Welcome to the first installment of our Book Club.

This week we will be starting our first segment on the book: Lean Six Sigma for Dummies by John Morgan and Martin Brenig-Jones.

This week we will touch upon Part 1: Getting Started With Lean Six Sigma, which will comprise of Chapter 1: Defining Lean Six Sigma, and Chapter 2 Understanding the Principals of Lean Six Sigma.

In Chapter 1
Lean is firstly and immediately tied to the Toyota Production System TPS, and Figure 1-1 shows a TPS ‘House’. This simple diagram and the following explanations for all the terms gets right down to explaining some key concepts of lean such as picking on people power, taking the strain out of constraints, and how to consider the customer and defining value. From there the main points of six sigma are explained including the steps to begin defining what is critical to quality (CTQs), how to reduce variation, and how to begin the process to equip people with the tools in a systematic way. The variations of each sigma are shown in Figure 1-2.

This first chapter is straight forward and quick to lay the ground work for each framework individually so we can lead into the combined methodology.

Chapter 2
Understanding the Principals of Lean Six Sigma starts exploring the combined approaches of both Lean and Six Sigma. It looks at seven sets of principles:

1. Focus on the customer
2. Identify and understand how the work gets done
3. Manage, improve, and improve the process flow
4. Remove non-value-adding steps and waste
5. Manage by fact and reduce variation
6. Involve and equip the people in the process
7. Undertake improvement activity in a systematic way

The primary focus is the use of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) to improve and refine existing processes. This process goes more in-depth with good simple explanations and examples provided to engage the reader. The chapter concludes with the explanation of the levels of Lean Six Sigma: Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt, and Master Black Belt.

Based on this, what did you think about this introductory section? Here’s some questions to consider:

• Why is Lean Six Sigma Important to you? Or are you passionate about LSS?
• What do you want to gain from embracing LSS?
• Are you currently applying LSS at your workplace?
• How did you make it happen?
• What advice do you have for those companies who are looking to incorporate adopt LSS?

We would love to engage those of us following along to explore this book (and others in the future!). We welcome your thoughts and feedback along the way as we grow into our Lean Six Sigma journey and the embrace of continuous improvement and increased productivity.

For more in-depth knowledge, and hands on training, you and/or your organization should consider one of GO Productivity’s Lean Six Sigma. We help provide you skills and coaching on your projects, and how to be more productive and improve your bottom line!
Reach us today at start@goproductivity.ca