Lean manufacturing and six sigma methodologies have been widely used in a large number of companies worldwide. However, many companies have found it difficult to successfully implement and sustain ...lean manufacturing and six sigma. It is, therefore, very important for companies to identify and understand the critical success factors for successfully implementing either six sigma or lean manufacturing. A comparative examination of lean manufacturing versus six sigma was conducted, and the success factors relevant to these two methodologies were identified. It was found that the most important success factors differed in terms of their significance for six sigma and lean manufacturing. Specifically, for organizations that have successfully implemented six sigma, skills and expertise ranked highest in importance. In contrast, for organizations that have successfully implemented lean manufacturing, employee involvement and culture change ranked highest. This study builds on current knowledge and fills a gap in the literature by providing more insight into the most critical success factors within companies that have already successfully implemented these methodologies. The results of the study will help organizations to make more mature and careful decisions regarding the critical success factors of each method. Therefore, in the pre-implementation stage, organizations can identify how their capabilities and resources can be utilized to accomplish the critical success factors for the implementation of lean manufacturing and six sigma, either simultaneously or sequentially. This is the first study that has conducted an examination to compare lean manufacturing and six sigma in terms of the importance of the same specific critical success factors.
•Comparison the importance of the same specific critical success factors between lean manufacturing and six sigma.•Results offer guidance for implementing lean, six-sigma, or both practices together.•Initial methodology should be based on capacity to meet the critical success factors.•Strategies were identified for successful implementation of lean and/or six sigma.•Opportunity for successful implementation of lean and/or six sigma was maximized.
Abstract Quality management can be considered as the set of actions adopted to obtain characteristics of the product or service provided capable of meeting/satisfying needs and even exceeding ...customer expectations, achieving sustainable results for the organization. In this sense, several improvement programs adopted by organizations have emerged over time, including lean six sigma (LSS). The objective of this research is to establish an overview of the stages of change of the lean six sigma program in organizations in the last 15 years, identifying the critical success factors (CSF) for its implementation before and after these 15 years. The initial panorama was established by carrying out qualitative research with specialists from the LSS program of a service sector organization in 2005, when nine CSF were identified, namely: communication, organizational culture, a commitment of individuals to change, middle managers role, resistance to change, top management commitment, project selection/prioritization, training, and dissemination of results. Then, to analyze the historical evolution, a bibliographic review was carried out on the process of changes in LSS programs in organizations from 2005 to 2021. In this bibliographic review, it was found that the nine CSF identified in the 2005 survey were still relevant in the 15 subsequent years and that technological advances and the digital transformation experienced in various sectors promoted the emergence of three new CSF in the implementation of organizations' LSS programs: big data analytics (BDA), agile manufacturing and innovation.
Resumo Gestão da qualidade pode ser considerada como o conjunto de ações tomadas para se atender e superar expectativas dos clientes e se obter resultados sustentáveis. Surgiram com o tempo diversos programas de melhoria nas organizações, entre eles o lean six sigma (LSS). O objetivo desta pesquisa é estabelecer um panorama dos estágios de mudanças do LSS nas organizações nos últimos 15 anos, identificando fatores críticos de sucesso (FCS) para sua implantação antes e após estes 15 anos. O panorama inicial foi estabelecido por meio da realização de pesquisa qualitativa com especialistas do programa LSS de uma organização do setor de serviços em 2005, quando foram identificados nove FCS: comunicação, cultura organizacional, comprometimento dos indivíduos, papel dos gerentes intermediários, resistências à mudança, comprometimento da alta administração, seleção de projetos, treinamento e divulgação dos resultados. Na sequência, para análise da evolução histórica, foi realizada revisão bibliográfica sobre LSS nas organizações de 2005 a 2021. Nesta revisão constatou-se que os nove FCS identificados na pesquisa de 2005 continuavam relevantes nos 15 anos subsequentes, e que os avanços tecnológicos e a transformação digital promoveram o surgimento de três novos FCS na implantação dos programas LSS: Big Data Analytics (BDA), Manufatura Ágil e Inovação.
