Lean Six Sigma is a method and strategy that supports individuals and project management teams as they pinpoint problems and implement work process improvements. You don't need to be an engineer to apply these practical principles and tools, and you can use them in any organization and industry. The fact is, applying Lean Six Sigma is easier to use than you think, and the guide will show you how. As the legendary management guru Peter Drucker said, "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."Lean Six Sigma takes the best of the Lean method for waste reduction and continuous improvement and pairs it with the variation and quality control methods of Six Sigma. The result is a comprehensive methodology that supports you in managing work processes for optimal success. This easy-to-use competency-based guide is a how-to manual. You can use it for self-paced learning and also in project teams. Each of the key concepts described in Unlocking Lean Six Sigma gives you a bite-sized chunk of key information. But the ideas are not just explained. Each concept includes: -Worksheets showing how you can develop what you learned in your environment. -Illustrations showing how an analyst would approach using the tools.-Charts and other visual tools to ensure the highest, fastest levels of comprehension and retention.-Several links to other professional resources such as videos and website with useful information. -Process improvement case scenarios that highlight how the ideas you learned about were used by others. -What to do tips to further cement your learning.-Practice questions and places where you can document what you learned and how you might use it in your job.At the end of the guide, you'll find a 120-question knowledge test that allows you to self-test how well you understood the material. Optionally, if you want to earn professional development hours (PDHs) or a Lean Sigma credential, you can do so through Centrestar. For more information, see the Earn PDHs and a Lean Sigma Yellow Belt Credential section in the guide.In a jargon-crowded field, words like Lean and Six Sigma can be intimidating for both beginners and experienced users. Don't worry, Unlocking Lean Six Sigma is written in plain language and packed with straight-forward examples. This easy-to-follow guide provides you with tools and techniques for implementing Lean Six Sigma and managing change initiatives. Including Lean Six Sigma skills on your resume will get you noticed! Every organization seeks to provide exceptional products and service to customers, and to do it efficiently and cost effectively. This practical guide is for individuals who want to advance their professional skills, want rewarding careers, and want to have their coworkers and managers view them as effective contributors who step up to help guide projects and ensure success. Organizational leaders want individuals who are passionate about their jobs, can work collaboratively in a team, and strive to continuously improve. This book can help you do all those things. The Unlocking Lean Six Sigma approach has helped thousands of people and organizations achieve success. It will help you too.

Bring the miracle of Lean Six Sigma improvement out of manufacturing and into services Much of the U.S. economy is now based on services rather than manufacturing. Yet the majority of books on Six Sigma and Lean--today's major quality improvement initiatives--explain only how to implement these techniques in a manufacturing environment. Lean Six Sigma for Services fills the need for a service-based approach, explaining how companies of all types can cost-effectively translate manufacturing-oriented Lean Six Sigma tools into the service delivery process. Filled with case studies detailing dramatic service improvements in organizations from Lockheed Martin to Stanford University Hospital, this bottom-line book provides executives and managers with the knowledge they need to: Reduce service costs by 30 to 60 percent Improve service delivery time by 50 percent Expand capacity by 20 percent without adding staff

Six Sigma for Managers is a practical overview on how to implement Six Sigma practices in everyday business. Emphasizing straightforward explanations instead of complex charts and statistics, it shows managers how to map processes, measure smart, and follow other Six Sigma principles.

Create New Profits in Any Economy In this difficult economic climate, it's vital to cut waste that can eat at a company's bottom line and boost efficiency at every organizational level. The traditional business solution in a crisis is to slash away non-critical talent and resources, often doing more harm than good. There is a far better systematic approach to doing more with less. As a leading expert on Lean Six Sigma and business transformation, with a deep knowledge of its application in countless areas of business, author Mark George can help you use Lean Six Sigma to analyze your operational needs, identify high-impact opportunities, design and rapidly implement solutions, and create a system that will build efficiency and high performance in every area of your business. The Lean Six Sigma Guide to Doing More with Less can help you: Improve operating margins by as much as 20%, ROIC by as much as 10%, and reduce the costs of goods sold by as much as 5% or more Create "cost intelligence" that uncovers root causes allowing cost reductions without jeopardizing customer service levels and quality Use enterprise speed, agility, and flexibility to drive step-change reductions in cost and enable competitive advantage Identify and eliminate the costs of complexity in your business Supercharge your legacy Six Sigma program, improving speed to results, increasing project values, and shortening completion times With case examples from a wide array of industry, encompassing decades of experience implementing Lean Six Sigma in every economic climate, in companies of every size, The Lean Six Sigma Guide to Doing More with Less will give your business an intelligent edge in lean times.

