• Employee Engagement is Crucial for Lean Six Sigma Success

    In order for Lean Six Sigma to be successful, there has to be engagement at every level of the production process.  This is especially true for employees, since employee engagement is the key to achieving a maximum return on investment in the Lean Six Sigma program. Employees trained in Lean Six Sigma techniques can be an…

  • Schweitzer-Mauduit International Management Credits Lean Six Sigma for $5 Million in Cost Reductions

    In its earnings call earlier today, Frédéric P. Villoutreix – Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Schweitzer-Maudit International Management stated: “With respect to cost optimization, we have continually improved our track record of eliminating cost from the business, and the first quarter was no exception. Year-over-year, cost benefits from our values Lean Six Sigma efforts…

  • Is Lean Six Sigma for Me?

    If you are like many of us that are looking to improve our personal skills, you may have thought about taking a course or two. Colleges promote their “executive MBA” programs but too often these “MBA” programs are a lot of work, time and money for very little payback. A friend of mine who is…

  • cGMP and Continuous Improvement

    A student in my Lean Six Sigma Black Belt course who works in the pharmaceutical industry was concerned that improvement methodologies such as Lean and Kaizen conflicted with the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA.) However, there is no conflict between cGMPs and Lean, Six Sigma or any…

  • Theory of Constraints and Flexible Processes

    I was asked by a student to explain constraint management and flexible processes, with simple examples. Here is my response. Very briefly, the theory of constraints (TOC) is based on the premise that in any sequence of process steps, or on a larger scale any sequence of processes in a value stream, there is one…

  • 3 Vital Things to Learn about Lean Six Sigma in Under 30 Seconds

    Errors rob your company of money. Money you could use to hire workers, increase wages, add new benefits, purchase new equipment, and more. You probably don’t even see the loss. But every time one of your employees inadvertently makes a mistake, it is there. So what do you do? Look into Lean Six Sigma. It…

  • Can Lean Six Sigma Make CSI Better?

    While the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) teams on television may be able to resolve a case in under an hour, real life criminal cases can take days, weeks, months, even years to finish. And like many real life police units throughout the country, the police in Monroe County in western New York found themselves faced…

  • Lean Six Sigma Skills Still in Demand in 2013

    A new report from executive search firm The Avery Point Group indicates the demand for continuous improvement talent and Lean Six Sigma skills has more than doubled from 2010. Although there have been three consecutive years of sustained demand for Lean Six Sigma skills, there was also a noticeable improvement in the demand for Six Sigma talent…

  • Lean Six Sigma and the 5S Program

    Lean Six Sigma and the 5S Program

    In Lean Six Sigma, the 5S program stands for the Japanese words seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke. Roughly translated, the American equivalent becomes: In general, 5S is not just a methodology, it’s a culture, used to organize, develop, and sustain a productive work environment. The benefit of utilizing 5S is that if offers improved…

  • The Philosophy of Lean Six Sigma

    Lean Six Sigma actually combines two great philosophies: Toyota’s lean manufacturing process philosophy and Motorola’s Six Sigma management philosophy. Ultimately, the goal is to produce the greatest possible output using tasks that produce the best results and happiest customers. Lean as a Continuous Improvement Philosophy The lean philosophy in two words: eliminate waste. This includes…

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