Lean Six Sigma For Dummies

Lean Six Sigma For Dummies

by John Morgan, Martin Brenig-Jones
Released May 2012
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119953708

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Book description

Maximize the quality and efficiency of your organization

If you want to make your organization or team more productive, you have to change the way it thinks. Combining the leading improvement methods of Six Sigma and Lean, this winning technique drives performance to the next level. But the jargon-packed language and theory of Lean Six Sigma can be intimidating for both beginners and experienced users. Whether you want to manage a project more tightly or fine-tune existing systems and processes, Lean Six Sigma For Dummies gives you plain-English guidance to achieve your business goals.

Lean Six Sigma For Dummies outlines the key concepts of this strategy and explains how you can use it to get the very best out of your business. You'll discover lots of tools and techniques for implementing Lean Six Sigma; guidance on policy deployment; information on managing change in your organization; useful methods for choosing which projects to tackle; and much more.

  • Gives you plain-English explanations of complicated jargon

  • Serves as a useful tool for businesspeople looking to make their organization more effective

  • Helps you achieve business goals with ease

If you're a project manager or other businessperson looking for new and effective ways to improve your process, Lean Six Sigma For Dummies has you covered.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Title Page
  4. Introduction
  5. Part I: Lean Six Sigma Basics
    1. Chapter 1: Defining Lean Six Sigma
      1. Introducing Lean Thinking
      2. Sussing Six Sigma
    2. Chapter 2: Understanding the Principles of Lean Six Sigma
      1. Considering the Key Principles of Lean Six Sigma
      2. Improving Existing Processes: Introducing DMAIC
      3. Reviewing Your DMAIC Phases
      4. Taking a Pragmatic Approach
  6. Part II: Working with Lean Six Sigma
    1. Chapter 3: Identifying Your Customers
      1. Understanding the Process Basics
      2. Getting a High-Level Picture
    2. Chapter 4: Understanding Your Customers' Needs
      1. Can You Kano?
      2. Obtaining the Voice of the Customer
      3. Researching the Requirements
      4. Avoiding Bias
      5. Considering Critical To Quality Customer Requirements
      6. Establishing the Real CTQs
    3. Chapter 5: Determining the Chain of Events
      1. Finding Out How the Work Gets Done
      2. Painting a Picture of the Process
  7. Part III: Assessing Performance
    1. Chapter 6: Gathering Information
      1. Managing by Fact
      2. Developing a Data Collection Plan
      3. An Introduction to Sampling
    2. Chapter 7: Presenting Your Data
      1. Delving into Different Types of Variation
      2. Recognising the Importance of Control Charts
      3. Testing Your Theories
    3. Chapter 8: Analysing What's Affecting Performance
      1. Unearthing the Usual Suspects
      2. Getting a Balance of Measures
  8. Part IV: Improving the Processes
    1. Chapter 9: Identifying Value-Added Steps and Waste
      1. Interpreting Value-Added
      2. Looking at the Seven Wastes
      3. Looking Beyond the Seven Wastes
      4. Focusing on the Vital Few
    2. Chapter 10: Discovering the Opportunity for Prevention
      1. Keeping Things Neat and Tidy
      2. Looking at Prevention Tools and Techniques
      3. Profiting from Preventive Maintenance
      4. Avoiding Peaks and Troughs
    3. Chapter 11: Identifying and Tackling Bottlenecks
      1. Applying the Theory of Constraints
      2. Managing the Production Cycle
      3. Looking at Your Layout
    4. Chapter 12: Introducing Design for Six Sigma
      1. Introducing DfSS
      2. Defining What Needs Designing
      3. Considering Quality Function Deployment
      4. Decisions, Decisions
  9. Part V: Deploying Lean Six Sigma
    1. Chapter 13: Leading the Deployment
      1. Key Factors for Successful Deployment
      2. Executive Sponsorship
      3. A Few Words about Size
      4. The Deployment Programme Manager
      5. Lean Six Sigma Start Up
      6. Project Champions
    2. Chapter 14: Selecting the Right Projects
      1. Generating a List of Candidate Improvement Projects
      2. Working Out if Lean Six Sigma is the Right Approach
      3. Setting up a DMAIC Project
      4. Seeing Rapid Improvement with a Kai Sigma Event
    3. Chapter 15: Understanding the People Issues
      1. Working ‘Right’ Right from the Start
      2. Gaining Acceptance
      3. Creating a Vision
      4. Understanding Organisational Culture
      5. Busting Assumptions
      6. Seeing how People Cope with Change
  10. Part VI: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 16: Ten Best Practices
      1. Lead and Manage the Programme
      2. Appreciate that Less Is More
      3. Build in Prevention
      4. Challenge Your Processes
      5. Go to the Gemba
      6. Manage Your Processes with Lean Six Sigma
      7. Pick the Right Tools for the Job
      8. Tell the Whole Story
      9. Understand the Role of the Champion
      10. Use Strategy to Drive Lean Six Sigma
    2. Chapter 17: Ten Pitfalls to Avoid
      1. Jumping to Solutions
      2. Coming Down with Analysis Paralysis
      3. Falling into Common Project Traps
      4. Stifling the Programme Before You’ve Started
      5. Ignoring the Soft Stuff
      6. Getting Complacent
      7. Thinking ‘We’re Already Doing It’
      8. Believing the Myths
      9. Doing the Wrong Things Right
      10. Overtraining
    3. Chapter 18: Ten Places to Go for Help
      1. Your Colleagues
      2. Your Champion
      3. Other Organisations
      4. The Internet
      5. Networks and Associations
      6. Conferences
      7. Books
      8. Periodicals
      9. Software
      10. Training and Consultancy Companies
  11. Cheat Sheet

Product information

  • Title: Lean Six Sigma For Dummies
  • Author(s): John Morgan, Martin Brenig-Jones
  • Release date: May 2012
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119953708