Synergies of Lean Six Sigma

This paper analyzes two popular process improvement methodologie - Lean and Six Sigma - to compare and contrast the differences and commonalities which can lead to a successful continuous improvement program. The views of Lean and Six Sigma professionals across financial services, healthcare, hospitality and ITES sectors were studied and analyzed for understanding the real-time challenges of corporates in the current markets for quality deployment. The study was conducted using surveys, interviews and case studies. The scope of the study is restricted to transaction-based service organizations. Lean being an on-floor improvement technique and Six Sigma a popular statisticalbased methodology are looked at from a focused perspective for developing a hybrid methodology. Lean Six Sigma model is proposed in the paper for successful deployment. The model is further tested for acceptability as a proposal of usage for process improvement professionals and proved successful with an acceptance rate of 98.8%. The paper also presents important failure modes of Lean Six Sigma deployment, its advantages and points of caution.