| ASQ Webcast: Series Overview Seven Lean Six Sigma Tools (7-LSS): link | |
| ASQ Webcast: 5S System: link | |
| ASQ Webcast: 7 Wastes: link | |
| ASQ Webcast: Value Stream Mapping: link | |
| ASQ Webcast: Kaizen: link | |
| ASQ Webcast: Flow : link | |
| ASQ Webcast: Visual Work Place: link | |
| ASQ Webcast: Voice of the Customer (VOC): link |
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Seven-Lean Six Sigma (7-LSS) Tools
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I am not so sure that LSS has actually been successful in the business world. However, within DOD, it has been implemented with a heavy dose of bureaucracy, including numerous forms, reporting and rigid methodologies that require tollgate reviews that don't focus on advancing the goals of the project.
ReplyDeleteBut I believe that LSS is fundamentally flawed, because it places so much emphasis on listening to your customers prior to getting started with any meaningful improvement. Better to just focus on eliminating waste in the process, rather than fritter away effort on customer focus groups and surveys when they aren't going to add value.
Often, we know what must be done to make improvements, then take months to perform an LSS event and dissipate all the energy and focus that could have gone to make improvements.
Removing waste is fundamental and core concept of Lean and VOC or CTQ is critical to both Lean and Six Sigma.
ReplyDeleteI get your point and I think you are absolutely correct for the cases where an organization mindlessly focuses on any sort of QI work. I would like to share an example some companies these days believe that their help desk / customer support are better served when they AUTOMATE the answers for their 1-800 lines. Thus removing waste in answering most common questions by the operators and focusing on critical few. In reality what happens is that customer is not happy as they have to push so many buttons before they get to customer service agent and most often than not their questions are unique and can't be answered by listening to company's mandatory answers.
Never assume that you know what customer wants. Partnering with customer in solution is the right way to achieve Lean Solution.
Another recent example - In one meeting a Physician told the group that patient can't handle information so its better to schedule separate appointments rather than having all their needs addressed all at once. This physician was trained in Lean and knows all Seven Waste and many lean tools still thinks that he/she knows what patient would want and may build a solution which patient would not prefer.
If you study Lean - you would notice that lean is all about eliminating Waste, leveling FLOW, Mistakeproofing / Automating, JIT.
I am not sure how would you improve your system if you don't know what customer wants, when, how and in what quantity? At what rate? How would you level process, determine takt time and balance your resources to changing demand?