Lean Manufacturing Has Been Hijacked . . . But You CAN Take It Back!
We regret to inform you that many “Lean Gurus,” highly respected consulting firms, and even internal Lean Manufacturing Directors are COMPLICATING Lean Manufacturing and WASTING Your Time and Money.
Pop Quiz:
Q. How many spreadsheets does it take to reduce your machine changeover downtime?
A. Zero “0”!
Q. How many weeks/months of in-depth analysis does it take to reduce inventory and increase parts flow by installing Kanbans?
A. Zero “0”!
Q. Other than some “fancy math,” is there anything Six Sigma can do for your company that Lean can’t?
A. ABSOLUTELY NOT! In fact, Lean will always do it Better, Faster, and Cheaper!
Our principals have been helping companies implement Lean for 12 – 20 years and we are fed-up with consultants who complicate Lean by creating bureaucracies, over-analyzing data, and doing their best to “move-in” so they can rob you blind in the name of Lean!
Read on if you want the truth…
Ok, So What is Six Sigma, and Is it Useful?
First off, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, 6 Sigma, etc. are all pretty much the same thing in our book.
We actually think Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma are GREAT TOOLS when properly used.
Yes, you read that correctly! ; – ) We even have several consultants in our firm that have all the right “colored belts” and know Six Sigma like the back of their hands.
BUT…
If you are in a hurry, i.e. need results very fast to survive, or have an immediate need to change for some reason, Lean Six Sigma is probably not the tool you’ll want to employ! Lean Manufacturing disciplines will get you much further, much faster…at least that has always been our experience and that of our colleagues.
On the other hand, if you have achieved the “Macro-Wins” available through Implementing Lean Manufacturing Systems and Principles, and need to fine-tune your results and realize some more precision gains, Lean Six Sigma may be exactly what you need to get the job done. And yes, “Macro-Wins” can also be achieved with Lean Six Sigma…and fine-tuning can happen with Lean Manufacturing, but there is a lot more to explaining all of that.
This position is very unpopular with some Lean Sigma practitioners, but we say what we believe, and what has been proven-out over time with our many satisfied clients.
We’ll be writing more on this later, but for right now I’ll summarize like this: Lean Six Sigma is a hammer…Lean Manufacturing is a sledge hammer! ; – )