increase your knowledge of Process Management, Six Sigma and Lean techniques as Business Process Improvement methodologies.
- Increase your skills at improving the ease and performance of the processes in which you work.
- To gain an understanding of your role as a process team member for the achievement of business success.
- To select and improve one of the process you either own or work in.
Pdtraining delivers 1000’s of professional development courses each year in Wellington, Auckland, Napier, Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin and Tauranga, so you can be assured your training will be delivered by a qualified and experienced trainer.
All public Lean Six Sigma Introduction Training courses include am/pm tea, lunch, printed courseware and a certificate of completion. Customised courses are available upon request so please contact pdtraining on 1300 121 400 to learn more.