101 Things A Green Belt Should Know

Green belts are employees of an organization who have been trained on the Six Sigma improvement methodology and will lead a process improvement team as part of their full time job. While Green Belts don't need to know as much as Black Belts or Master Black Belts, there are many things a Green Belt should know. This list will help.

You caught me. There aren't 101 things a Six Sigma Green Belt should know listed below. But the beauty of the iSixSigma community is that everyone is always willing to share thoughts and experiences. Collectively, we can come up with 101 things. Let me know what you think:

• What other "pearls of wisdom" should be sharing with potential Six Sigma Green Belts?
• What requirements are there of Green Belts at your organization that you think should be ubiquitous within the profession?

Send your bulletized thoughts to me through iSixSigma at editorial@isixsigma.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I promise to review every response and if there is enough agreement, your idea will be added to the list. Let's make a list of 101 soon!

1. Green Belts lead Six Sigma improvement projects part time. Usually 25-50% of their time is spent on Six Sigma projects.
2. Six Sigma will become a "way of doing business" for Green Belts.
3. Green Belts will be able to explain why the y=f(x) formula is important for their process and business.
4. Becoming a Green Belt is an opportunity to gain valuable tools and experience.
5. Green Belts who display prowess of Six Sigma methods and produce significant benefits are usually promoted within organizations.
6. Unlike Black Belts who typically lead cross-functional projects, Six Sigma Green Belts usually work on projects within their own functional area.
7. Green Belts receive less instruction on Six Sigma methods, tools and techniques than Black Belts. They usually receive between three and 10 days, whereas Black Belts receive upwards of 20 days.
8. Six Sigma Green Belts are selected by the organization's management team.
9. Six Sigma Green Belts will be able to explain the Kano diagram and how it relates to customers.
10. Some organizations require all exempt employees to be "certified" Green Belts before promotion. Many require employees to at least undergo training.
11. Green Belts can be trained in classroom sessions, completely online, or a combination of the two (hybrid).
12. The Six Sigma Green Belt training curriculum varies from company to company.
13. Green Belt performance is usually evaluated in the employee's regular performance appraisal, although some companies may provide additional incentives for completing a project or becoming certified.
14. Six Sigma Green Belt certification requirements vary from company to company. Typical requirements include: completion of training, passing a written or online test, and completion of a Green Belt project.
15. Certification as a Green Belt from one company most likely will not be recognized at another company.
16. Some companies require Green Belts to complete one project per year to maintain certification requirements.
17. Green Belts are usually instructed on the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology and a limited tool set, including basic statistics. More advanced statistics usually require support from a Black Belt coach.
18. Six Sigma Green Belts should expect to schedule regularly occurring meetings with their Black Belt coach to review project progress and seek advice.
19. Project tollgate reviews usually take place with the organization's management team. Whether you like it or not, at some point you'll either get kudos or a kick in the bottom for your project's progress.
20. Green Belts will be able to create a histogram and pareto diagram, and know the difference between the two.
21. Adding Green Belt training and a project adds to what must be accomplished in the work day, but remember: productivity and benefits you gain from your project will make your life much easier later. Would you rather put out fires everyday or start preventing fires from occurring?
22. Not everyone on your Green Belt team is going to like the Six Sigma improvement process. Change is often difficult for people to embrace. Your leadership will play a critical role in shaping the team and the project's outcomes.
23. Putting off your Six Sigma Green Belt project until tomorrow will leave you a lot of work to accomplish the day before your tollgate review. Just because your project needs resuscitation and is critical to you does not automatically make it a priority for your Black Belt. Plan ahead and stay in control of your project plan.
24. Managing by data is always defensible. "Gut instinct" will not be valued in the business much longer. Green Belt projects help employees "see the light."
25. If you haven't dealt with finances much in the past, your Green Belt project is an opportunity to learn basic equations, quantify project benefits, and speak the language of management.
26. The Six Sigma Green Belt shouldn't necessarily know how to use every tool available. They should, however, know of the existence of tools and be able to ask Black Belts for help.
27. Six Sigma Green Belts will lead the data collection process of their project and validate the measurement system.
28. The Green Belt should expect to work on and improve their team facilitation skills.
29. The Six Sigma Green Belt will be able to calculate the mean and standard deviation of their process data sets.
30. The Six Sigma Green Belt will be able to calculate short term and long term Sigma value of their project's process.
31. Green Belts are selected because they are business professionals, not Quality gurus or statistical geniuses.
32. Green Belts will know how to perform basic statistical tests using a statistical software package like Minitab or JMP.
33. Green Belts will be able to develop a charter and SIPOC for their project.
34. Six Sigma Green Belts will understand how to create a Cause And Effect (Fishbone) diagram to identify possible causes of process defects.
35. Green Belts will be able to lead brainstorming sessions with their project team.
36. Green Belts can make their bosses and co-workers look good by using graphs to show process improvement in a highly visible and easily understood visual form.
37. Green Belts can help win support for Six Sigma by preventing the defects that create so many headaches for their bosses and co-workers.
38. Green Belts can help overcome resistance to change by involving their co-workers in the process and leading them to data-driven solutions.
39. Green Belts should only start a project if there is top management sponsorship willing to commit necessary resources.
40. Green Belts should have a solid communication plan that is reviewed at each meeting to ensure that the right information about the project goes up, down and out to all stakeholders.

Kaizen with Six Sigma Ensures Continuous Improvement

Kaizen aims to eliminate waste in all systems of an organization through improving standardized activities and processes. By understanding the basics of Kaizen, practitioners can integrate this method into their overall Six Sigma efforts.

By Afsar Ahmed Choudhury

Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continual improvement throughout all aspects of life. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen activities can improve every function of a business, from manufacturing to marketing and from the CEO to the assembly-line workers. Kaizen aims to eliminate waste in all systems of an organization through improving standardized activities and processes. By understanding the basics of Kaizen, practitioners can integrate this method into their overall Six Sigma efforts.

What Is Kaizen?

The purpose of Kaizen goes beyond simple productivity improvement. When done correctly, the process humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work, and teaches people how to spot and eliminate waste in business processes.

The continuous cycle of Kaizen activity has seven phases:

1. Identify an opportunity
2. Analyze the process
3. Develop an optimal solution
4. Implement the solution
5. Study the results
6. Standardize the solution
7. Plan for the future

Kaizen generates small improvements as a result of coordinated continuous efforts by all employees. Kaizen events bring together a group of process owners and managers to map out an existing process and identify improvements that are within the scope of the participants.