Green Lean Six Sigma is an inclusive approach, leads to optimum utilization of resources, reduces rejection and provides a path for sustainable development. In such an approach, decision-making ...becomes difficult in terms of selecting and prioritizing the different facets that incorporate sustainability in the system. The present research deals with the prioritization of Green Lean Six Sigma enablers through a novel decision-making approach Best Worst Method in a manufacturing organization. The present method was selected for prioritization as it provides the highly reliable results due to its high consistency; fewer pairwise comparisons (2
n
– 3) as compared to another matrix-based multiple-criteria decision-making methods use
n
(
n
– 1)/2 comparisons. The study depicts that the top three ranked enablers are organizational readiness for Green Lean Six Sigma measures together with competence for green product and process, top management commitment toward sustainable performance improvement and the integration of GLS with the business objectives with weights 0.4055, 0.1745 and 0.1288, respectively. Moreover, screened enablers’ rank was further validated through decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory, analytical hierarchy process and preference ranking organization method for enrichment of evaluations methods. The practitioners of the concerned industry will be assisted through the selection of most prominent enablers and evolving deliberate initiatives through primarily focusing on prominent enablers for the successful adoption of Green Lean Six Sigma.
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This paper reports the use of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in Policing Services, Scotland and the authors present four case examples of LSS and the key lessons learnt from such projects. Public services in ...the UK are under significant budget pressures and require to optimise efficiencies to maintain quality of service to the public. Our findings suggest that LSS methodology can be embraced by Policing Services to create not only efficient and effective processes at reduced operational costs but also increase the morale of employees and develop a better engaged workforce within the Police community and through this maintain and improve quality of service. The paper also illustrates some of the most commonly used tools in LSS projects. This paper finally seeks to contribute to and broaden the limited body of evidence of the applicability of LSS to Police Services and suggests future directions for research. In the authors' opinion, this is possibly one of the first studies reporting the benefits of LSS in any Policing Services. The paper yields an immense value to senior managers in any public sector who are engaged in any form of continuous improvement initiatives to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. The results of the study add evidence to the general arguments on the applicability of LSS to the public sector but more specifically evidence the potential of the methodologies in policing and through this assist to fill a current research gap.
The purpose of this research is to explore the potential impact of Lean Six Sigma practices on supply chain resilience proposing a conceptual framework. A content analysis method was used to identify ...themes from the interview data conducted with (n = 21) participants who are involved within the healthcare sector. The first-order coding of interview data performed by the researchers with inter-reliability (k = 0.74) identified IT management, big data analytics, risk management, efficient process management, process reconfiguration and disruption readiness as the emerging themes. The second-order coding of interview data with inter-reliability (k = 0.84) analysed the relationship between the first-order themes exploring the impact of Lean Six Sigma practices on building supply chain resilience. As a result, a framework was developed for achieving resilience in the supply chain through the application of six sigma practices.
Healthcare has been an important necessity globally. Healthcare organizations have realized the importance of continuous improvement practices like lean six sigma (LSS). In this study, the authors ...examine the impact of LSS to improve patient care. A case study approach was selected to evaluate the operational excellence of a multi-speciality hospital. The data collected was analyzed using a novel approach, viz. SDMMAICS. The analysis helped to remove the bottlenecks and improve key performance metrics such as patient turnaround time (TAT), workforce utilization, and organizational profits contributing to the operational excellence of the cardiology department. The study reduced staff and teams' idle time with an annual saving of 3,44,3658 INR (44,000 USD). This study helps both research scholars and practitioners to understand how LSS helps transform healthcare organizations.
