Lean Six Sigma is a hybrid of the Lean methodology and the Six Sigma approach and it is designed to provide the most favorable outcomes and answers to the most severe challenges within a given setup. Lean Six Sigma programs are focused on identifying faults that may cause a process to deviate from its intended path, while also minimizing as much waste as possible within the process. The Lean approach is primarily concerned with reducing inefficient operations and removal of waste in a process while Six Sigma is concerned with quality improvement by identifying and eliminating the source of the challenges and verifying that the process is not adversely impacted by the elimination. Since Lean Six Sigma is a fact-based, data-driven philosophy, it places a higher priority on defect prevention than defect detection in quality improvement. The reduction of waste, variance, and cycle time, as well as the promotion of work standardization and flow, leads to increased customer satisfaction as well as improved bottom-line outcomes, thus in effect establishing a competitive edge. It applies whenever there is a variance or waste, and it should be implemented with the participation of all employees. In order to achieve economic savings through process improvement, every Lean Six Sigma project that is proposed must follow strict procedures and have well-stated objectives. If the defects are identified by Lead Six Sigma, these defects can eventually result in dissatisfied consumers and an eventual loss of clients for an organization in the long run.