The following are some basic tips for doing Kaizen:

• Replace conventional fixed ideas with fresh ones.
• Start by questioning current practices and standards.
• Seek the advice of many associates before starting a Kaizen activity.
• Think of how to do something, not why it cannot be done.
• Don’t make excuses. Make execution happen.
• Do not seek perfection. Implement a solution right away, even if it covers only 50 percent of the target.
• Correct something right away if a mistake is made.

Kaizen activities cover improvements in a number of areas, including:

• Quality – Bettering products, service, work environment, practice and processes.
• Cost – Reducing expenses and manpower, and use of material, energy and resources.
• Delivery – Cutting delivery time, movement and non-value-added activities
• Management – Improving procedures, training, morale, administration, planning, flow, information systems, documentation and reporting.
• Safety – Decreasing hazardous situations, unsafe working conditions, chances of resource depletion and damage to the environment.

Implementing Kaizen

To generate a Kaizen, everyone involved must begin thinking about their work in a new way – in terms of:

• Now: Present condition
• Next: Desired state
• New: How to reach that state

Typically, implementation of Kaizen occurs in three stages in any organization:

1. Encourage participation: Awareness training sessions for all employees are a must. To further encourage employee involvement, promote specific Kaizen activities, and consider distributing monetary or tangible benefits after solutions from Kaizen activities are implemented.
2. Training and education: Focused training of associates is required for understanding what is – and is not – the essence of Kaizen. Team leaders should be trained to understand Kaizen in an organizational vision context, which needs to be followed thoroughly in order to achieve desired business objectives. They also must be taught about the necessity of impartial evaluation and strategy for improving participation.
3. Quality level improvement: After the training stage is completed, practitioners should continue to focus on long-term implication, widespread application, alignment with organizational objectives and planning objectives. Management should form a core department to carry out Kaizen evaluation and implementation.

Using Kaizen with Six Sigma

Through Six Sigma, companies can make breakthrough improvements in existing processes. Cost savings from breakthrough Six Sigma projects are not always reflected in the bottom line, however. The reason for this is the absence of small improvements, as well as maintenance – establishing standard operating procedures and ensuring everyone follows them. Processes can degrade without systemic monitoring and improvement (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Results of Six Sigma Use without Maintenance

But if a company has a combined system of Six Sigma, a strict adherence to established processes, and local resources who are constantly looking for ways to make their processes better (Kaizen), the situation becomes the best. This puts the organization in a better financial position in the long-run because improvements happen on an ongoing basis in addition to the occasional breakthrough (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Use of Continuous Improvement by Market Leader

Case Study: Reducing Sampling Time

The following case study illustrates the importance of combining Six Sigma with Kaizen activities. At a four-wheeler manufacturer, a Black Belt completed a Six Sigma project on the cycle time of the sampling inspection of completely built units (CBU) of automobiles. The cycle time for sampling inspection at the start of the project was about 24 hours, or three workdays.

At the end of the project, during the Control phase, the time was reduced drastically to about 7.7 hours or one workday, thus reducing two-thirds of the cycle time. The Belt handed over the ownership of the process to a few assigned employees. The associates responsible for the workstation held several Kaizen activities, which benefited the work process as well as improved the motivation level of the employees.

One Kaizen event involved a subprocess in the sampling process – measuring for the turning radius of the car. Before, this part of the sampling process took 20 minutes and required two employees. One employee sprayed water on the tire of the car while another person was driving the car and turning the tire. The employees measured the water mark on the ground to calculate the turning radius. After the Kaizen, the driver would connect a pipe with the water tank under the hood and used that to spray water on the tires while also turning the tires. This idea did not come from a skilled Black Belt, but from a trainee helper. It reduced the time needed for that task from 20 minutes to 5 minutes, and also reduced the manpower needed from two to one.

What was gained was not merely a few minutes in a day-long process, but idea generation in the form of innovative participation. The confidence gained by the employee opened doors to many more Kaizen activities, adding up to sustained improvement after the end of the Six Sigma project.

About the Author: Afsar Ahmed Choudhury is working as a quality manager at Ericsson India, where he heads the Six Sigma improvement program for the India operation and local suppliers. He is an Indian Statistical Institute-certified Master Black Belt and also has worked as Kaizen coordinator in a Honda car manufacturing plant in India. He can be reached at choudhury_afsar@yahoo.co.in This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Kaizen and Six Sigma Together in the Quest for Lean

Kaizen alone is ineffective and should not be used as a continuous improvement culture without Six Sigma and DMAIC. Combining these tools with Kaizen in the Lean spirit of continuous improvement will optimize success and improve the organization.

Kaizen is seductive and efficient. It can deliver results quickly and on a significant scale, utilize the collective insight and experience of those who know most about the process and inspire employees with a relentless curiosity about and discomfort with waste, defects and constraints to throughput. But it is also overrated.

Kaizen Alone

In the context of a truly “Lean” environment, Kaizen is a pervasive philosophy that affects the way all employees look at their work environment. Kaizen, loosely translated from Japanese, means “continual improvement.” And what better way to promote learning, build capabilities and improve processes than to create a culture that drives everyone to constantly seek, study and exploit opportunities for improvement. Kaizen is particularly effective in business environments seeking to improve their value streams with an inexhaustible focus on more effectively delivering value to customers and society – environments that remain dedicated to this philosophy even at the expense of short-term financial goals, as noted in The Toyota Way by Dr. Jeffrey Liker. It is this philosophy that cultivates continual learning and characterizes the Lean environment, not the use of specific tools like kan ban (using visual or other signals to trigger activity) or hiejunka (leveling the workload). Some tools or approaches are practically universal in Lean, such as 5S (sort, straighten, shine, standardize, sustain) or value stream maps, but the consistent thread tying all Lean systems together is the drive for everyone in the processes to continually learn. The learning environment in Lean embraces two basic notions: 1) Genchi Genbutsu, study and thoroughly learn the process or problem yourself and 2) make decisions by consensus supported by a deep understanding of all the potential options and then act on those decisions quickly.

Kaizen in North America

Unfortunately, most North American organizations do not apply Kaizen in this context. Kaizen tends to be limited to blitzes: short, focused bursts of continuous improvement activity utilizing a team of people removed from the distractions of normal operations. These teams typically consist of the right players: process technicians, technical experts, customers and suppliers using effective tools like 5S, value stream maps, takt-time analysis and standard work combinations to balance product flow. And they deliver solid results. The problem is that results happen in sporadic bursts due to the intermittent nature of the Kaizen events. Because decisions are made quickly to accommodate the timeframe of the Kaizen event, root causes are often not thoroughly analyzed in order to optimize the results. Kaizen events without the philosophical structure of Lean focus on fixing the obvious issues at the expense of learning about the latent opportunities. For many organizations that may be enough, but Kaizen in this regard is no different than Quality Circles of the 1980s or Work-out from the early 1990s.

