1. Benefits of Lean Six Sigma
I have personally have seen that senior management in many organizations view Lean Six Sigma
as another quality improvement initiative or flavor of the month. We are often told by many
engineers and managers in small and big companies that there is nothing really new in Lean Six
Sigma compared to other quality initiatives we have witnessed in the past.
In response, I often ask a simple question to people in organizations who practice total quality
management (TQM), 'what do you understand by the term TQM?' We often get many varying
answers to this question. However, if we ask a bunch of Lean Six Sigma practitioners, 'what do
you know of the term Six Sigma?' we often get an answer which means more or less the same
thing that we would have expected. In my opinion, the following aspects of the Six Sigma
business strategy are not accentuated in previous quality improvement initiatives:
Organizations adopting Six Sigma business strategy will have the following benefits:
- Effective management decisions due to heavy reliance on data and facts instead of gut-feelings
and hunches. Hence costs associated with firefighting and misdirected problem-solving efforts
with no structured or disciplined methodology could be significantly reduced.
- Increased understanding of customer needs and expectations, especially the critical-to-quality
(CTQ) service performance characteristics which will have the greatest impact on customer
satisfaction and loyalty.
- Increased cash flow by making processes more efficient and reliable.
- Improved knowledge across the organization on various tools and techniques for problem-
solving, leading to greater job satisfaction for employees.
- Reduced number of non-value-added operations through systematic elimination, leading to
faster delivery of service, faster lead time to production, faster cycle time to process critical
performance characteristics to customers and stakeholders, etc.
- Reduced variability in process performance, product capability and reliability, service delivery
and performance, leading to more predictable and consistent level of product quality and service
performance.
- Transformation of organizational culture from being reactive to proactive thinking or mindset.
- Created new customer opportunities, improved market position relative to competitors, etc.
- Improved internal communication between departments, groups, etc.
- Lean Six Sigma creates an infrastructure of Champions, Master Black Belts (MBBs), Black
Belts (BBs) and Green Belts (GBs) that lead, deploy and implement the approach.

2. - Lean Six Sigma emphasizes the importance of data and decision-making based on facts and
data rather than assumptions and hunches!
- Lean Six Sigma utilizes the concept of statistical thinking and encourages the application of
well-proven statistical tools and techniques for defect reduction through process variability
reduction methods (e.g. statistical process control, Value Stream Mapping, and design of
experiments).
Steven Bonacorsi is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt instructor and
coach. Steven Bonacorsi has trained hundreds of Master Black Belts, Black Belts,
Green Belts, and Project Sponsors and Executive Leaders in Lean Six Sigma
DMAIC and Design for Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodologies.
Process Excellence Network
Steven Bonacorsi, President of International Standard for Lean Six Sigmac(ISLSS)
Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
47 Seasons Lane
Londonderry, NH 03053
Phone: +(1) (603) 401-7047
E-mail: sbonacorsi@islss.com
Process Excellence Network
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