Lean Six Sigma DMAIC versus Kaizen Event Process Improvement Efforts and their Integration

QUESTION: What is the best way to identify Lean Six Sigma Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) initiative vs. Lean kaizen workshops vs. corrective actions.

RESPONSE: The type of thinking that you are suggesting is not that uncommon. The problem is that with this approach Lean and Six Sigma tools are placed into silos where a Six Sigma zealot would suggest DMAIC and a Lean person would suggest a kaizen event.

What is needed is a roadmap that truly integrates Lean and Six Sigma tools, where no matter what tools were used a high-level stability/predictability assessment demonstrates a statistical significant shift to an improved level of performance upon project completion.

In this roadmap, I put kaizen events, 5S, and other common lean improvement tools as one means to improve an overall project in the improve phase of DMAIC, noting that all process improvement efforts don’t need to go through the rigor of analyze in a DMAIC roadmap.

The important thing no matter which tools are used is to demonstrate a true shift in these high-level metrics that are tracked over time. I have noted that this is missing in a lot of kaizen events and some Six Sigma project efforts too.

The roadmap that I am suggesting is noted in the bottom portion of Figure 2 in “Corporate Performance Management: The Integrated Enterprise Excellence System“, which also has a linkage to an overall business management system for selecting projects.

What I am suggested is that a process improvement and business system reinvention, which should be included in Lean Six Sigma black belt training.