Why should you undertake Lean Six Sigma? Many companies ask the same question, as do those who are considering training for a Green or Black belt and are wondering how to persuade their managers that it’s a good idea. If you are a organization, however, there are definite advantages of investing in Lean Six Sigma.
Financial benefits
The financial benefits of Lean Six Sigma have been well documented. Companies like Honeywell, Motorola, and GE have posted some very impressing statistics foe years based on Lean Six Sigma projects. We have typically seen projects save somewhere within the region of $65,000 on average. Projects that have saved less were either poor choices or didn’t have the appropriate support in place.
Strategic benefits
Companies that invest in Lean Six Sigma also experience strategic benefits. The way this is done is by a company tasking their Green or Black Belt to undertake projects where strategy is paramount to the project’s success, i.e. resolving issues within the firm. A Green or Black belt will have acquired certain skills during their training that will have enabled them to take on complex issues and resolve them on a permanent basis. They won’t just solve problems but will handle the underlying cause to prevent them from reoccurring. When you think about how much money you’ve invested in handling problems on a temporary basis, you can begin to see the strategic benefits of investing in Lean Six Sigma.
Green and Black belts are trained in analyzing data, so they are also in a position to help you understand where your present issues lie and how significant they are, as well as come up with ways to solve them. You will then be in a position to reassess or come up with a strategy for the business based on accurate information.
People benefits
Most Green and Black belts provide numerous softer benefits to their companies. They acquire a great deal of confidence, which gives them an ability to solve problems, propose new ideas, and challenge the norm. This confidence typically means that Green and Black belts desire to see change within the company and become agents of change. If they have any kind of influence in the business, they start to have an effect on others, causing them to change as well. The company becomes one that can not only implement change, but develop and grow.
Customer benefits
These benefits typically take the form of higher quality, improved delivery, and better service. Based on these results, customers are asking suppliers if their business deploys Lean Six Sigma. So by investing in Lean Six. Sigma, you can begin to promote the fact that you are using cutting-edge problem solving and process improvement methodologies to enhance your customer offer. At that point, you can ask them to get involved, which will bring you and your customer closer together.
Competitive advantage
As your performance improves, you will begin to notice a difference between your company and your competitors. You can then take this information and use it as part of your sales and marketing pitches. If you don’t deploy Lean Six Sigma, you can be confident that your competition are planning to if they aren’t already implementing it. That means that you are in danger of trailing your competition, which will ultimately mean you lose business.
Stakeholder benefits
The main benefit here is your workforce’s involvement in transforming your company. Organizations that have successfully used Lean Six Sigma see this involvement and reap the benefits. The entire workforce rare recognizing and solving problems, which would give your company a lot of power.
It further means that you can work with customers and suppliers to solve problems together. Even shareholders can take advantage, as numerous analysts are now wondering why you aren’t using Lean Six Sigma.
Standardization benefits
Standardization can benefit your company’s processes. If you deployed Lean Six Sigma, among the key benefits would be that all of your projects run in the same way, adhering to the same DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) process. This means that the managers in your company can be confident that you problems are being properly solved using data to back up decisions. It also means that you can easily keep track of your projects’ progress, as you can view which stage each of your projects is in.
If you feel a need to replace the project leader then it’s a smoother translation as others can more easily pick up where their predecessors left off. Furthermore, by investing in Lean Six Sigma and working with Global Six Sigma consultants, it means that you can base your decisions on accurate processes, analysis, and data. All of this together provides improved solutions and reduces your investment in problem solving in the long-term.
