What is the Difference Between Lean & Six Sigma?
About this lesson
Here at Six Sigma Global Institute (SSGI) many people often ask us, what is the difference between Lean and Six Sigma? In this video, Professor Barry Shore from the University of New Hampshire will explain the difference between both concepts and how they work with one another to provide value to organizations. In general, Lean focuses on efficiency while Six Sigma focuses on quality. When used together, Lean Six Sigma can serve as a powerful tool for transforming an organization.
Full Transcript
I mean is it very different from Six Sigma lien is concerned with efficiency it focuses on how operational processes are designed and managed to minimize inefficiencies the inefficiencies that can be attributed to delays errors and wastes consider the challenges faced by the crew staff and vendors of Royal Caribbean cruise lines when the Symphony of the Seas docks early a.m. on Saturday mornings at the Port of Miami between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. nearly 7,000 passengers depart the ship and another 7,000 board while this is a challenge by itself consider what goes on behind the scenes more than 20,000 pieces of luggage must be moved 2759 staterooms clean trash unloaded and food supplies replenished this carefully orchestrated process leaves no room for delays hours or waste every step must be efficient or to say this another way the turnaround process must be lean there are so many other situations where process efficiency is key to delivering customer value emergency departments at hospitals must be designed to minimize delays so patients can be seen soon after they arrived online retailers must design logistics processes to minimize order processing delays and in many cases to deliver in one day and manufacturing operations must be designed to minimize the waste associated with unnecessary process steps Six Sigma on the other hand focuses on quality and consistency and by consistency we mean delivering products and services that day after day meet quality standards the product we deliver today is just like the one that is delivered tomorrow when we eat at a restaurant purchase a new hard drive or travel on an airplane we expect a certain level of quality the role of Six Sigma is to ensure that this level of quality is delivered to the customer sometimes companies fail to meet the challenge Takada a Japanese manufacturer of auto airbags is one such example these airbags relied on a compound of ammonium and nitrate that expands upon impact inflates the bag and thereby protects the driver and passenger from head or body injuries however the compound broke down when exposed to moisture and temperature swings some accidentally exploded sending metal fragments through the passenger compartment in total 19 auto manufacturers recalled approximately 37 million vehicles in which over 50 million airbags were replaced it was the largest recall in automotive history moreover the human toll was substantial 12 people died and almost 200 were injured then there were the Boeing Max 8 disasters when two aircraft within six months of each other crashed shortly after takeoff in total 346 people died the problem was traced to software problems in the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system known as MCAS as part of the autopilot system the MCAS prevented the pilots from overriding the system and recovering from the steep descent they try to overcome the system controls but failed well the Takata and Boeing failures reach headline status there are countless stories of quality failures less known but nonetheless underscoring the challenge that organizations face to assure their products and services meet quality standards the job of Six Sigma is to prevent these failures by instituting effective quality control processes at the manufacturing or service level before it's too late this then is the difference between lean and Six Sigma lean focuses on efficiency while Six Sigma focuses on quality both are essential to support sustained competitive positions in an industry
Original Description
Here at Six Sigma Global Institute (SSGI) many people often ask us, what is the difference between Lean and Six Sigma? In this video, Professor Barry Shore from the University of New Hampshire will explain the difference between both concepts and how they work with one another to provide value to organizations. In general, Lean focuses on efficiency while Six Sigma focuses on quality. When used together, Lean Six Sigma can serve as a powerful tool for transforming an organization.
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