Society of Manufacturing Engineers
The SME author here makes an attempt to debunk the idea that Lean + Six Sigma = “Lean Sigma.” He compares it to trying to cross breed his Cat and his Poodle into something called a “Catoodle.”
Pretty harsh words:
“Six Sigma is not a stand-alone philosophy which the average worker on the floor can embrace, like the Toyota Production System. It’s a management tool for a very select few, certainly not worth the effort required to train an entire workforce on how to use or apply it. Like the Catoodle, there is no Lean Sigma.”
There certainly are parallels between aspects of Lean and Six Sigma (PDCA and DMAIC), and they certainly can be complementary approaches.
But, In my most recent experiences with Six Sigma people (in manufacturing and at a hospital), I was thoroughly unimpressed with the results of Six Sigma. I saw lots of training and lots of green belt certificates, but few results and no culture change. I’ve seen “analysis paralysis” beyond belief — using complex MiniTAB and statistical tools to solve a problem (such as materials shortages) that was easily solved in a day using lean tools and common sense (put in visual controls and a kanban system).
I could care less what fancy formulas you use if you can’t fix anything or can’t get results. One hospital I visited showed me data that showed “the amount of time you waited for cancer treatment did not corrolate with patient age.” Why would they have even thought there would e a corrolation? How stupid. Just because you have data on 1) patient waiting time and 2) the age of each patient doesn’t mean you should run Six Sigma statistical tests. Was there a reasonable explanation that the cancer treatment center staff was discriminating against older (or younger) patients by making them wait longer?
Episodes like that kill any enthusiasm I might have ever had for Six Sigma.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The worst thing about six sigma is that the leave all the skills in a handful of “experts.” These folks are to solve all the problems for everyone else. I saw a six sigma black belt sit at his desk and do a project by asking someone to email them the data, then emailed back the answer a few weeks later. So much for gemba. So much for involvement.
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Don’t mistake the bus drive for the bus! Six Sigma is a tool and like any tool it can be used incorrectly. But it can work well in combination with Lean. Like any project if you’re not involving the workers doing the work you’re going to fail – that’s the same for Six Sigma, Lean, TQM or other practices.
As a tool of reduction of cycle time, waste, complexity, handoffs etc. VSM spans across Measure Analyze and Improve sections of the Six Sigma process. In reverse application if through Kaizen workthroughs a problem is identified of variation and defects, a 6S project on that area may help.
Just my 2 cents.
Tim C.
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Good points by Tim C. There are many orgs (ITT, Cat, Ecolab) that are successfully using Lean and Six Sigma together to improve speed and quality of their processes.
If you refer to the combination as “Lean Six Sigma”, we can modify Mr. Kaizen Sinsei’s analogy a bit: he owns both a cat and a poodle. Why? Honestly, I can’t imagine:)but the idea is that they each make unique and complementary contributions to the household. No need to blend them at a genetic level and try to make each something it’s not – just use them together.
Not every company is Toyota. If combining Lean and Six Sigma gives an organization a path forward, then I think we should support it.
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I think part of the debate is “do you combine lean and six sigma into a single methodology?” I agree that six sigma can be very useful. It can be applied or misapplied, much like lean.
But, I think lean is more of a holistic business strategy than six sigma is. I see six sigma as more of a “tool”. I think, as JP said, that lean and six sigma can and should co-exist, but that doesn’t make it “lean sigma”. Calling it “lean sigma” reeks of executive laziness (having to boil it down or dumb it down into a single thing, instead of understanding two things and how they fit together).
J&J has a methodology called “Process Excellence”, which has 3 pillars: Lean, Six Sigma, and Design Excellence. They don’t have 2 pillars, “lean sigma” and “design excellence.” I like how they view it and how they have the methodologies work together.
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