Fast track your daily rates with Lean Six Sigma..

The worldwide demand for qualified Lean Six Sigma consultants is growing at a faster rate now than at any time in the past..   Current contract rates for a Black Belt are running at £800/day in the UK.

BUT..  getting on board with Lean Six Sigma is no easy task, many organisations are so busy getting “work” done, dealing with problems, fires and urgencies,  meeting goals and objectives, and initiating business strategies, that they do not take or have the time to even consider “looking” for waste.

If Lean Six Sigma was simple, then everyone would be doing it – It’s a No Brainer after all !!

HERE IS AN AMAZING TRUTH for business, regardless of their size, industry, challenges and the like:
The ability to recognise and understand the systems that create results is not a natural ability.

We DO NOT HAVE THAT PROCESS-FOCUS AUTOMATICALLY. WE have to discover, hone, harness, develop and refine it as we go along!

See value through the eyes and requirements of your customers and take a real, long hard look at what and how you are doing things to get them what they need and want. Look for opportunities to improve it and cut down on cost, waste and expenses. and remember – keep it simple:
Everything that does not add value = waste


We've put together a short video that explains Lean Six Sigma in a few short minutes:

If would like to get started on your Lean Six Sigma journey, we have a time limited offer of our on-line Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt training, use the promo code “YBPROMOKJ” to get this course for ONLY 25.00USD
https://beyondlean.mykajabi.com/store/7qYFRoMF



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What Made Toyota So Different?

In the last message, I explained how ‘Lean’ started way before Toyota came into view but they are recognised as the world leaders in Lean because they looked at things from a whole new viewpoint....

Lean - A new paradigm

The lean production system pioneered at Toyota created a new paradigm for excellence in manufacturing. This paradigm is founded on the belief that cost reduction is sometimes the only viable mechanism for a corporation to increase profit; price is not always an effective lever. Today, some organisations are fortunate enough to determine their selling price by first taking the product cost and adding on a sufficient profit margin:

Profit + Cost = Price

A company can therefore increase profit by raising the price of its product. However, in a diverse marketplace, most companies do not have this advantage as consumers and market conditions largely determine price. In these markets, companies face the following equation:

Profit = Price - Cost

This is often referred to as the 'cost-minus' principle because the company can only increase profit through cost reduction. Cost reduction in a manufacturing environment occurs through the elimination of waste. Waste can be defined as something for which the customer is not willing to pay; it is a non-value adding activity. The elimination of such activities shortens the lead time, so value is delivered to the customer faster and with less effort.






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Lean started way before Toyota !

Now, another common misconception amongst my clients is that ‘Lean’ and efficiency improvements all started with Toyota – wrong. Here is a very brief history of how it all came about and some would argue it started even before this!

Lean Six Sigma Overview - Lean Manufacturing
In 1910 Charles Sorensen and Henry Ford created the first moving assembly line as a way of reducing wasted motion and handling complexity in automotive assembly. Without question, the Lean system pioneered by the Toyota Motor Company has a common beginning with these early 'work flow' improvements. However, this common heritage led to two very different manufacturing systems: mass production and Lean production.

The objective of mass production is to maximise economies of scale through high capital utilisation. At Ford, the emphasis on flow was limited almost exclusively to the final assembly line, while subassembly processes, suppliers and distribution operated on almost independent production schedules, resulting in large batch sizes and high inventory levels. Inventory at all points was accepted as a necessary buffer to survive schedule and output instability. Quality was inspected and projected into the system through mass inspection and inventory buffers. Capital was a solution to the relentless push for capacity.

Finally, production was driven from forecasts, pushing material through the plant in anticipation of actual customer demand. The mass production system flourished in the high growth, boom phase of the automotive industry and was widely copied in other sectors.

The objective of Lean production is the elimination of waste through the efficient use of all resources. In 1945 the president of Toyota Motor Company issued an edict to the company to catch up with American three years otherwise the automotive industry of Japan would not survive. At the time, labour productivity in Japanese factories was 1/10 that of US automotive manufacturers. Scarce capital and small, highly diverse ?island? market did not support large-scale, mass production. Finding a solution to the challenge led to a fundamentally different 'Lean Production' system, which ultimately triumphed over mass production during the 1973-4 oil crisis. At a time of global recession and slow growth, Toyota sustained profits and grew US market share while US companies lost on both counts.






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I have also recently launched a new range of Lean Six Sigma on-line training courses which you can read about here, http://www.beyondlean6sigma.com/programmes/




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Where did Six Sigma Come From?

This is a question I get asked a lot, even though it is well documented. So here is a very short history of Six Sigma -

History of Six Sigma
6 Sigma manufacturing philosophy came from Motorola

They recognised that sufficient process improvement would not occur using a conventional approach to quality. It was developed to help them reduce variation within a process by focusing effort on improving inputs to a process rather than reacting to outputs.

The process was failing the customer expectations Traditionally, processes aimed for process capability of 3 to 4 sigma (Cpk=1.0 to 1.33 or 93% to 99.3% acceptable) The customer received 6200 defective product per million at best Processes now aim for 6 sigma (Cpk=2) The customer would receive 3.4 defective product per million






If you enjoy reading my blogs, please take a look at my many other on-line resources,

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I have also recently launched a new range of Lean Six Sigma on-line training courses which you can read about here, http://www.beyondlean6sigma.com/programmes/




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Is there a secret formula to a successful Lean Six Sigma project?

I’ve been asked many times by clients and students alike, what is the secret formula to a successful Lean Six Sigma implementation and the answer is never the same from company to company but one thing always seems to come up…

Implementing lean manufacturing or Six sigma or TQM or BPR or ......or ..... should be a relatively straight forward process for any business, the processes involved aren't difficult or complex and most of them are based upon common sense.

