• Link process improvement to the bottom line
• Work in all areas of the business
• Work for any process
• Integrate the human and process elements of improvement
• Build on previous improvement approaches
• Provide better products and services
• Empower employees and develop leaders

Lean
Lean Thinking is a structured and vigorous continuous improvement method that enables organizations to realize significant bottom-line savings by reducing ‘waste’ or ‘muda’ in a process. Lean Thinking has lineage back to the Toyota Production System, stemming from the post-World War II era in Japan. Processes are everywhere around us, not just in manufacturing. Processes are in accounting, marketing, sales and product development just to name a few. Lean Thinking enables us to analyze a process and determine those things or activities that are ‘value-added’ versus ‘non value-added’ in regards to what the customer is willing to pay for. Non-value added steps in a process are those that the customer would not be willing to pay for in the form of a final product or service. For instance, the customer typically does not care how long it took us to order and receive raw materials to make the ‘thing’ being produced or the service being performed. In contrast, value-added activities are things that either add subsequent value to the ‘thing’ being produced or serviced, something the customer is willing to pay for, and / or physically transforms materials into something of greater value to the customer. The Lean Toolbox is used to eliminate or significantly reduce non-value added steps in the process; thereby bringing speed and velocity to the overall lead time of a product or service. The lead time is defined by how long it takes throughout the entire sequence of events, from once the customer asks for the ‘thing’ being produced, to when it is actually delivered.


Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a powerful business strategy and methodology that dramatically improves a company's bottom line by creating quantum improvement in process excellence. This structured, disciplined approach - deployed with remarkable success by top global companies - delivers breakthrough results in areas such as defect, error and cycle time reduction; yield, service and compliance improvement; and customer satisfaction. To achieve extraordinary change, Six Sigma incorporates a suite of linked and sequenced tools that can quickly and definitively tackle process pitfalls.


Lean Six Sigma
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) provides a holistic breakthrough methodology in the process improvement approach to delivering overall value and quality to the customer. Synergizing the powerful use of the Six Sigma statistical discipline, with the practical application of the Lean tools creates a powerful framework for process improvement. When customers need it faster, quicker, cheaper and at an improved quality rate, this is the approach we use. LSS focuses on reducing the overall variation and significantly reducing or eliminating waste within a process. The synergistic effect of eliminating waste and reducing variation, tempered with an increased speed and velocity of the process, yields significant returns to the company and the customer. LSS enables increased market share by being a "best overall value provider" to the customer.


Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) &
Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Validate (DMADV)
DFSS takes quality one step further, because sometimes pure efficiency and effectiveness of a product or service are not enough for total customer satisfaction. DFSS is a breakthrough methodology for meeting and exceeding customer specifications. DFSS provides the rigorous utilization of both statistical tools and a further expansion of customer requirements to deliver a designed product or service that meets a Six Sigma level of customer performance. DFSS uses the framework of DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Validate.) DMADV was adopted from the DMAIC framework.


Making Improvement Part of How We Work
Making improvement a part of "how we work" and integrating Lean Six Sigma into the management systems we use to run our organizations is the ultimate goal. This idea is not new. A greater focus on process thinking and process ownership is required. A greater focus is placed on a holistic approach to process management. Viewing process management as combining process design/redesign, process improvement and process control is a fruitful strategy. This approach combines DMAIC and Design for Six Sigma methods. Another approach is to make DMAIC the general purpose problem solving and process improvement framework an organizational standard. Another approach is to make Lean Six Sigma tools integral to processes used to run the business such as technology transfer and process deviation reduction.