Kaizen Events

Kaizen events can lead an organization to believe that an effective continuous improvement culture can be achieved through Kaizen events alone. Recently an organization employed well-planned and executed Kaizen events in various functions of the organization. Sales processes were improved to reduce price reductions. Customer service centers were streamlined to resolve issues faster. And waste was removed from servicing processes to reduce reviews, hand-offs and cycle time. The only problem was that “quick fix” solutions – improvements that failed to address root causes – were employed in each case. Prices were lowered and margins reduced to help sales achieve fewer price reductions. Issues in customer service were resolved quicker but the number and severity of issues remained constant since no effort was employed to eliminate issues at the source. Servicing processes were faster, but because escaped defects increased, customer satisfaction and market share declined. In each of these cases Kaizen was employed – and even sold to the organization – as an alternative to disciplined measurement and analysis of the processes. Remember, nothing in Kaizen promises optimization – only change – and in situations like this where systems thinking is neglected it is no more than group brainstorming with a housekeeping component.

Kaizen with Six Sigma

Six Sigma, or DMAIC, can assist in filling the gap that Kaizen (as it tends to be applied in many organizations outside of Toyota) fails to address. Six Sigma is not a substitute for Lean and does not necessarily cultivate a learning culture. It is effective in supplying the analytical discipline and rigor necessary to thoroughly understand the nature of processes and problems. Six Sigma is a structured, data driven approach to solving problems. Six Sigma is not a set of statistical tools, and it is not a bureaucratic, stage-gate approach to managing projects, although these features often are hallmarks of successful Six Sigma deployments. Six Sigma is a way of thinking and the results of the approach can yield a spectrum of improvement choices based on the balance of value and risk. The improvements can range from frequent and immediate, low-risk actions addressing obvious opportunities; to Kaizen event-like team efforts addressing root causes based on data; to protracted projects that require review and administration through the DMAIC project cycle. Figure 1 shows the spectrum of the project/risk relationship.

Figure 1: Project/Risk Relationship

The Six Sigma way of thinking, through DMAIC, provides rigor and minimizes poor decisions by:

• Asking what a company wants to learn versus jumping to conclusions
• Discovering processes and requirements
• Gathering the right facts and data
• Characterizing root cause through y = f (x)
• Innovating solution alternatives and selecting the best
• Controlling results and verifying value
• Standardizing and leveraging best practices

The collective insight of the project team, combined with analytical tools and a variety of risk-management tools like MSA (measurement system analysis) and FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis), help reduce the risk of sub-optimal decisions in the DMAIC process. Without the judicious application of some subset of these tools, Kaizen events are simply a technique similar to the less successful Total Quality Management approaches that initially forced the evolution of Six Sigma.

Summary

Kaizen can be effective if applied in the Lean spirit of continuous improvement (not just through sporadic events) utilizing the rigor and discipline of DMAIC. It must start with an organizational commitment to continuous learning applied to drive value for customers and society. Kaizen and Six Sigma together become elements of the larger quest for Lean.

About the Author: Robert B. Tripp is a managing partner at Six Sigma Advantage. He was part of the "original DNA" of AlliedSignal's groundbreaking Six Sigma program and is an innovator and leader of Six Sigma retail and financial services. He has trained, coached and certified hundreds of business professionals, managers, engineers and senior leaders in Six Sigma. His experience includes Champion, Master Black Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt and process management training as well as mentoring hundreds of projects. Mr. Tripp can be reached at rtripp@sixsigma-advantage.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Fast and Intense: Kaizen Approach to Problem-Solving

Perhaps it was impatience with how long traditional projects take. Often it was an awareness of how hard it is for people to concentrate on improvement when they keep thinking about getting their work done. To some extent it was a matter of their innate respect for the people who do the work. For all these reasons, years ago the Japanese inventors of the Lean improvement systems came up with a different improvement model they called Kaizen.

Kaizens (or blitzes, as they are sometimes called) are improvement events where people work only on improvement for a few days, up to a full week. In a traditional Kaizen project, the people from a particular work area come together with a few experts for four or five days straight and complete most or all of a DMAIC cycle on a narrowly targeted high-priority issue. ("We need to process loan applications faster.") The model has been so successful that this basic approach has been adapted to other uses such as service design sessions.

Example of a Bank's Use of Kaizen

A major national bank started using the five-day Kaizen approach whenever it wanted to attack process speed and efficiency problems. The bank's Kaizen events all share four characteristics:

• The purpose is to take a cross-functional view of the process or work area.
• Participants are people who are directly involved in, and usually responsible for, various parts of the process. The team is cross-functional.
• Participants are pulled off their jobs for several days at a time.
• The project is well-defined going in because there is not time to redefine the purpose or scope.

A Typical Kaizen Schedule

Here is a sample agenda which the bank uses for the five days:

Day 1 is an afternoon spent training participants on topics that cover basic concepts related to the goals of the project. This could include teaching relevant Lean or Six Sigma concepts and reviewing relevant data.

Day 2 is spent looking at the process with new eyes. Participants do a "unit walk," a tour of operations affected by the problem or situation being studied where they simulate being a work item flowing through the process. The group visits each portion of the process, where, because there is cross-functional representation, they have the opportunity to hear insights from someone who works in that area. The group creates a value stream map (a picture of the "as-is" situation) that captures the basic process steps, such as cycle times, number of steps, rework loops, queuing delays, work in progress (WIP) and transportation time.

Day 3 is designed around clarifying problems and brainstorming solutions. The team re-organizes the value stream (on paper) or creates a "should" map that depicts how the process would need to function to solve the identified problems. The outcome includes developing action plans for implementing solutions or trial simulations for the next day.

Day 4 is used to test the solutions, conducting a simulation within the operations if possible. The group quantifies the improvement if the proposed changes are implemented, using estimates of reductions in travel time, queuing time, work in process, number of steps, number of forms, and so on.

Day 5 is when participants prepare and present their findings to the sponsor in a formal report-out session.

Making It Work and the Results

The bank makes this model work by having its internal consultants (equivalent to Master Black Belts) partner with the manager/sponsor to pick problems that are extremely high priority, not only for that work area but also for the business as whole. This makes it much easier to justify taking people off their regular jobs. Also, the goal of the event is a little more modest than a traditional Kaizen. Instead of having solutions up and running full-bore after five days, teams are expected only to get through the simulation and piloting of solution ideas. The internal consultant will then assist the team with full-scale implementation.

