Lean 6 Sigma (L6S) was one of the most influential training programs I had the opportunity to attend. The main difference is that you have to successfully manage an improvement project and display the real gains to the organization, in order to become certified.
So, what the heck is L6S? I didn’t know at the time, my first thought was: another improvement program for implementing an agile methodology, with focus on SW development. I was wrong.
L6S starts with a problem, mostly related to customer satisfaction, draws a business case and follows a specific methodology in order to improve the performance of the process / service / product.
In my case the goal was reducing the defect resolution lead time for a specified SW Application. Starting when the problem was first reported by the end user, and finishing when the SW patch was deployed to production. (This lead time was considered critical, from the end-user point-of-view).
The Project Team was assembled with participants that spawn across the organization, (DEV, OPs, Call Center and Quality Assurance). I can assure that it was not your typical waterfall or SCRUM project.
The project methodology is known as Data-driven improvement cycle: DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control).
L6S starts with a problem, mostly related to customer satisfaction, draws a business case and follows a specific methodology in order to improve the performance of the process / service / product.
In my case the goal was reducing the defect resolution lead time for a specified SW Application. Starting when the problem was first reported by the end user, and finishing when the SW patch was deployed to production. (This lead time was considered critical, from the end-user point-of-view).
The Project Team was assembled with participants that spawn across the organization, (DEV, OPs, Call Center and Quality Assurance). I can assure that it was not your typical waterfall or SCRUM project.
The project methodology is known as Data-driven improvement cycle: DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control).
1 . Define
Comprehensively state the problem and the financial outcome from its resolution. Build the business case.
2. Measure
Collect data and establish the performance baseline. Sometimes we have the idea that something is wrong, but can’t quantify it. Build the metric that supports your problem.
In my case I already knew the average defect resolution time. But we can’t act on this number if we don’t know where the bottleneck is. It was necessary to divide and sketch the process, measuring the partial segments. For eg: the time that takes to analyze the defect, develop the patch, communication between teams, execute quality tests, and so on…
3. Analyze
For each potential bottleneck that becomes evident from the measure phase, identify the root cause of the problem. The rule of thumb is that you cannot act on the problem itself, only on the causes of that problem.
This is the hardest phase, because after the root causes are listed, prioritized and selected, a new data collection plan is required to test the assumption and validate the root cause. (Using statistical tools).
One initial assumption we had, was the influence of the seniority level of the Ops team member assigned to defect analysis. However after measuring the analysis duration time from junior Ops team members, the delay was not relevant. (Generally because of senior members helping the analysis for complex situations)
4. Improve
This is where creative solutions come into the scene. Focusing on the root causes identified previously, through brainstorming or design of experiments the team tries to come up with simple solutions. The implementation follows.
An example to illustrate what this phase is all about:
"A company that produced soap for the hotel business had several batches returned because of empty plastic cases occurrences. On the brainstorm process: many ideas about conveyor belt weighting system, image recognition SW to eliminate empty samples, new machines to handle packaging, sampling and rejecting batches…. Until a simple idea come into place: Put a fan on the end of the conveyor belt, it simply blows off empty plastic cases!"
5. Control
Monitor the process to ensure sustainable success.
The project was supervised by a L6S Black Belt that acted as a mentor without direct intervention on the project itself. By the end of the project the lead time for defect resolution was reduced by 1/3, a huge improvement for the organization.
One of the most important benefits of this methodology is creating a project with the single purpose of improvement. Lean focuses on reducing waste, Six Sigma on improving quality output.
This my view of L6S, what’s yours?
Comprehensively state the problem and the financial outcome from its resolution. Build the business case.
2. Measure
Collect data and establish the performance baseline. Sometimes we have the idea that something is wrong, but can’t quantify it. Build the metric that supports your problem.
In my case I already knew the average defect resolution time. But we can’t act on this number if we don’t know where the bottleneck is. It was necessary to divide and sketch the process, measuring the partial segments. For eg: the time that takes to analyze the defect, develop the patch, communication between teams, execute quality tests, and so on…
3. Analyze
For each potential bottleneck that becomes evident from the measure phase, identify the root cause of the problem. The rule of thumb is that you cannot act on the problem itself, only on the causes of that problem.
This is the hardest phase, because after the root causes are listed, prioritized and selected, a new data collection plan is required to test the assumption and validate the root cause. (Using statistical tools).
One initial assumption we had, was the influence of the seniority level of the Ops team member assigned to defect analysis. However after measuring the analysis duration time from junior Ops team members, the delay was not relevant. (Generally because of senior members helping the analysis for complex situations)
4. Improve
This is where creative solutions come into the scene. Focusing on the root causes identified previously, through brainstorming or design of experiments the team tries to come up with simple solutions. The implementation follows.
An example to illustrate what this phase is all about:
"A company that produced soap for the hotel business had several batches returned because of empty plastic cases occurrences. On the brainstorm process: many ideas about conveyor belt weighting system, image recognition SW to eliminate empty samples, new machines to handle packaging, sampling and rejecting batches…. Until a simple idea come into place: Put a fan on the end of the conveyor belt, it simply blows off empty plastic cases!"
5. Control
Monitor the process to ensure sustainable success.
The project was supervised by a L6S Black Belt that acted as a mentor without direct intervention on the project itself. By the end of the project the lead time for defect resolution was reduced by 1/3, a huge improvement for the organization.
One of the most important benefits of this methodology is creating a project with the single purpose of improvement. Lean focuses on reducing waste, Six Sigma on improving quality output.
This my view of L6S, what’s yours?