Project Design Manager
Sigma
The lowercase letter sigma (σ) is the symbol of the standard deviation in statistics. Standard deviation is a measure of distribution, spread, deviation and differentiation. As the differentiation between the values formed under certain conditions grows, the standard deviation grows, and as the differentiation reduces, it reduces as well. Therefore, as the sigma value increases, the cost and cycle time decrease and customer satisfaction increases.
Lean
2. Due to the shortage in resources experienced in Japan after World War II, the leaders of Toyota Motor Company, Eiji Toyoda, Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo, established a manufacturing discipline. These “production oriented” systems is known as the “Toyota Production System”, or “Lean Production”. In 1990s, the manufacturing companies in the US agreed upon the opinion that the main difference between them and the Japanese was “efficiency”. Lean Manufacturing has revealed the most important points that need to be improved in industry in the next 10 years in the US.
Six Sigma
6 Sigma, a measurement method discovered by Carl Frederick Gauss (1777 – 1885), was started to be used in statistical control graphs by Walter Shewhart in 1920, to determine production variables. In 1980s, Bob Galvin from Motorola decided to measure the errors at 1,000,000 instead of 1,000. In this way, Motorola has established a new standard. Along with this new standard or method, there has been a cultural change in the production industry. Larry Bossidy, the manager of Allied Signal (now Honeywell), and Jack Welch, the manager of General Electric Company, both played an important role in spreading this culture in the US. 6 Sigma Lean is the combination of the best experiences, improvements in production areas and customer satisfaction. 6 Sigma aims to improve performance, while lean production aims to reduce costs in 7 steps.
Six Sigma Lean Vision
It is a production style that brings together the world-class quality production and service, advantageous prices compared to competitors, performance at 6 Sigma level, and zero loss in all areas.
The Six Sigma Lean Philosophy
It means establishing a system that will eliminate errors in all areas of the process, reduce costs and increase efficiency.
6 Sigma aims to improve performance, while lean production aims to reduce costs in 7 steps.
Lean Transformation
Lean 6 Sigma, which has emerged by combining two separate concepts as “Lean” and “6 Sigma”, provides standardization in improving quality and achieving a specific economic gain. This approach, which systematically effects cost reduction by preventing waste, also makes production processes leaner. The main goals of Lean 6 Sigma, which significantly increases quality with a maximum error rate of 3.4 per million, are to increase efficiency by minimizing the error rate and to increase customer satisfaction by streamlining all business processes. The Lean 6 Sigma approach, which is based not only on detecting and fixing errors but also on configuring all systems in a way that they do not cause any errors, reduces costs to a minimum and maximizes profits. The waste reduction target, which constitutes the driving force of the system, offers important opportunities to improve cost, quality and delivery times. Lean Manufacturing focuses on identifying and eliminating the “seven” wastes involved in the processes, by using a just-in-time production system. The Lean 6 Sigma method follows the DMAIC road map, which is actually the traditional 6 Sigma steps. DMAIC, considered as the most effective method so far, directs the relevant teams to implement the following steps using the data.
- Verifying the nature and scope of the problem,
- Defining the real causes of the problems by identifying them,
- Creating solutions based on evidences, and
- Establishing procedures that protect these solutions even after the project is completed.
