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| Business process improvement - Lean and Six Sigma | ||||||
Until recently, the concept of lean working was largely confined to
commercial companies. However, with the potential business benefits now widely acknowledged, public sector
organisations are adopting both Lean and Six Sigma techniques to deliver
efficiency and improve service. Our approach Lean working provides a set of tools and techniques
designed to reduce and eliminate waste or "non-value" activity in any
given process. Improving a process can lead to significant efficiencies and
service improvements. There are five principles that underpin the use of Lean:
Amtec adopts the DMAIC approach, which is underpinned by a number of best
practice tools. This approach is applied systematically to the core processes of
any organisation:
Six Sigma is also focused on process improvement, but tends to be data-driven
and is concerned with eliminating defects in the process. By comparison, Lean is
more visual and more aligned to mapping core processes as a means of identifying
value and, in particular, non-value aspects of any given process. Unlike Lean,
there is a formal accreditation of Six Sigma professionals rising from Yellow
Belt to Master Black Belt. Ideally, a process improvement project would use the tools available from
both disciplines and this is Amtec's preferred approach. There is increasing
convergence between the two techniques, with the concept of Lean Sigma fast
becoming the adopted term used by clients and practitioners alike. Don't get
taken in by jargon - both are tools to support performance improvement and in
Amtec's experience (and the documented case studies of others) do so to good
effect. | Benefits of our approach Tools such as Lean will by their nature result in change and impact upon
service organisation and delivery. Lean working should not be seen by staff as
something that is "done to them", but as a technique that they can
deploy to bring about real improvement in the way they deliver services. While
many organisations try and turn process improvement tools, such as Lean and Six
Sigma, into a science and "black art", Amtec seeks to apply the
principles in a practical way, ensuring that the skills can be readily
transferred to staff. More information ...
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