In the many Kaizens this bank has run, it has achieved results such as:

• Cycle-time improvements have ranged from 30 percent faster to nearly 95 percent faster, measured sometimes in minutes and other times in days. One administrative process went from 20 minutes to 12 minutes, and a complaint resolution process dropped from 30 days to 8 days.
• Fiscal indicators have all been positive. One high-level project has allowed the bank to start charging for a service that previously was offered free to customers. New revenues are expected to total between $6 million to $9 million per year. Other projects have led to cost reductions or loss avoidance in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

An Alternative Kaizen Format

While consecutive days of intense work is the ideal, some companies have found it impossible to pull an entire work group, or even a subset of a work group, off the job for the better part of a week.

One company worked around this issue by using the following structure:

• The team was brought together for a brief meeting where the problem was explained and people brainstormed what they would need to know and understand in order to find solutions.
• The team leader, a Black Belt, and one team member then worked offline during a period of several weeks to gather data and refine the problem definition.
• The team was brought together for a day to rapidly analyze the problem and come up with complete action plans - not just ideas - for improvement.
• Since the changes likely would affect the everyday work of the team members, they and others were involved in making the changes real-time on the job, and establishing a control plan.

This alternative Kaizen structure works well in this company because:

• The company is still relying on the knowledge of the people who actually do the work.
• It is data-based decision making.
• The company starts with a narrowly defined problem or opportunity statement - often the participants may be examining how they can implement a Lean principle to their process, such as "How can we make information flow better?"
• The company takes steps to verify that the target is likely to bring important, measurable results. Random or "drive by" Kaizens, chosen with little forethought, may, at best, lead to local improvements, but will not contribute to significant value stream gains.

Conclusion: Concentrating on Creativity

Kaizen events are a powerful improvement tool because people are isolated from their day-to-day responsibilities and allowed to concentrate all their creativity and time on problem-solving and improvement. Companies which use Kaizens have found they generate energy among those who work in the area being improved, and produce immediate gains in productivity and quality.

About the Authors: Mark Price is a vice president with George Group and has led Lean Six Sigma deployments for Global 500 clients in service and product companies. He has been working with corporate teams to design and implement successful performance improvement programs for the last 16 years. He can be reached at mprice@georgegroup.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Tim Williams is a Master Black Belt at George Group. He is experienced in applying Lean Six Sigma to the financial services industry to drive bottom-line results. He has assisted organizations in scorecard development, business review practices, and process improvement strategies. Mr. Williams has been a speaker at conferences for the Banking Administrative Institute and the Institute of Business Forecasting. He also contributed to the book Lean Six Sigma for Service by Michael George. He can be reached at twilliams@georgegroup.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

What Makes Six Sigma Work?

Some consultants are earning seven figure salaries, CEOs of large companies are claiming billions of dollars saved, conferences, books, and seminars are popping up everywhere, and yet one can argue that there isn't much new about Six Sigma that we didn't have with TQM. Is Six Sigma just the latest management buzzword or is Six Sigma a Quality Management program that really works?

Six Sigma does have a few new twists. These new twists make Six Sigma different enough to exist on its own and are what makes Six Sigma work much better than any other quality methodology of the past.

Six Sigma only appears to be a little different than TQM in terms of Quality tools, techniques, and principles, but from a global perspective it's a whole new animal for the following reasons (in order of importance):

Global Perspective Of What Makes Six Sigma Work
1. A New Type of Top Level Support
Past GE CEO Jack Welch is quoted for telling employees that if they wanted to get promoted, they'd better be Black Belts. Universal cost oriented metrics and the new level of competition that Six Sigma provides easily acquires top level support. Some argue that the only new addition that Six Sigma provides is the way top management is treating it. What's really important is that CEOs are seriously supporting large improvement projects run by highly trained business super stars.

2. Problem Solving and Team Leading Super Stars
Executive Champion, Deployment Champions, Project Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts (see structure below).

3. Training Like Never Before
Much more training for all involved. The training is heavily statistical, project management, and problem solving oriented. Training costs of approximately $15,000-$25,000 per Black Belt are well justified by the savings per project.

4. New Metrics
Use of metrics unlike anything ever used before. These metrics not only tie in customer Critical to Quality (CTQ) needs with what is measured by the company, but they also allow processes within the company to be compared with each other using a single scale called DPMO (Defects Per Million Opportunities).

5. Much Better Use of Teams
Very efficient use of highly trained, cross-functional, and empowered teams to locate and make improvements. Black Belts are also trained team efficiency experts.

6. A New Level of Process Comparison
The use of opportunity divisible defect metrics (DPMO) allows comparisons from division to division, department to department, process to process, etc. within the company.

7. A New Corporate Attitude / Culture
Implementation of Six Sigma creates a new environment that naturally promotes the creation of continuous improvement efforts.

8. A Closer Look at Old Metrics
PDCA becomes a more detail oriented DMAIC and all those Quality tools that never get used are thrown out. If we don't need them, why spend time learning how to use them.

About the Author: Kim Niles has more than 17 years process control and improvement experience working with San Diego manufacturing companies in a wide range of industries and disciplines. Currently an officer in three professional societies, Mr. Niles has a master's degree in quality science with an emphasis in Six Sigma from California State University Dominguez Hills. He has a bachelor's degree from San Diego State University through the industrial technology department. He can be reached at kim.niles@cox.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Driving Six Sigma Success Without Top-level Support

Common wisdom about Six Sigma is that top-level executive support is one of the prerequisites for having a successful deployment, regardless of the organization. Almost all Six Sigma training materials (either developed in-house or delivered by external consultants) for Green Belts and Black Belts focuses extensively on how executive support is critical for the success of a Six Sigma program or project in particular.

However, the reality is that many organizations today have Six Sigma programs that never extend beyond mid-level management. At best, these programs are merely tolerated by top leadership or, even worse, totally ignored by upper executives until the program fails on its own.

In many cases a departmental manager who is Six Sigma-savvy and has seen the first-hand benefits of the methodology might hire a Black Belt to drive projects without having the right infrastructure or visible top-level commitment. While this scenario is not ideal for Six Sigma success, it does not necessarily mean that the Belt is set up for failure.

By adopting the following strategies, Belts can not only complete projects successfully, but also ultimately build a successful Six Sigma program that gets sufficient top level recognition and support.

Step 1: Establish Your Proof of Concept – If the project is not important to the company’s operations or business there is little chance that the project will succeed. Thankfully, no manager in their right frame of mind would dedicate an expensive Six Sigma resource to a project that is not critical to the business goals. However, the onus is on the Belt to ensure that the first project is scoped properly, has significant improvement targets and can be completed with a short turnaround time.

Successful completion of such high-impact projects almost always generates tremendous excitement and, ultimately, top-level commitment to building a sustainable Six Sigma program. Once the Belt has a successful project completed, he or she can then be more careful in identifying future projects and maintaining momentum within the business. Personally, I have been involved with programs where leadership perception changed from passive tolerance to active support based on the success of a single major Six Sigma project. Remember: Nothing succeeds like success.