If you speak to any consultant or black belt they will tell you exactly the steps needed to implement the changes, in the order required.
Follow these steps and you have a changed organisation ............ Don't you ?

One vital flaw in the equation - an unknown variable - PEOPLE - Or to be more precise, the 8th Waste - The under Utilisation of People.
People touch every aspect of your business, from the CEO right down to the people who actually do the work.

We have factored in this variable from many years of hard won experience and knowledge.

Using lean six sigma improvement tools as a sticking plaster to try and cover a gaping wound is another common mistake made by management teams.
Business basics must be in place before lean principles or any other change programs can be successfully introduced - Discipline, timekeeping, absence, organisation structure etc. etc.

An organisation is a shadow of it's leader.
If the leader is not himself willing to change the way he works, the whole change program could be doomed before it even gets off the ground.
Change must be lead, by example, from the top.

Once the foundation has been laid and the organisation has in place some stability, lean six sigma can be introduced.





If you enjoy reading my blogs, please take a look at my many other on-line resources,

Website, http://www.beyondlean6sigma.com/
Blog, http://leansixsigmauk.blogspot.co.uk/
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Follow me on twitter, https://twitter.com/DrLeanSigma
I have also recently launched a new range of Lean Six Sigma on-line training courses which you can read about here, http://www.beyondlean6sigma.com/programmes/




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Harnessing the 8th AND 9th Waste of Lean Six Sigma

Yes, you heard me right, there is a 9th Waste ! We all know the 8th waste is the under-utilisation of our people but what about the 9th waste; the under-utilisation of our customers.

An underestimated factor in all Lean Six Sigma deployments is the underutilized talents of our collective and collaborative potential and this isn’t just talking about our staff, as in the 8th waste of lean. We often get so busy with what each of us are doing individually, that we lose sight of how much more powerful we could be, if we combined our efforts!

In our opinion, herein lies the secret of Lean Six Sigma …
WE HAVE TO GIVE EVERYONE (Including our customers) THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTAKE AND PARTICIPATE, SHARE IN THE EXPERIENCE FOR MAXIMUM RESULTS!
Ask yourself how you can make the most of people’s time and investment in CI or LSS practices and how it will/could affect/benefit your business? Your resources, employees and customers are important assets – how are you using and utilizing them all in this process of becoming a more agile and cost-effective organization/business/operation ?

Always, start by asking what can I do? This personal hands-on approach can truly make a difference in any business.

Ways to avoid your LSS initiatives becoming frustrating, failing or coming up short:

Pay special and close attention to what the business culture really is! It could be totally out of alignment with the principles and fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma and cause some stress, tensions, or even resistance within and throughout the organization.
• Ask and answer yourself/your team, your business, partners and customer honestly what the existing climate is that would support (hinder/help) Lean Six Sigma working methods and how it will benefit all stakeholders?
• Here is another useful question: Is our organization hierarchical, rigid and autocratic and not a people centered company?
• Learning what not to do from the mistakes and discoveries, shared learnings and insights from others is critical. This is especially crucial from our customers, listen to their complaints, survey them regularly to ascertain what current products they would like more of, or variants of and what additional products that we don’t currently offer would they like to see in our catalogue? They are the people who pay all our wages and without whom, the business would not exist!
• Be aware that not everyone will necessarily share your enthusiasm for Lean Six Sigma. Some might dread what it does to their work load and world. Some initial resistance to any change is normal. Showing the value or the WIIFM (what is in it for me) is a very important part of the whole Lean Six Sigma initiative.








If you enjoy reading my blogs, please take a look at my many other on-line resources,

Website, http://www.beyondlean6sigma.com/
Blog, http://leansixsigmauk.blogspot.co.uk/
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Follow me on twitter, https://twitter.com/DrLeanSigma
I have also recently launched a new range of Lean Six Sigma on-line training courses which you can read about here, http://www.beyondlean6sigma.com/programmes/




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What is Kaizen Jitsu?

I received an award last week from the CEO of the major Government Department that I’m currently engaged with, which was a great honour and made myself and my family very proud. At the dinner celebrations, a colleague asked what it was that the team that I’m part of did that was so different from the ‘Other’ Improvement people that they had worked with previously. I knew this person, like myself had a long history in martial arts, so I tried to put it into a language that I knew would resonate with him.

I told him that what we did was ‘Kaizen Jitsu’, or the 'Art of Improvement'.
The name comes from the Japanese 'Kai' = Change, 'Zen' = Good (Change for the good, or 'Improvement') and 'Jitsu' = Art.

After all, it's pretty pointless making changes in any organisation if, once you walk away, the organisation simply go back to the old way of doing things. (Does this sound familiar ?)

There is a way of implementing change in any organisation and at the same time ensuring you have the full buy in of all staff, whilst subtly but steadily changing the corporate culture into one where the changes will be embraced, sustained and ultimately improved upon moving forward.
This however, has to be done 'during' the change process, not as an afterthought or a bolt on as part of a 'cultural change process' or 'people change' process as employed by some of the big consultancy players.

In the words of the old Japanese saying, 'If the student hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught', or in my words - 'If the changes didn't stick, you didn't do your job' (Assuming you're the person who implemented the changes)

The short video clip below will expand a little more and I'll be covering more on this topic over the coming weeks. Specifically around the 'How'  https://youtu.be/OS1afWi_fZE









If you enjoy reading my blogs, please take a look at my many other on-line resources,

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Blog, http://leansixsigmauk.blogspot.co.uk/
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Follow me on twitter, https://twitter.com/DrLeanSigma
I have also recently launched a new range of Lean Six Sigma on-line training courses which you can read about here, http://www.beyondlean6sigma.com/programmes/


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