INTERVIEW: What is Lean Six Sigma

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We present you a new blog, which will be written in the form of interviews with our professional lecturers. In the following blogs, we will gradually explain the basic concepts, tools and methods used in management systems.
In the first interview, Mr.Tomáš Foltin explains what Lean Six Sigma and basic concepts of this method are.
 

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is like a tool case. Instead of hammers, pliers and screwdrivers, we can find tools in it that solve problems associated with any process. It does not matter whether it is a process of production, provision of services, or preparation of dinner at home. The problems that Lean Six Sigma originally addressed stemmed from the state of Japan's economy after World War II. Details on the origins of Lean Six Sigma can be found on Wikipedia. It was basically one important factor. The lack. Lack of materials, raw materials, people, machines, resources and the like.
 

What are the basic concepts in Lean Six Sigma?

Lack

Lack generates the need to manage available resources as efficiently as possible. With the least possible losses of any kind. It's not just about lost material or energy. The loss of time, human potential, space also counts. And here somewhere in this environment, the system we know today as Lean Six Sigma is gradually being born. It did not emerge overnight, it was born for decades and other countries, especially the USA, contributed to the development in addition to Japan.

We currently have a system that can effectively eliminate losses. If the system is properly implemented, the process should produce products of the same or higher quality than before its implementation. Only faster, more efficient and lower cost. Let's not forget humans either. It is the focus of Lean Six Sigma processes.
Change understood as the introduction or implementation of Lean Six Sigma is a change in the mindset of a person in any position in the company.
 

Loss

Loss is everything that the customer does not appreciate in the final product. He is not willing to pay for it. This means that, from the manufacturer's point of view, it is a waste thrown in the bin. This is too abstract a theoretical consideration, let's say something more specific.

I own a small business and I make money. The production process generates waste such as rejects, which I regularly dispose of. From rare raw materials (remember the situation in Japan) I make something that ends up in a junkyard. And not only that. I will also use part of the human resources for that waste. Someone who ended up in the trash had to order and process it. I pay these people as an employer. In addition, I used energy and machines to produce waste, which I also have to pay for. To sum it up, I buy the material, have it processed and then throw it away. That doesn't sound very rational. At this point, you can say, “Well, what? After all, I will include this cost in the final price of the product.” That is true. But is your customer willing to bear the cost of waste? Probably not. Although he does not know much about it, because no one sells goods with the label: EUR, Final price for the customer = EUR 30. But you are not alone in the market and the neighbor has a similar company right next door, and he can do the same with less waste, his final price will not be EUR 30, but EUR 28. It is therefore prudent to think ahead.
 

Try to find losses and try to eliminate them. This will increase your ability to compete with others and increase customer satisfaction (buy cheaper). The company can use the money saved more wisely than throwing it away. And this situation is good for everyone. For the customer, because he can get a cheaper product, for the company, because he gets additional resources for his own development and also for employees, because they will be better valued. Only authorized disposal organizations will probably be dissatisfied, to whom you will pay less for the removal of waste per month.
 

Quality

The term quality hides a set of all product and service features that fill the customer with a sense of satisfaction with the product and service. This is a complicated axiom. We would rather give a specific example. Buy a box of chocolates in the store. It has a beautiful cover and you want to give it to your mother for her birthday. The price seems reasonable to you. When you unpack it and open it together, you will find that in a huge box there are a few pralines, a pile of packaging material and a pile of air. In addition, the pralines are kind of scratched and one will fall apart. Mom pretends she doesn't mind and the main thing is that you see yourself and you're all healthy, but it boils in you. You feel, to put it bluntly, very dissatisfied. Plus, when you bought the same candy box for your mom last year, there were five more pralines. Are you going to buy the same box next year? Rather not, and you will be looking for something different, something that will meet your expectations of a quality box of chocolates. And here we are. Your idea is something that is perfect and you are trying to find the market that best suits your imagination. The right packaging, plenty of pralines that will be nice to look at and unspeakable. And you want it to be the same, so that you don't experience the unpleasant surprise of an unexpected change next year. All this can be summarized as "quality". It is the embodiment of your ideas into a specific product. If your idea largely matches the product, you are willing to pay a little more than you would for a product that partially meets your expectations. But what if you come across a product that almost perfectly meets your expectations, but you can't afford to buy it because it's too expensive? Well, you just don't buy it.