Step 2: Build a Team with the Right Individuals – Most Six Sigma projects depend on a team; it is extremely rare to come across a project that was accomplished by the Belt alone. On the other hand, without top-level support it can be extremely difficult to secure the necessary time and commitment from the team members. The only way to overcome the lack of senior-level support is by picking a project that is a pain point for all the team members and is directly related to their work and area of influence.

Practitioners must build a team of individuals who feel the need for change, and also have the ability and desire (“what’s in it for me?”) to make changes. This task is not as difficult as it sounds; most businesses have some broken processes that adversely affect all departments of an organization, but have not been addressed because members of the cross-functional team have learned to accept them. Picking one of these broken processes as the initial project should ultimately ensure sufficient commitment from all team members and improve the odds of project success. This experience also will make it much easier to recruit team members for future projects.

Step 3: Demystify Six Sigma – Because not all Six Sigma programs have been successful over the years, there are some senior-level business leaders who understandably have a bad impression of Six Sigma. However, almost all of the failures they cite have come about due to problems with execution of the methodology rather than the methodology itself. Poor choice of Belts, improper training, poor selection of projects or team members, improper scoping, and other factors all have contributed to the failure of Six Sigma programs.

When dealing with these “once bitten, twice shy” organizations, it is important for the Belt to stay away from overly technical jargon and confusing acronyms. Instead, they should make the whole process as easily understandable as possible to the rest of the organization. Some practitioners have even consciously stayed away from calling their program “Six Sigma.” Only after they get a successful project under the belt should they begin to educate internal employees about standard Six Sigma terminology, approaches and structures.

Step 4: Be Your Own Champion – Take the time to meet individually with mid- and senior-level management and talk about their biggest pain points to determine how you can offer to solve them. You may wish to take on projects without calling your methods Six Sigma, but be sure to follow the structured Six Sigma approach; when the project is completed, you must be able to establish that the success was attributable to the methodology.

All companies and business leaders like good press – especially when projects are completed with validated improvements. Once your project is finished, take this opportunity to share the achievement by making use of internal newsletters, websites, blogs and any other forms of communication, including external resources and publications. Try to rope in fellow team members and other employees to share the benefits of the methodology. Find out which of these colleagues will be most able to convey the project’s success to the organization in order to develop a vested interest from corporate leadership.

Even without top-level support, a Six Sigma program can be successfully established and eventually maintained in an organization. However, in order to achieve these goals, it is important to select the right project, have the right team, tone down the technical jargon and acronyms, and communicate your successful results once the first project is completed.

About the Author: Dave Bhattacharya has more than 15 years of global experience as a continuous improvement, operations and change management leader. He is a Lean/Kaizen expert and Master Black Belt. Bhattacharya has built Lean Six Sigma programs for two major global organizations, and is currently working as a Continuous Improvement Leader at SunGard Availability Services. He can be reached at devojyoti95@yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Sigma Performance Levels - One to Six Sigma

When learning about Six Sigma, it may help to consider these charts, which detail how sigma level relates to defects per million opportunities (DPMO), and some real-world examples.

Sigma Performance Levels - One to Six Sigma
Sigma Level	Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO)
1	690,000
2	308,537
3	66,807
4	6,210
5	233
6	3.4

What Would This Look Like In The Real World?

It's one thing to see the numbers and it's a whole other thing to see how it would apply to your daily life.

Real-world Performance Levels
Situation/Example	In 1 Sigma World	In 3 Sigma World	In 6 Sigma World
Pieces of your mail lost per year [1,600 opportunities per year]	1,106	107	Less than 1
Number of empty coffee pots at work (who didn't fill the coffee pot again?) [680 opportunities per year]	470	45	Less than 1
Number of telephone disconnections [7,000 talk minutes]	4,839	467	0.02
Erroneous business orders [250,000 opportunities per year]	172,924	16,694	0.9

What is D M A I C ?

Definition

DMAIC

Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. Incremental process improvement using Six Sigma methodology. See DMAIC Methodology Pronounced (Duh-May-Ick). DMAIC refers to a data-driven quality strategy for improving processes, and is an integral part of the company's Six Sigma Quality Initiative. DMAIC is an acronym for five interconnected phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. Each step in the cyclical DMAIC Process is required to ensure the best possible results. The process steps: Define the Customer, their Critical to Quality (CTQ) issues, and the Core Business Process involved. Define who customers are, what their requirements are for products and services, and what their expectations are Define project boundaries ­ the stop and start of the process Define the process to be improved by mapping the process flow Measure the performance of the Core Business Process involved. Develop a data collection plan for the process Collect data from many sources to determine types of defects and metrics Compare to customer survey results to determine shortfall Analyze the data collected and process map to determine root causes of defects and opportunities for improvement. Identify gaps between current performance and goal performance Prioritize opportunities to improve Identify sources of variation Improve the target process by designing creative solutions to fix and prevent problems. Create innovate solutions using technology and discipline Develop and deploy implementation plan Control the improvements to keep the process on the new course. Prevent reverting back to the "old way" Require the development, documentation and implementation of an ongoing monitoring plan Institutionalize the improvements through the modification of systems and structures (staffing, training, incentives) From GE's DMAIC Approach, http://www.ge.com/capital/vendor/dmaic.htm

Making the Business Case for a Six Sigma Deployment

Many quality managers have read about and seen the benefits of Six Sigma but are unsure how to approach their senior leadership about the opportunity because they do not have a concise package of information to convey. Fortunately, there is a series of tried and true steps which can be taken to sell management on the benefits of Six Sigma. These are the steps blazed by pioneering quality professionals who successfully sold management on the methodology and eventually deployed an effective Six Sigma program.

The Importance of Leadership Buy-in

Without leadership buy-in, there is little hope for Six Sigma adoption. A company's executives must believe and support Six Sigma's potential with dollars, words and actions just like any other corporate objective or goal. Executives are looking for a return on investment (ROI), risk mitigation and competitive advantage. Therefore, to convince them of the value Six Sigma will bring to the organization, it is important to present the benefits as a business case. The major steps to developing and presenting the business case are:

1. Identify and evaluate your audience.
2. Research and summarize successful launches at other organizations with similar functions; include the ROI and a sample project.
3. Document critical success factors.
4. Define deployment requirements.
5. Define a pilot project.
6. Calculate and display the potential financial savings range and ROI including "soft" elements such as corporate image and competitive advantage.
7. Present and sell Six Sigma to the executives.
8. Get ready for deployment!

