It’s pretty common when most people think of Six Sigma to go back to General Motors and the manufacturing industry as the core reason for developing the time and cost saving program.

Today, though, a new, even more efficient version is breaking through the manufacturing meme and finding its way across industry barriers: Lean Six Sigma Principles.

The methodology behind Lean Six Sigma is using a team approach to improve a companies performance by removing waste. The “lean” combined with Six Sigma is designed to reduce 8 kinds of waste: defects, inventory, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, transportation, motion, extra-processing.

Taking it to Hospitality 

An innovation employee at Wyndham Worldwide, Faith Taylor, is responsible for Wyndham’s green and sustainable initiatives for environmental, social, and economic programs.

In an interview with Jo Grogan about Taylor’s journey to using Lean Six Sigma for the hotel chain, Taylor said one of her most difficult problems was finding affordable resources.

She said going green was more expensive, and that can be a challenge. “Educating our company and the public on why it is important to go green was key. We have done this through online tools and offline training, meetings with outside organizations, and vendors.”

Lean Six Sigma Strategies and Principles Paid Off

Taylor revealed in her interview that one of her top priorities was to create clear air and allergy free rooms for her customers. It was important to remove allergens from the room using a cleaning system for the entire room. She wanted to use special encasements for the pillows and beds, clean the filtration systems with tea tree oil, a natural anti-fungal, ozone units in each room resulting in a higher oxygen level. She describes the rooms now of having the “freshness after a rainstorm.”

Taylor said they also reduced the energy use by 10-15%. In addition to the energy savings, people with allergies are highly sensitive to any molds or particles in the air. The ultra clean rooms leave their head clear and relieve sinus problems.

By offering an allergy free room, clients are willing to pay more for these rooms (about 7 percent more) for the benefits they receive.


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