Now let's turn the view 180 degrees. Which manufacturer is the winner in this situation? The cheap one, too expensive, or the one that hit the price and met your expectations? Probably not the cheap one. You feel like he's asking a lot for what he's offering. The same goes for an expensive manufacturer. The winner is the one who meets your expectations and can offer a reasonable price. It may sound unbelievable, but it can also be achieved by introducing Lean Six Sigma. And as a bonus, you can use it to monitor whether the products are still in the quality that the customer expects and what to do if the production line suddenly fails.
 

Lean Six Sigma is a change in one's thinking

In a very simplified concept of a company's organization, there is a layer of managers and a layer of executors. The manager shows, the executor executes the orders. It's pretty nice if the manager is a genius and knows exactly what he's doing. He has a clear vision and knows how to achieve it. He knows the processes in the company in detail and can improve them. He knows how to guard the quality of a product and he knows his customers well enough to know what they want. Although the company should operate as a well-oiled machine, it squeaks inside. Subordinates are dissatisfied. They feel frustrated because they have no say in their work. They get everything ordered from above. The manager is frustrated because he feels a huge burden and responsibility. He feels he can't make a mistake. Even if he did, he must not admit it. How is it possible? Why doesn't it work well?
It follows from the nature of man. We are humans, not machines. In each of us there is a piece of leader, manager, creator, developer. And there's a piece of scaredy-cat in each, an insecure individual who needs advice when he doesn't know how to do it. This is where the change in thinking within Lean Six Sigma begins. It's the hardest thing facing those who have decided to go to the Lean Six Sigma show. Losses and quality can be ensured by mathematical models and statistical process monitoring. But only people themselves can change the behavior of people in a company. If it's that hard, why do it all? The reason is that by changing our thinking within the company, we can eliminate the most important loss. Loss of people. Material, machine, packaging, electricity, it is relatively easy to buy. However, a person who is an expert in his field works reliably and likes to, and he thinks about his work, it is very difficult to be available on the market. The loss of such a person, no matter what position he works in the company, hurts. It doesn't matter if it's a belt worker or a director.
 

What will actually change with the introduction of Lean Six Sigma?

The approach of individual employees and owners to the problems. Part of the decision-making power will pass directly to those who carry out the activity. They become managers and process owners. Part of the job responsibilities will go from executors to managers to owners. The company will not formally change its hierarchical structure, nor is the production director expected to work on Friday night, with an electrician giving a meeting on the company's economic situation. However, it is expected that management will not show up, but rather by helping to solve the problems that have arisen. They will work to improve the processes running in the company and ensure that their subordinates are satisfied, valued and engaged in activities that make sense. They must pay attention to the development of their subordinates and must support all good ideas that come from the heads of their subordinates and lead to improved company performance. On the contrary, subordinates are expected to change their approach from “just doing it” to “I know how to do it, and I know it could be better.”
 

The transition from a passive to an active approach to fulfilling one's job responsibilities is called an “ownership approach”. If both of these changes occur simultaneously and honestly, a new type of relationship will emerge. Subordinates will no longer be executors, as they will decide for themselves the processes they will carry out. Managers will no longer be commanders, but rather supporters of well-meaning changes and leaders who can bring their subordinates through problems. They will become experts and will be able to advise selflessly and with satisfaction.

I know from personal experience that this change is a long way off. Maybe for a few years and paradoxically they can adapt to subordination as management. It is also related to human nature. Losing a sense of power over someone is painful. It tastes very intoxicating and many managers can't give it up. And here at this point sometimes the whole system collapses. It is not the system itself that is responsible for its failure, but only its bearers.
 

Something to conclude

If I could sum up this whole article in a few words, Lean Six Sigma is a set of techniques and tools that help prevent the loss of materials, energy, customers and human resources. The focus is on the customer as an external agent and the employee as an internal and most important factor. Lean Six Sigma is a way of sincerity, humility and trying to make people happier. If you came across something else, it probably wasn't the real Sigma.
 

In the next article, we will introduce concepts such as Lean and Six Sigma = statistics above all.