As the experience of TRW and the other companies shows, a good continuous improvement plan combines both philosophies, not either Lean or Six Sigma. “We’ve seen organizations get stuck in unproductive discussions about whether they should do Lean or Six Sigma,” says Jamie Flinchbaugh, of the
Lean Learning Center, a
Novi, Mich.-based training and consulting firm. “One company’s board of directors spent a year making that decision.”

In some organizations that use both philosophies, he also has witnessed debates over whether to categorize a particular project as either Lean or Six Sigma. “What really matters is that the plant gets the improvements it needs,” says Flinchbaugh. “So there has to be one plan, not a Lean plan, a Six Sigma plan, and a business plan.”

This single plan will vary from company to company, but it should contain some similar elements. “Six Sigma provides a structured method for solving problems, but Lean is really about running the business, about everything from planning your strategy to planning your day,” explains Flinchbaugh.

All for one

Whatever the plan looks like, one of its elements should be incentives that support the overall goal, not just one part of the organization. Tying the incentives to the overall goals avoids situations in which one group’s success comes at the expense of another’s. The purchasing czar for an automaker, for example, might be able to reduce a program’s cost by picking suppliers solely because they are the lowest cost, but not necessarily the highest quality. “He will meet his objectives and walk away with a bonus, but manufacturing will be slammed,” notes Laurie Felax, managing director of Stout Risius Ross Inc., a financial and operations advisory firm in
Farmington Hills , Mich.

Rather than getting rid of people, Lean and Six Sigma events should concentrate on eliminating wasted effort and increasing the employees’ contribution to value-added activities. These philosophies stabilize the job demand and optimize the process. Lean improves efficiency by eliminating wasteful motions and activities, and Six Sigma reduces variability by eliminating the unexpected and abnormal. ”  

For more information, search keywords “ Lean Six Sigma ,” “ Lean Manufacturing ” and “ Six Sigma ” at www.automationworld.com}.

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