Simple Guide on How to Apply Lean Six Sigma
In a business, regardless of business, there are times when you encounter efficiency, errors, and waste. It can lead to customer dissatisfaction, decreased productivity, and more. So, if you want to improve the business operation, you will need an effective methodology to have a better outcome, such as using Lean Six Sigma. Well, if you want to learn the basic steps of creating your map, you are on the right path. The guidepost will teach you the general and basic steps of conducting a Lean Six Sigma. This way, you will have a tool to use for the creation process. Come here and discover the best way on how to apply Lean Six Sigma effectively.
- Part 1. What is Lean Six Sigma
- Part 2. How to Apply Lean Six Sigma Project Management
- Part 3. How to Do Lean Six Sigma Process Mapping
- Part 4. FAQs about How to Apply Lean Six Sigma
Part 1. What is Lean Six Sigma
The Lean Six Sigma is a method or process improvement designed to remove problems, improve working conditions, and eliminate waste and inefficiency. It is to offer a better response to the needs of clients or customers. Lean Six Sigma combines methods, tools, and principles of Six Sigma and Lean into one powerful and effective methodology. This way, it can provide an improved organization’s operation. For additional information, since it is a combination of two popular improvement methodologies, it can pave the way for operational success. These approaches offer organizations a clear pathway to obtaining and achieving their missions as efficiently and fast as possible. Moreover, the Lean Six Sigma contains three key elements. These elements are important for business improvement.
Tools and Technique
The first element is comprehensive tools and analytical techniques. These are used to solve and identify problems.
Process Methodology
It is a series of phases that arrange the utilization of problem-solving tools. It is to ensure that the real root causes are discovered. It is also important to fully implement a solution.
Culture and Mindset
It is about the way of thinking that depends on the processes and data. This way, it can achieve operational performance goals and can improve continuously.
Part 2. How to Apply Lean Six Sigma Project Management
The Lean Six Sigma is a process for solving a certain problem. It consists of five phases. These are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and the last one is Control. These are the five steps or methods for enhancing existing process problems with unknown causes.
1. Define
The first phase or step is to define the problem. You must think about what kind of problem you would like to solve. Define plays a big role in the Lean Six Sigma improvement process. In this step, the team makes a Project Charter. It is a high-level map or illustration of the process and starts to understand the needs of the customer process. This is a critical step where the teams outline the project focus for the leadership of the business or organization. See the guides below about the first step.
◆ Define the problem by creating a problem statement.
◆ Develop a goal statement to define a goal.
◆ Define the process by creating a process map.
◆ Inform the team about the project's progress.
2. Measure
The Measure is about quantifying the problem. You must know how the process performs or the magnitude of the problem. In the life of the project, Measurement is critical. When the team collects the data, they must focus on measuring what customers care about and the process. It means that there are two focuses. These are improving quality and reducing lead time. Plus, in the Measure phase, the team defines the current performance and refines the measurement of the process.
◆ Identify how the process performs.
◆ Make a plan to gather data.
◆ Make sure the information is reliable.
◆ Collect the baseline data.
3. Analyze
The Analyze phase is about identifying the cause of the problem. This phase is important to give enough attention. Without the analyzing phase, the team may jump into solutions without discovering the real root causes of the issue. It can waste time, create more variation, consume resources, and can cause new problems. The idea of the phase is for the team to brainstorm about the root causes. It is to develop a hypothesis about why a certain problem exists.
◆ Examine the process.
◆ Display the information in a graph.
◆ Identify the cause of the problem.
4. Improve
The Improve phase is the step where the team will collaborate to discover solutions, pilot process changes, and collect data. It is to confirm if there is a measurable improvement. An organized improvement can turn into innovative and elegant solutions that enhance the baseline measure and the customer experience.
◆ Brainstorm solutions for fixing problems.
◆ Select practical solutions.
◆ Develop a map.
◆ Measure to ensure improvement.
5. Control
In the Control Phase, the team is focusing on making a monitoring plan. This way, it can continue measuring the success of the updated process.
◆ Ensure the process is monitored and managed.
◆ After improving the process, document them.
◆ Apply improvement to other areas.
◆ Continuously enhance the process when using lean principles.
Part 3. How to Do Lean Six Sigma Process Mapping
MindOnMap is a helpful tool that can help you do Lean Six Sigma process mapping. In terms of mapping, the tool is perfect since it has everything you need. You can apply various shapes, text with styles and colors, tables, themes, and more functions. Aside from that, everyone can use the tool. It is because MindOnMap is among the tools with the most straightforward user interface. Its design is understandable, making it easy to navigate for all users. What’s more, MindOnMap has an auto-saving feature you can enjoy. With this feature, you can create your best map without worrying about data loss. The tool can save your work every time there are changes. Plus, you can save your map in various output formats. You can save it in PDF, PNG, JPG, and more formats. If you want to learn how to do a Lean Six Sigma project mapping, see the details below.
Create your MindOnMap account from the MindOnMap website. Once done, use the online or offline version of the tool.
Secure Download
Secure Download
For the second process, hit the New section on the top left screen. Then, choose the Flowchart function as your main tool for the mapping process.
Now, you can begin creating your map. To start, go to the General section and drag and drop the shapes on the plain canvas. You can also use the functions above to add more flavor to your map. You can add color, font style, tables, and more. To add text inside the shape, double-left-click the shape and begin typing the content.
When you are done creating your Lean Six Sigma mapping, it is time to save it. Use the Save button to keep the map on your account. Also, you can download it on your device by hitting the Export button.
Further Reading
Part 4. FAQs about How to Apply Lean Six Sigma
How are Six Sigma and Lean different?
The Six Sigma is considered a process improvement methodology or strategy. It improves the output quality by eliminating defects. On the other hand, Lean methodology is considered a process improvement toolkit. It is about streamlining transactional and manufacturing processes.
Is Lean Six Sigma worth it?
Definitely yes. Six Sigma is worth it since it can be the best reason to identify problems and provide improvement in a certain business or organization.
What are the Lean Six Sigma steps?
The steps are known as DMAIC. These are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and the last one is Control.
What are the Lean Six Sigma principles?
There are five Lean Six Sigma principles. These are working for the customers, finding the problem, removing variation, communicating clearly, and being flexible and responsive.
Conclusion
The post taught you everything about how to apply Lean Six Sigma. And you can use MindOnMap to do Lean Six Sigma process mapping conveniently. The tool is capable of mapping-creation processes because of its useful features and functions, which are suitable for all users.