The Audience

The first step is to determine the perspective of your audience. This involves evaluating their appetite for new initiatives and reviewing their previous messages to the company. Useful resources include mission statements, competitive or objectives cascades, and presentations made to various levels of the company. If appropriate, initiate an informal interview with the audience members in advance to determine their current challenges or passions and evaluate their previous success in finding tools to manage those challenges. From these sources, identify areas on which to focus the business case, including appropriate examples and pilot project ideas.

Benchmarking

To demonstrate the potential of Six Sigma, it is necessary to provide examples of successful deployments in other organizations. Focus on similar-sized organizations within the same industry if possible. The purpose is to show an investment of similar scale and the resulting performance improvements realized within one or two years of deployment. Many success stories exist in quality management publications or on quality Internet sites. A few hours spent using an online and/or library periodical search tool should yield a good list of appropriate examples as well. Identify themes that made Six Sigma a success for those companies and look for examples that include some of the messages gleaned from the executive research to align the message to currently accepted viewpoints.

An important message to stress during the presentation to the executives is that simply training a number of Black Belts will not transform the organization into a "Six Sigma company." Leading consulting firms have proven the critical success factors through years of Six Sigma launches. These factors include true leadership support, a data-driven culture, proof of concept through the use of a pilot project, alignment to corporate/functional objectives, and full integration in the business environment. To strengthen the significance of the message, reference examples of these factors found in the success story articles. The critical factors are a critical take-away from the meeting.

Deployment Plan

The purpose of presenting a deployment approach is to show the scale and timing of the undertaking. To address concerns about resource and training cost risk, include a stair-step approach to deployment. This approach uses approval tollgates to obtain executive signoff of the deployment's effectiveness before rolling it out to a larger group of employees. The first step is the selection of a pilot project with one employee and an external consultant or Master Black Belt. If the project proves successful, the next step is Black Belt training and project management for a pilot department. This logic continues until all functional areas have 10 percent of their employees trained as Black Belts and 100 percent trained as Green Belts. This scalability also allows the training of internal, experienced Black Belts to become Master Black Belts, which reduces the need for expensive consultant-based training. One successful way of presenting this is through the use of a one-page timeline showing two years of anticipated benefits, the goals of training, expected project savings and external consultant needs diminishing. Also highlight a continuous line representing ongoing executive support.

Pilot Project Idea

The selection and presentation of the pilot project idea is another place where it is critical to link the project idea to a known "hot topic" of the executives. It will peak their interest if one of the company's current challenges is addressed. But be careful not to promise "world peace." One of the necessities of an individual project is a scope small enough to allow for real, measurable and sustainable improvement within a realistic time frame.

The pilot overview outlines the resources required and the process of evaluating its effectiveness. First review the objective (hot topic improvement) and the scope (one major contributor to poor performance). Next review the resources needed, including recommending an experienced, quality-driven employee for Black Belt training. Then outline the expected external consulting needs (a Master Black Belt), including a cost range. A natural next step is to review the timeline of the pilot project, which will explain the Master Black Belt costs over the term, including training and project oversight. The timeline should follow the DMAIC project steps with signoff tollgates to assure each step passes corporate and Six Sigma evaluations. The final evaluation should follow a few months after the project is closed to assure that the improvement is sustained according to the control plan implemented as a result of the project.

The Bottom Line

The return on investment is the focus of many executives. This section of the presentation should include a five-year cost/benefit analysis outlining the hard costs and savings as well as a list of soft issues that also affect the decision. The hard costs need to include the offset to department staffs when Black Belts are assigned fulltime to Six Sigma. Other costs include training, consulting, possible travel, software (statistical, flowcharting), and hardware (additional laptops). The cost offsets will increase over time as training increases. They will represent the average savings per Black Belt for your industry based on three to four projects closed per Black Belt annually. Although the five-year return data will interest the leadership, the softer issues communicate the real objective - competitive advantage. Here it is important to show Six Sigma as an enabler of the organization's goals. Include appropriate illustrations such as "proven approach," "fact-based management," "process of continuous improvement," "sustained improvements versus fix and forget" or other selling points that fit the executive mindset. The bottom line is not to oversell the benefits, but to convince management of the potential so that they approve the pilot project and continue their support as Six Sigma integration continues.

Presentation Format

A lot of time and effort will have been put into the Six Sigma proposal by the time it is ready for presentation. Despite this, the purpose of the presentation is to gain buy-in. It is wise to follow a concise format, coinciding with similar material the executives are used to reviewing. The best approach is to use a successful presentation example unique to the organization. In the absence of a such proven example, the following format is a good bet:

1. Executive summary
2. Concise presentation of the highlights
   a. Industry examples
   b. Critical success factors
   c. Deployment requirements
   d. Pilot project
   e. Return on investment
3. Detailed report including copies of crucial references (to leave with them for further information)
4. Question-and-answer session
5. Schedule a follow-up decision point meeting

Now for the Real Work

When the executives are convinced that Six Sigma is the key to the future, they will likely view the person who sold them on the idea as the subject matter expert. They will typically select that person as their deployment leader to direct the integration of Six Sigma within the organization. The deployment leader's next steps will include selecting a consulting/training/deployment company, managing the pilot project, developing Six Sigma overview training, and attending Black Belt training. With the executives engaged in the deployment, the organization is ready to reap the rewards of Six Sigma.

About the Author: John McGraw is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. He has more than four years of Six Sigma project and deployment experience and more than eight years of data-driven continuous improvement experience. His Six Sigma specialties include business-aligned deployment, training effectiveness, dashboard development and transactional Design for Six Sigma. His business experience includes call centers, supply chain management, service strategy development and logistics. He can be reached at johnmcgrawmail@yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Lean Leaders Are Everywhere – If You Make It So

The first article of this series discussed how many Lean initiatives either fail outright or fail to deliver as planned. Furthermore, that article went on to attribute these shortcomings to four cultural factors. This article explores the second of these cultural factors: Lean Leadership. We will focus on why leadership is critical and highlight the qualities that distinguish Lean Leadership from leadership in general.

Recall, from last month’s article, that the desired outcome of management is dramatically different from the desired outcome of leadership. Management’s objective is to produce and perpetuate a system that will create predictable and orderly outcomes on issues that are important to the business. Such outcomes include: on-time delivery, good quality, as well as being on budget. Predictability is the key. Lean leaders do that by using such Lean tools as job breakdown sheets, process management, visual management and standard work. On the other hand, the role of leadership is to produce change, often large dramatic change. Let’s explore how Lean Leaders do that at all levels in a Lean organization.

The Need for Leadership

Recall that:

• To survive and prosper we must improve,
• To improve we must change and
• To change we need leaders to affect that change.

