Q: Can you explain what Lean Six Sigma is to me? I’ve heard of both lean and Six Sigma as individual concepts, but I’m not quite sure I understand the term Lean Six Sigma.
A: The following concise definition is taken from the book The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook, 3rd ed. by T.M. Kubiak and Donald W. Benbow (ASQ Quality Press, 2016): “Lean-Six Sigma is a fact-based, data-driven philosophy of improvement that values defect prevention over defect detection. It drives customer satisfaction and bottom-line results by reducing variation, waste, and cycle time, while promoting the use of work standardization and flow, thereby creating a competitive advantage. It applies anywhere variation and waste exist, and every employee should be involved.”
For more information on this topic, visit ASQ’s website.