Lean Methodology Vs Six Sigma Methodology

 - Lean manufacturing is a systematic way of eliminating waste and creating flow in the production process, while Six sigma is a set of techniques that focus on reduce the rate of defects.

 - Lean manufacturing was firstly suggested by the Toyota Production System.

 - Six Sigma was introduced in the 1980’s by an engineer for Motorola named Bill Smith. Smith believed that by getting rid of variation you can improve the customer experience and increase your overall savings. Six sigma will produce no more than 3.4 defects for every million opportunities.

Lean Process

 - The ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to reduce waste by eliminating bottlenecks and improving the quality of your products.

 - The 8 wastes of of lean manufacturing are Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over production, Over processing, Defect Generation, skill set.

 - Toyota then accommodated this process and developed the Toyota Production System, which became one of the most efficient systems in the world.

 - Lean methods works across all industries and in all types of operations. Instead of focusing on one point in a process, Lean requires optimizing a process as it flows through the various technologies, assets and departments before reaching customers.

Six Sigma Process

 - Six Sigma was introduced in the 1980’s by an engineer for Motorola named Bill Smith.

 - Six Sigma concentrates on improving the quality of goods or services an organization produces by reducing variance in the manufacturing process.

 - 2 Methods are used for implementing Six sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify)

Difference Between Lean and Six Sigma

Definition

 - Lean eliminate wastes from system.

 - Six sigma reduce the variation from product or process.

Introduced by

 - Toyota Production System initiated the Lean manufacturing in 1990's

 - Six sigma was introduced by Motorola in 1980's.

Focus

 - Lean manufacturing focus on to reduce waste by eliminating bottlenecks and visual controls.

 - Lean focus on to increase flow.

 - Six sigma focus on eliminating errors in production as well as non production environments.
i.e. Statistical process control

 - Six sigma focus on achieving consistent results.

Tools

 - Lean manufacturing used improvement projects like Kaizen, Poka-yoke, 5S, JIT etc.

 - 7 QC Tools are used for improvement projects in six sigma.

Benefits

 - Lean manufacturing Improve production by increasing productivity.

 - six sigma improves profit and quality of the product.

Costs

 - Lean improves operating cost and reduced lead time.

 - Six sigma improve the cost of poor quality.

Implementation

 - Lean doesn’t require a gradable structure of qualified “masters” to implement the changes. Every individual employee, regardless of their roles in the business is encouraged to participate in actively improving the manufacturing process.

 - With the Lean approach, you can walk into your factory today and instruct everyone on what to look for and give them methods for applying changes they see fit.

 - Six sigma requires a hierarchical structure of various experts with various belts, signifying their level of experience and knowledge in the Six Sigma way.

 - With Six Sigma, you’ll have to hire a certified expert who will assemble a team, identify a problem, and direct that team until the problem is solved.