Target Audience: Lean & Six Sigma can be used at all organizational levels, including senior executives, managers, project leaders, process improvement teams, and
for any of the “Belts” (Yellow, Green, Black, and Master Black Belt). Typically organizations train people in Lean & Six Sigma to develop internal process improvement capability. A leading best practice is to combine these with
Accelerating Change and Transitions™ to ensure rapid implementation
of process improvement throughout the organization.

Lean & Six Sigma are complementary approaches to process improvement. Both methodologies include principles, practices and tools which can be used to increase customer value – goods and services with higher quality and fewer defects – while maximizing human effort and minimizing space, capital and cycle times.

Derived from the Toyota Production System, Lean focuses on removing the non-value added steps in a process, eliminating waste, and ensuring a smooth process “flow”. Six Sigma is a statistical term representing a high level of quality. As a methodology, it focuses on eliminating defects and variation in a process using a set of tools and statistical measures.

However, both Lean and Six Sigma are much more than a set of tools. Used systemically, they can represent
a cultural transformation – a way of “being” in the organization that focuses on meeting or exceeding customer expectations, seeking process improvements wherever possible using all available tools, and never hesitating to reinvent the “way we do things.”