Lean can bring change only with end-to-end visibility of the system. People saw lean as a spectacle to find waste, but that is a very narrow view of the methodology. But are we considering convenience over appropriateness while choosing the methodology? The advantages people tend to present for lean include-Lesser time to prepare a resource for a lean engagement, lower competency demands due to lesser mathematical content to understand the lean principles and techniques, shorter cycle time of projects due to logic based driving, lack of data rigor are cited as reasons. Lean or Six Sigma, which is better? Is there a scope for argument? At least, there is a visible trend in organizations, to promote lean in a major way. Lean-or/and-Six Sigma: the right medicine for services sector Because of its disciplined methodology, strict data orientation, innovation methodologies to generate solution, alignment to business this makes it a strategic intervention.Ģ. It is a combination of a methodology and classical total quality management tools, where selection of the tool and its appropriate use will influence the outcome. This is where breakthrough methodology of Six Sigma comes handy. But reduction in cost is possible only with a deliberate, determined and systematic series of interventions. This realization has actually led to convergence of quality and economics.Ĭost accounting of wastage reveals prevention costs, failure costs, and appraisal costs. Thus, savings too emerges as a form of revenue then, it promotes the objective of the managers. If quality efforts are identifying wastes and enables subsequent management of waste, then eventual reduction in waste will curtail the quality spend. Cost savings promote the thoughts of waste reduction in the system, which indirectly forces organizations and management to concede to the fact that there exist systemic wastages. As always, a resourceful manager finds cost savings as a possible strategy to overcome this mount. Out of the outcomes expected, revenue and profitability end up as the most difficult mounts to surmount due to the dynamic nature of the target and quantitative measurements associated with it. As business milieu became competitive with the entry of products and professionals, the demands on quality also underwent transformation.Ī professional manager is looked upon as a sophisticated engine that leads, creates strategies, solves problems and generates revenue. Thus, managers slowly started withdrawing any long term support to such total quality management initiatives as they found nothing that contributes directly to their success. But, the obvious fact is assurances never satisfy a professional management, unless tangible achievements are show-cased. Also ways and means to be found out to make sure, problems do not recur. People of the firm realize that they are there because of the customers, hence it becomes imperative that customer problems are be resolved. Tracing the history of quality journey up to the age of total quality management, it was a period of promises such as enterprises being strongly committed to customers and their problems being of utmost priority for the senior management. Introduction to TQM and lean Six Sigma evolution Historically, the genesis of Six Sigma carries a setting of manufacturing yards, so should that be a reason to brand it as unsuitable for services, or is there a need to “dilute” the rigor in methodology or search for alternative techniques to facilitate application in a pure services context? Now, in an era of Industry 4.0 and Big Data Analytics, does Six Sigma continue to have a relevance? Should machine learning algorithms remain in the ever evolving list of tools and techniques within the Six Sigma book of knowledge? This chapter aims to address the above questions and more number of questions that we experience on a day-to-day basis in Six Sigma applications in the real world.ġ. Ego centric debates, a reason to justify failures, a failure to identify the purpose are contributors to the dilemma. Could there be a debate on your “X sigma” versus my “Y sigma”? Should lean practice be the front end or the back end or somewhere in the middle embedded in the Breakthrough Strategy has been a matter of debate among practitioners for many years now. Six Sigma projects are being used as an event response antidote rather than as a culture in organizations. The challenges in lean Six Sigma implementation start from terminology to applicability to actual application and finally in terms of experiencing the change.
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