The increased awareness about the effect of operations on sustainability dynamics and governmental pressure to cut emission rates has forced industries to adopt sustainable approaches such as Green ...Lean Six Sigma (GLSS). Despite increasing interest in GLSS, very limited research has focused on its implementation and no research has investigated barriers that hinder GLSS execution. This article investigates GLSS implementation barriers, their relationship, and removal of same in the manufacturing sector. In this article, 18 GLSS barriers have been recognized through literature review and formulated into logical groups using principal component analysis. This article pioneers with decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory with intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) set to prioritize barriers and handle the important and causal relationship among the same. The results of the article were validated through the IF best-worst method (BWM). The results reveal that management-related barriers are the top ranked followed by environmental and organization barriers with BWM weights 0.5283, 0.1704, and 0.1035, respectively. This provides impetus to policymakers for the induction of GLSS in business organizations to make harmony between economic development and environmental sustainability.
Lean Six Sigma is an integrated approach between lean thinking and the Six Sigma method. Lean is a way of thinking and principle used to improve the performance of a process through waste and error ...elimination. It focuses on the speed, flow, and cost of a process. On the other hand, Six Sigma is a method to enhance process capability by analyzing processes with problem identification and implementing improvements to resolve the problem. It focuses on quality consistency and how to fulfill customers' requirements. Combined, Lean and Six Sigma will be beneficial for organizations in determining the most suitable method for identifying and solving problems so the outcome of a process can fulfill customer satisfaction until profits can be increased. This study proposes a Lean Six Sigma methodology as an approach to reduce waste in the production process of a food manufacturing industry. The proposed approach is the DMAIC approach, and its tools are used to assess the impact of waste on the production process. As a result, this study will also conclude how the DMAIC approach can be helpful for the company to reduce waste. Suggestions related to DMAIC tools, and their implementation are also elaborated so that the related company can evaluate its current process and strive for better improvement.
Research has highlighted a need for a specific and practical implementation framework for deploying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The success of LSS ...implementation in SMEs is highly dependent on the extent to which an LSS deployment programme addresses the specific properties of SMEs. In this study we have evaluated an existing framework for Six Sigma implementation for SMEs Kumar, M., Antony, J., & Tiwari, M. K. (2011). Six Sigma implementation framework for SMEs - a roadmap to manage and sustain the change. International Journal of Production Research, 49(18), 5449-5467 using a multi-method triangulation approach. The objectives of this study were firstly to strengthen the foundations of the existing framework by uncovering evidence for some of its elements and, secondly, to identify the proposed revisions to the framework, especially focussed on its application in manufacturing SMEs. The results of our study are a collection of confirmations and revision proposals for the framework, leading to a revised conceptual framework.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the voice of the customer, key performance indicators, critical to quality characteristics, critical success factors, and commonly used tools and ...techniques for deploying the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy in Indian private hospitals, with special attention to the medical records.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes the action research methodology to obtain a greater understanding of the use of LSS in the Indian healthcare sector. Multiple case studies were designed and successfully deployed to understand and ascertain challenges in LSS implementation. Five case studies were carried out in the Medical Records Departments (MRD) of four private hospitals in India.
Findings
Patients perceive that waiting in queue harms their health, which can be rectified by addressing the cycle time of the system. The research also found that effective leadership, availability of data, involvement of cross-functional team and effective communication are critical to the success of LSS projects. In addition, control charts, cause and effect diagram, 5S, gemba, two-sample t-test, standardization, waste analysis and value stream mapping are some of the common tools used to improve healthcare systems.
Research limitations/implications
The research was restricted to studying the impact of LSS on the workflow and resource consumption of the MRD in Indian allopathic hospitals only. The validity of the results can be improved by including more hospitals and more case studies from the healthcare sector in different countries.
Originality/value
The findings will enable researchers, academicians and practitioners to incorporate the results of the study in LSS implementation within the healthcare system to increase the likelihood of successful deployment. This will provide greater stimulus across other departments in the hospital sector for wider and broader application of LSS for creating and sustaining process improvements.
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