Organizational changes/improvements and or Lean Six Sigma has become more popular in workplaces in recent years. It is crucial to understand the theories; however, it is fatal to the success of a project if we fail to get to the heart of how and what is required to implement sustainable changes within an organization. This book offers focused, practical examples on how to maximize the value that Lean Six Sigma could bring to an organization, and shows how to deal with the greatest challenges to implementing change successfully. This book provides insight into: Balancing short term results with achieving long term sustainable change; Incorporating critical thinking into Lean Six Sigma to spur innovation; New ways of implementing change management within Lean Six Sigma and organizational transformation; Using a Lean Six Sigma Scorecard to maximize strategy execution within organizational projects And much more!!!

The Breakthrough Program for Increasing Quality, Shortening Cycle Times, and Creating Shareholder Value In Every Area of Your Organization Time and quality are the two most important metrics in improving any company's production and profit performance. Lean Six Sigma explains how to impact your company's performance in each, by combining the strength of today's two most important initiativesLean Production and Six Sigmainto one integrated program. The first book to provide a step-by-step roadmap for profiting from the best elements of Lean and Six Sigma, this breakthrough volume will show you how to: Achieve major cost and lead time reductions this year Compress order-to-delivery cycle times Battle process variation and waste throughout your organization Separately, Lean Production and Six Sigma have changed the face of the manufacturing business. Together, they become an unprecedented tool for improving product and process quality, production efficiency, and across-the-board profitability. Lean Six Sigma introduces you to today's most dynamic program for streamlining the performance of both your production department and your back office, and providing you with the cost reduction and quality improvements you need to stay one step ahead of your competitors. "Lean Six Sigma shows how Lean and Six Sigma methods complement and reinforce each other. If also provides a detailed roadmap of implementation so you can start seeing significant returns in less than a year."--From the Preface Businesses fundamentally exist to provide returns to their stakeholders. Lean Six Sigma outlines a program for combining the synergies of these two initiatives to provide your organization with greater speed, less process variation, and more bottom-line impact than ever before. A hands-on guidebook for integrating the production efficiencies of the Lean Enterprise with the cost and quality tools of Six Sigma, this breakthrough book features detailed insights on: The Lean Six Sigma Value PropositionHow combining Lean and Six Sigma provides unmatched potential for improving shareholder value The Lean Six Sigma Implementation ProcessHow to prepare your organization for a seamless incorporation of Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques Leveraging Lean Six SigmaStrategies for extending Lean Six Sigma's reach within and beyond your corporate walls "Variation is evil."--Jack Welch Six Sigma was the zero-variation quality lynchpin around which Jack Welch transformed GE into one of the world's most efficientand valuablecorporations. Lean Production helped Toyota cut waste, slash costs, and substantially improve resource utilization and cycle times. Yet, as both would admit, there was still room for improvement. Lean Six Sigma takes you to the next level of improvement, one that for the first time unites product and process excellence with the goal of enhancing shareholder value creation. Providing insights into the application of Lean Six Sigma to both the manufacturing processes and the less-data-rich service and transactional processes, it promises to revolutionize the performance efficiencies in virtually every area of your organizationas it positively and dramatically impacts your shareholder value.

With the growing business industry there is a large demand for greater speed and quality, for projects of all natures in both small and large businesses. Lean Six Sigma is the result of the combination of the two best-known improvement methods: Six Sigma (making work better, of higher quality) and Lean (making work faster, more efficient). Lean Six Sigma For Dummies outlines they key concepts in plain English, and shows you how to use the right tools, in the right place, and in the right way, not just in improvement and design projects, but also in your day-to-day activities. It shows you how to ensure the key principles and concepts of Lean Six Sigma become a natural part of how you do things so you can get the best out of your business and accomplish your goals better, faster and cheaper. About the author John Morgan has been a Director of Catalyst Consulting, Europe's leading provider of lean Six Sigma solutions for 10 years. Martin Brenig-Jones is also a Director at Catalyst Consulting. He is an expert in Quality and Change Management and has worked in the field for 16 years.