Kaizen, Lean & Six Sigma
The terms Kaizen, Lean and Six Sigma are often used interchangeably and, for many, have lost their individual identity.
Businesses that fail to create value are deemed “wasteful." Sterling Development uses Kaizen, Lean and Six Sigma to solve different challenges to eliminate "wasteful" practices, refine operations and increase efficiency.
Kaizen, meaning ‘never ending improvement by everyone in the organisation’ is a journey and not a destination. It helps to identify and solve problems associated with Muda (waste), Mura (inconsistency) and Muri (burden on people and strain on machines) that delivers big results from small changes.
Lean Manufacturing focuses on the elimination of waste to increase efficiency and streamline or remove non-value-adding stages in production. Six Sigma minimises defects as well as inconsistency (Mura) and helps to identify instances (using DMAIC or DMADV) where a process requires correcting or changing.
If you are striving to be a Lean organisation waste elimination will be at the top of your list. We believe:
1.
Good processes bring good results i.e. they can improve efficiency and eliminate waste
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Products and service quality comes from finding and eliminating causes of defects or inconsistencies
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Good processes come from Brown Paper style process mapping exercises involving all users
4.
Eliminating 'wastes' improve process speed and quality