While Lean Six Sigma can put stress on hourly associates, Organizations should implement it in manufacturing facilities because it eliminates waste, it implements processes and control points that can be sustained, and it allows leadership and team members to work together to come up with solutions. First of all, “What is Lean Six Sigma?” you may ask.
Lean Six Sigma is a method of increasing efficiencies within an organization, by reducing waste throughout a process and increasing efficiencies. Lean Six Sigma uses different tools such as the DMAIC process, A3s, Root Cause Analysis, and 5S to better processes throughout an organization. These tools can be used for processes, mentoring employees, and reorganization of chain of events. Utilizing the tools that Lean Six Sigma provides can change the way an organization operates, and associates think as it comes to process improvements.
Lean Six Sigma eliminates waste in an organization, but what does that mean? What is classified as waste? Waste is viewed different from the eyes of the beholder. So, for a Financial Leader waste is any unnecessary cost and waste of material. For the Operations Leader, waste is excess motion and waste of time. For a Supply Chain Leader waste is excess inventory and loss of sales to the customer. To summarize all of these different types of waste, Lean Six Sigma focuses on “TIMWOODS”. “TIMWOODS” is an acronym for the different wastes that Lean Six Sigma addresses: transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, over processing, defects, and skills. Minimizing these 8 different types of waste increases productivity for a company and decreases cost in supplies, work in process, and labor.
To create processes that eliminate waste, a company will need to go through the DMIAC process to address issues within the enterprise. DMAIC stands for define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. The first step in implementing Lean Six Sigma, is to define the issue. Once this is done, a company will need to follow the remaining steps in the DMAIC process, which will implement the control points and process changes for the company. Understanding the issue is the first part but sustaining the improvements over the longevity of the company is how a company will improve. Lean Six Sigma uses process that such as the DMAIC process to sustain efforts put forth from the team. The control portion of this process allows the company to use tools like an A3 to continuously monitor the benefits of the changes implemented and adjust if the savings are not there.
Getting buy in from leadership and hourly associates is sometimes hard, especially when it comes to change. The Lean Six Sigma process creates an environment that allows all personal to work together to come up with ideas and solutions to improve the process. Lean Sig Sigma creates an open space for all parties to feel comfortable sharing thoughts and improvements in a judge free zone. This creates solutions that all parties feel comfortable with and solutions that all parties can speak to and align with. Teamwork builds a workplace that all team members regardless of status, to work towards and take pride in, one common goal.
With all of these benefits, why wouldn’t all companies implement Lean Six Sigma right away? Besides change within an organization, Lean Six Sigma may create change for the tasks that hourly associates do day in and day out. This change, may make team members feel anxious, overwhelmed, overworked, and underpaid. These new feelings about one’s position at a company may lead tenured employees to look for work elsewhere. Even though the intentions of the company are not to loose good employees these changes may not be accepted by all employees within an organization. If team members feel as if they are working more than they were prior, they may request additional wages, which would be a cost not accounted for during the DMAIC process. Even though change is inevitable, these changes and emotions from the workforce need to be accounted for when implementing new processes.
Do the benefits, outweigh the negatives of Lean Six Sigma? I most certainly believe they do. Nevertheless, organizations need to communicate changes to any personal effective and allow for constructive feedback prior to implement changes. This opportunity for associates to have their voice heard, may be all an organization needs, to implement changes FLAWLESSLY. This will lead to a more efficient organization and satisfied customers.
