Lean Six Sigma is a process-improvement program that synergizes the power of two of the most successful and widely deployed improvement programs—Lean and Six Sigma. This combined program distils the strengths of the two: Lean with its focus on eliminating waste and making processes faster, and Six Sigma with its focus on reducing variation and defects. The results are a truly potent combination, effectively addressing the bottom line of an organization.
There are many excellent books on Lean Six Sigma. However, the majority of these books primarily deal with the theory behind the methodologies and tools involved, with almost negligible thrust on the practical implementation and challenges involved. A need has been constantly felt for a book that can serve as a bridge between theory and practice. This book, Implementing Lean Six Sigma in 30 Days, serves exactly this purpose.
This is a practical guide that should be viewed as a companion for the implementation of Lean Six Sigma. It arms you with the key concepts and explains the steps involved in a successful implementation of the methodology in an easy-to-understand and reader-friendly format. This book is a handy reference guide that covers all that one needs to know about Lean Six Sigma for most common applications. It aims to provide you with a "narrative" that can be used by a practitioner at all levels—beginner to advanced levels. An easy-to-understand and practical day-wise format makes the implementation process less challenging and more effective.
Each of the chapters that follow is supported by an ongoing case study to help you bridge the gap between the theory and execution. You will also find a quiz at the end of each chapter, which should help you consolidate what you have learned.
Chapter 1, What is Lean Six Sigma?, deals with the key concepts and principles behind both Lean and Six Sigma to give you a solid theoretical basis from which you can begin your implementation.
Chapter 2, Planning the Implementation, takes you through the key steps involved in the implementation, and divides each step into a day-by-day format so that you can visualize the process and gain a clear understanding of how it should unfold.
Chapter 3, Define (Days 9-11), explores the process of identifying and understanding the issues that the implementation of Lean Six Sigma will attempt to resolve. This is critical; having a clear understanding and a thorough definition of a problem is essential to ensuring that the implementation provides successful results.
Chapter 4, Measure (Day 12-17), describes the tools and metrics that are vital to gaining a greater understanding of the issues you may have recognized at the "Define" stage. Once you have a handle on the figures and statistics that describe your current situation, you should be able to recognize precisely where you want to be and how you are going to get there.
Chapter 5, Analyze (Day 14-19), outlines the tools and techniques to uncover the causes of the problems you have both defined and measured. This will help you as you begin your initiative for improvement.
Chapter 6, Improve (Days 20-25), builds on your findings from the previous chapter, guiding you through the initial actions that need to be taken as part of the Lean Six Sigma implementation.
Chapter 7, Control (Days 26-30), aims to show you how to sustain the improvements that you have made to ensure that the Lean Six Sigma implementation produces lasting results.
Chapter 8, Best Practices and Pitfalls, shares some of the most common and effective best practices used by successful companies as well as pitfalls that need to be avoided during the implementation of Lean Six Sigma.
Written for the forward thinking and ambitious, this book will give you the foundational knowledge on how to improve your organization. With practical and applicable advice, you will discover how to control quality and improve efficiency, giving you the confidence to drive your company to success.
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
New terms and important words are shown in bold like this: "Once there is clarity and commitment from the top management and goals and objectives are put in place, the second step, Enable, involves the selection and training of key people who will actually drive the initiative."
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