Lean Doesn't Mean There Aren't Easy Ways To Use Six Sigma

There are many differences between the different philosophies use by Six Sigma, but just because one of them is called Lean doesn't mean that it is any less successful than the other practices that Six Sigma uses to develop ideas for successful companies. To some people, the word Lean means cutting fat in order to water down a philosophy and that is what many businesses are using in these days of economic troubles but the Lean method practiced by Six Sigma is simply a way of making things a lot more simple and a lot of companies are benefiting from it.

With the Six Sigma method, the final result is to recognize and remove and defects that may include lower profit margins, which are vital to any company these days. They use different ways to analyze the company with which they are dealing and can not only help a company increase its profit and visibility margin, but can also help a company determine which ends to cut and how to improve through the use of numbers and statistical analysis. Six Sigma provides a team of professionals that help with the planning and implementation of all of its philosophies with the main goal of increasing the profit margin of any company.

In the lean version of six sigma, the focus is on maximizing products such what's seen at a car manufacturer. Car manufacturers have several vehicles on the production line everyday. One can just imagine how much money rests on the production line, and how costly one mistake could be. Lean stresses reducing waste. If a certain amount of waste is reduced, per car, much money could be saved when that is multiplied by how many cars are produced each day.

The Lean version of Six Sigma also focuses on inventory and not just on the cars that are already on the line but also the cars that are waiting to be made. Parts must be ordered and the cars have to be ready for the next step on the assembly line.

The lean version looks at overproduction such as a car manufacturer would look at an excess of a particular vehicle; the company would have to find ways to sell off these cars before producing new ones. Both the lean and the six sigma look at the same aspects of the method but differently, six sigma focuses on the customer while the lean version focuses on waste and production.