Because change occurs throughout a Lean organization, Lean Leadership is needed at all levels. But how does this work? How is leadership manifest throughout the organization, even at the floor level of a typical Lean manufacturing facility? How does the operator on the floor exhibit the three skills of leadership? (As a reminder, these skills are: 1) envisioning the future, 2) aligning people through communication and deeds and 3) motivating and inspiring others to action.

That’s easy enough to explain. If change is happening, someone is leading – because leadership is what it takes to create successful change. If an organization is changing, it is changing to something. That, in itself, creates a focus, a vision of the future. For the sake of argument, say a worker starts with a kaizen report. He may discuss that effort with others in his work cell and solicit their ideas and support. He also may discuss at his shift turnover with his shift replacement to reality-check his concept. In so doing, he is aligning the resources that are needed to make his “vision” a reality. Then, as he completes the Kaizen, gets any approvals that may be needed and others follow suit, he has in fact motivated the team into action. The tool he uses may be a kaizen and A3 or a simple suggestion – it really doesn’t matter. In a Lean facility, the floor worker has the tools, the authority and the empowerment to facilitate change in this manner, and in so doing, he is leading. A Lean organization cultivates this type of a culture so that changes can occur at all levels and consequently leadership can be manifest at all levels.

Lean Leadership Requires New Skills

I read a lot in the literature about what it takes to be a Lean Leader and, quite frankly, I believe that most of it really addresses the weaknesses in leadership in general. Most of the advice has little to do with anything specifically related to Lean. Yet there are some skills that seem to be far less important in many leadership roles, but are absolutely critical if you want to be a Lean Leader. There are five skills that I have found to be particularly helpful.

1) The Lean Leader must be technically competent. They need not be technical experts, but they must understand the basics of the Lean strategies, tactics and skills. Does that mean the plant manager or division general manager needs to understand SMED? Absolutely! They need not be experts in SMED, but they must be SMED literate and SMED competent. There is no substitute for this. Even at the division general manager level, it is not practical to make just-in-time decisions if you do not have the requisite technical knowledge.

2) The Lean Leader must be present on the job site on a regular basis – he or she must go to the gemba. The leader must be present when things are going well and must be present at the problem sites as well. They must often be in the middle of the action – not to micro-manage, but to know the pulse of the place, the pulse of the problems and the pulse of the people. Lean Leadership is neither a long-distance event nor is it a spectator sport.

3) Lean Leaders must not only be teachers, they must also preach and promote teaching at all levels. Lean Leaders make sure that all of their direct reports are good teachers. In classical leadership, the role of teaching is frequently delegated – not so with the Lean Leaders.

4) The Lean Leader is an excellent role model. He or she is a “do as I do” individual. For example, as a Lean Leader teaches 5S, you can count on his or her office space meeting standards. More than any Lean Leader trait, “walking the talk” is the one behavior that garners group support and respect from subordinates and peers alike. Conversely, it is the one trait that, if not practiced well and consistently, will quickly undermine a Lean implementation.

5) The Lean Leader must teach leadership. This is the real key to sustaining the gains. Teach them to keep a focus, teach them how to get their resources aligned and teach them how not to “de-motivate” their subordinates and peers and you will have gone a long way toward teaching leadership.

Everyone Can – And Should – Be a Lean Leader

In a Lean organization, Lean Leadership is practiced at all levels. It is not a “management thing” – it must be practiced by everyone. Lean organizations are built upon the concept of continuous improvement. Changes occur in all processes at all locations within a Lean organization. If an organization wishes to change, it needs the skill of leadership to properly execute the changes.

Furthermore, once Lean Leadership is taught and properly delegated, the “leadership footprint” in the company is enhanced: it is stronger, it is more obvious and it is also more pervasive. Consequently, when there are personnel changes anywhere, there is more leadership momentum within the organization. This action means an organization is less likely to lose all its gains simply because one charismatic leader just happens to leave. This expanded footprint concept is missed by many organizations, and hence their changes and improvements tend to have less staying power.

So how do practitioners know if their culture contains the element of Lean Leadership? They need to go to the gemba and see for themselves. Are the leaders technically competent? Are they found on the floor when business is routine as well as in times of upset? Do they “walk the talk”? Are they good teachers, and, most importantly, do they teach Lean Leadership? These are all measurable behavioral traits. The presence of Lean Leadership at all levels throughout the company is a powerful tool to change a business, and to change a culture.

About the Author: Lonnie Wilson is the author of How to Implement Lean Manufacturing (McGraw-Hill, 2009). He also is the founder of Quality Consultants, located in El Paso, Texas, which teaches and applies Lean techniques to Fortune 500 firms as well as small entrepreneurs, principally in the United States, Mexico and Canada. He can be reached at law@qc-ep.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

5 Six Sigma Deployment Mistakes - And How To Avoid Them

A well planned Six Sigma deployment can lead to a rewarding experience and immense benefits for an organization. On the flip side, however, a flawed deployment may lead to disappointing results – the failure of the entire deployment effort, and/or a significant waste of time and resources. There are five problems in Six Sigma deployments, which, if not handled well, will derail a deployment effort. By recognizing these mistakes and working to avoid them, a team can stay on track.

Problem #1: Leadership Indifference

Support and commitment for a Six Sigma deployment from the leadership of an organization is the key driver for success. Leadership must walk the talk and continuously emphasize the importance of Six Sigma at all forums. Support should be forthcoming not only from senior leadership, but also from leadership at all levels in the organization. No amount of good intentions, resources, effort or time will make up for missing sustained leadership support.

Solutions

Because this support is such a driver, extra effort should be made to keep leadership engaged at all stages in the organization's Six Sigma journey. Senior management should share regular communications with the entire organization, emphasizing the importance of the Six Sigma initiative and how it is tied to the organization's overall business objectives. Senior management should also reserve time to review deployment progress at all management review meetings and should be careful in granting their team any concessions on Six Sigma goals. It is important for Six Sigma to be a compulsory agenda item for all the public events in the organization as well.

Problem #2: Faulty Deployment Strategy

A deployment strategy helps to align organizational business goals to expected deployment results and to maintain the sustenance of Six Sigma in the organization. Lack of alignment may cause confusion among the key stakeholders and associates about the value of the entire effort; this gap delays deployment in many organizations.

Solutions

To avoid this, Six Sigma deployment strategies must align the organization's business goals with the deployment results. Strategies should encompass all aspects of deployment planning, Six Sigma learning and development within the organization, project execution and coaching, information management, and operational excellence achievement. Teams should evaluate their progress on each of the strategies at regular intervals and tie it to a change in business results. Once this relationship is established, teams may start monitoring the relationship closely, regularly sharing the information on change in business results with the organization and conducting any course correction if required. Visible change in business results gives an organization confidence in the Six Sigma effort.

