How can you measure the impact of waste reduction in Lean Six Sigma?

1 What is waste in Lean Six Sigma?

Waste, or muda, is any activity or resource that does not add value to the customer or the process. Waste can be classified into eight types: overproduction, waiting, transportation, inventory, motion, over-processing, defects, and skills. These types of waste can cause delays, rework, scrap, excess inventory, wasted energy, and dissatisfaction among customers and employees. By identifying and eliminating waste, you can streamline your process, optimize your resources, and deliver more value to your customers.

3 How to measure waste in Lean Six Sigma?

Once you have identified the waste in your process, you need to measure its impact on your performance and your goals. There are several metrics that can help you quantify waste, such as cycle time, lead time, takt time, throughput, inventory turnover, defect rate, yield, and sigma level. Cycle time is the time it takes to complete one unit of output. Lead time is the time it takes from receiving an order to delivering the product or service. Takt time is the rate at which you need to produce to meet customer demand. Throughput is the number of units of output produced per unit of time. Inventory turnover is the ratio of sales to inventory, indicating how efficiently you manage your stock. Defect rate is the percentage of units that do not meet the quality standards. Yield is the percentage of units that meet the quality standards. Sigma level is a measure of how well your process meets the customer specifications, based on the number of defects per million opportunities.

4 How to reduce waste in Lean Six Sigma?

After measuring the waste in your process, you need to implement solutions to reduce or eliminate it. There are several tools and techniques that can help you do this, such as kaizen, kanban, poka-yoke, and DMAIC. Kaizen is a philosophy of continuous improvement that involves small, incremental changes that improve quality and efficiency. Kanban is a visual system that controls the flow of work and materials, preventing overproduction and inventory. Poka-yoke is a method that prevents or detects errors, reducing defects and rework. DMAIC is a structured problem-solving approach that consists of five phases: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. DMAIC helps you define the problem, measure the current state, analyze the root causes, improve the process, and control the results.

5 How to communicate the impact of waste reduction in Lean Six Sigma?

The last step in Lean Six Sigma is to communicate the impact of your waste reduction efforts to your stakeholders, such as management, customers, employees, and suppliers. You need to show how your waste reduction initiatives have improved your key performance indicators, such as quality, cost, delivery, safety, and customer satisfaction. You also need to demonstrate how your waste reduction activities have aligned with your strategic objectives, such as increasing market share, reducing environmental footprint, or enhancing innovation. There are several tools and methods that can help you communicate the impact of waste reduction, such as dashboards, scorecards, reports, presentations, and stories. Dashboards and scorecards are visual tools that display the status and progress of your metrics and goals. Reports and presentations are formal documents that summarize and explain your results and achievements. Stories are informal narratives that illustrate and inspire your waste reduction journey.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?