Grand-Daddy of Quality: Philip Crosby
Who said “Quality is free, but it’s not a gift"? Who was the first non-doctor to create a vaccine? Who maintained that zero defects was the job of management as much as the front line? Philip Crosby! He said it was less expensive to do it right the first time…
10 Tips for Building Awesome Green Belt Projects
Congratulations! You have just passed your exam and now it is time to tackle that Lean Six Sigma Green Belt project. “What makes a good Green Belt project?” is often the first looming question that comes to mind. Learners struggle with finding support, properly scoping their projects and other common…
The Next Generation of Lean Six Sigma (Part 5): New Tools for a New Normal
Surely everyone knows that process improvement has changed dramatically over the last 20 years, and certainly there are generational differences in the practitioners then and now. The first post in this series, The Next Generation of Lean Six Sigma (Part 1): Then and Now, was about the generational shifts in…
Survey Says: Why Do Process Improvement Projects Fail?
How to Prepare Any Process for Improvement With Lean Six Sigma
When customers are satisfied with their first purchase from your company, they patronize you again and your business records higher sales. They tell their families and friends, and they may also choose to buy your products and services. That first experience with your product and your service matters. Customer satisfaction…
Goldilocks & the A3: How to Get Your Problem Solving “Just Right”
Goldilocks is a great source for guidance on A3 problem-solving. With the goal of getting the approach “just right” it’s critical to assess the kinds of problems that require A3s. As with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, some problems are “Papa Bear” sized, with multiple unknown factors to explore. A…
Lean Six Sigma Success Story: Lean Six Sigma Saves $240,000 In Annual Warranty Claims for Food Processing Equipment Manufacturer
The Challenge Missing the deadline to process warranty claims means automatic approval and money lost—and Marel had missed the deadline for 13 of the last 18 months. Marel, a leading food processing equipment manufacturer, had been missing their customer-promised 60-day timeline in 13 of the last 18 months. When they…
4 New Ways to Use A3s (Have You Tried Any of These?)
Kaizen Charter? Knowledge Capture? Project Tracker? Posting Board? A3s have grown beyond their roles as problem-solving staples. They’ve expanded and staked out a richer domain in the Lean Six Sigma Toolkit. The A3 is often where we start to examine a challenge, address a problem or consider an opportunity. While…
Lean Six Sigma Success Story: Reducing Late Approvals by 64%, Featuring Kymberly Epperson & Darlene Schlueter
A late event approval means campus planners are given short notice, crippling their ability to stage concerts, festivals or even simple barbecues. Last year 82% of the 300 food-only events at UC San Diego received a late final review—that’s over three quarters missing the deadline! The Challenge On average, approvals…