Problem #3: Stress on Training and Certification

Training and certification are important aspects of an overall Six Sigma deployment effort because they build competency within the organization. But sometimes teams are more focused on training and certification goals, and fail to support project execution. Without adequate mentoring and coaching support after their initial training, Belts may select projects simply to meet the certification targets or projects may be inordinately delayed.

Solution

Deployment teams should always be focused on the organization's business goals and create an infrastructure for Six Sigma project selection, mentoring and coaching that will bring the most tangible benefits for the organization. To stay on track, senior management should regularly review changes in business results along with parameters of the Six Sigma deployment such as training and certification, and insist on course correction if there is lack of progress on business results.

Problem #4: Incorrect Project Selection

A lack of focus on project selection and prioritization can lead to projects that lack data or business focus or projects focused on process areas that are outside the Green Belts’ and Black Belts’ realm of control. This results in delayed or scrapped projects, and quick disillusionment among the Green Belts and Black Belts.

Solution

Deployment teams must ensure that selected Six Sigma process improvement projects are data-based and focused on business, financial, process and customer goals, and prioritized properly to ensure these goals are met. Teams should conduct regular workshops for project identification and selection, and ensure that all selected projects have a sponsor who will be responsible for tracking and signing off the business benefits of the Six Sigma project. Once the projects are in progress, teams should closely monitor progress, provide additional mentoring if required and make corrections if business goals are not being met.

Problem #5: Segregating the Effort

Every individual member of an organization has a stake in its growth and progress; therefore, each is responsible for contributing to and facilitating a successful deployment. Yet sometimes deployment teams fail to communicate the benefits of the Six Sigma deployment to the key stakeholders. Often only the deployment team will make formal goals relating to Six Sigma results.

Solutions

Teams should link together an organization's business and strategic goals, Six Sigma deployment goals and individual goals to explain to the rest of the organization how everything is closely related. This way they may win support from all the associates in the organization – which they need to meet the deployment goals. Senior management should regularly reach out to their organization's associates about the importance of deployment results and how the results can benefit their careers; career growth is a powerful booster for deployment initiatives. In addition, senior leadership and other associates at an organization, on whom Six Sigma success depends, also should set deployment goals. Deployment teams can help to chart out Six Sigma roadmaps for all the individuals in the organization to ensure that everybody is responsible for the deployment and monitoring the integration of Six Sigma into the company's DNA.

Fight Problems Early

Successfully avoiding these common mistakes will yield long-term benefits for an organization and accelerate its march toward becoming best in its class. The key to success is to identify these challenges early and take robust corrective actions to nip the problems before they become an issue. Leadership and organization support as well as a robust deployment strategy will help a team steer clear of these roadblocks and can create a win-win situation for all the key stakeholders in the organization.

Is This A Six Sigma, Lean, Or Kaizen Project?

Executives who develop a working knowledge of Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen are much better prepared to build the right infrastructure and lead their organizations to both financial and human success.

This is a familiar question that is often addressed by organizations. In fact, it's the wrong question. These concepts are nothing more than tools in your management toolbox. You don't fix a watch with a hammer, and you get the same results when you deploy Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen incorrectly. The fact is, a business problem is a business problem, and it needs to be fixed. Understanding the application of these tools to various improvement opportunities is the key to success. Figure 1 provides a perspective on how to integrate Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen into a total business improvement strategy.

People spend months drilling the Six Sigma process and statistical tools into their heads until they look at every situation as a Six Sigma problem. Why not? It was a very successful and rewarding experience for these individuals. But it's also easy to make mountains out of molehills. You don't want the organization running around performing DOEs on the internal mail system or the quality of cafeteria food. On the other extreme, some high anxiety managers tend to look at very complex process variation or larger scale strategic problems as a Kaizen Blitz that can be fixed by tomorrow. They're looking for instantaneous improvements in more complex areas such as variance reduction, customer returns, or forecast accuracy. For these situations, one question to reflect upon is "How long did it take us to get into this situation?"

The most important driver of breakthrough improvement is leadership, creativity, and innovation. Executives must lead and mentor their people in the right directions and assure that their actions are linked to strategic performance. They need to deploy limited resources to the highest impact areas and not try to solve every problem in the company. To accomplish this, they need to understand Six Sigma, Lean, Kaizen, and other improvement methodologies, and how to integrate these tools into an overall business improvement strategy.

Refer to the framework in Figure 1: "Integration of Six Sigma, Lean and Kaizen." Every strategic improvement initiative requires the following infrastructure shell:

Leadership, Creativity, and Innovation
This element aligns strategy and deployment, mentors the organization through the right execution path, and drives cultural change. When the leadership team understands Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen they can provide clearer focus on what needs to be done to improve profitability and competitiveness.

Teaming and Employee Involvement
This element provides the connection between concept and reality. People understand the need to change, they are equipped with the right tools, and they are empowered to take action.

Closed-Loop Performance
This element pegs accountability and process ownership. Real time performance measurement also allows people to better understand the cause-and-effect relationship between their actions and the improvement goals.

Some improvement opportunities are fruit on the ground or low hanging fruit, and can be harvested through several quick-strike Kaizen Blitz efforts. These are the obvious localized no-brainers that we trip over everyday. The solution is not rocket science. It is simplicity, action, and common sense.

As you move from left to right in Figure 1, the scope and complexity of the improvement opportunity increases, but so do the potential benefits. Lean Manufacturing typically focuses on speed, elimination of waste, standardization, and flexibility/ responsiveness. Most Lean efforts begin on the production floor, however, the philosophy and tools are equally applicable in "soft process" areas such as new product development, distribution/ logistics, supply chain management, accounting/ finance, and customer service.

On the right side of Figure 1 is Six Sigma. These are the highest impact opportunities because we are deep core drilling into the hidden Cost Of Poor Quality (COPQ). Making a dent in these areas often results in cost reductions of 2%-7% of annual revenues for successful organizations. Six Sigma is a data-driven methodology that strives for perfection in the organization's entire value chain. Six Sigma examines variation and root causes of current performance, with a focus not only on the production floor, but on all key business processes. With Six Sigma, the entire organization is placed under the microscope. The methodology and statistical tools provide structure, discipline, and a logical progression for achieving breakthrough improvements.

For more than a decade, publications such as Fortune, Business Week, and hundreds of books have stressed the human side of change, infrastructure, customer focus, boundaryless and learning organizations, innovation and out-of-box thinking, and cultural transformation. Executives continue to send their employees off to Six Sigma, Lean, or Kaizen boot camps to learn the tools, but they are often disappointed with the lack of results. Executives who develop a working knowledge of Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen are much better prepared to build the right infrastructure and lead their organizations to both financial and human success.