We do not offer scheduled training events for White or Yellow Belts. We can, however, schedule this level of training to be conducted, providing there are enough interested people. If you are interested in White Belt or Yellow Belt training, please contact us for additional information here or call 1-800-961-9479.

No. We typically schedule training events in cities that have a high interest in our services. Keep in mind that we are willing to setup training sessions at any client location provided there are at least 5 people that will attend. Please check our current training schedule by location here, or contact us for more information ([email protected] / 1-800-961-9479.)

Our application of Lean Six Sigma allows us to work across all industries. We have worked in everything from manufacturing to government. Whether you’re interested in defining work flows, developing new processes, or implementing cost savings projects, LSSE can help. Our wide range of experience has made us well suited for adapting to any field of work. Some examples of our customers can be found here.

Yes we can. We are experts in identifying current state processes and will help define them with you. We are also willing to partner with you to take on the tough process of creating a future state. We can be there every step of the way from setting the stage for change to sustaining a long term continuous improvement culture.

Absolutely. Our consultants have extensive backgrounds in process development. Whether it’s documenting and defining your new process or working with you to achieve process capability, LSSE can help.

Design for Six Sigma is a methodology for developing a new process or redesigning an existing process with the intent of reducing the chance of defects to 3.4 per million. This is a Six Sigma process capability. When designing a process for Six Sigma, you will apply tools like DOE and regression up front in order to identify the critical inputs that will control your output.

The benefits of using Design for Six Sigma include:

• Lower process variation, which means more predictability
• Fewer defects
• Lower operating costs due to a decreased need for inspection

Lean and Six Sigma are both improvement tools that can be applied to any field of work. The tools used in Lean allow you to identify waste and will help you minimize or eliminate them in order to reduce lead time. By reducing your lead time you will lower your operating costs.

Six Sigma can be used to identify the causes of variation in your process and give you the tools needed to control the input variables. By applying Six Sigma you can greatly reduce your defect rate, which will increase your throughput.

Lean Process Improvement is a set of principles, concepts and techniques used to improve processes. It focuses on continuously reducing waste. This improvement effort relies on the people who do the work to make the improvements, significantly enhancing an organizations ability to deliver more value to its customers.

The key philosophy of Lean is to improve services and processes continuously without adding more money, more people, more equipment, more inventory or more space.

Read more about Lean in our blog post; "What is Lean?"

Waste takes many forms and can be found at any time and in any process. There is the waste of complexity, labor (unnecessary motion), over production, use of space, energy consumption, defects, materials, time and transportation. Traditionally there are seven process wastes identified by Lean:

1. Transportation
2. Inventory (Excessive)
3. Motion
4. Waiting
5. Over production
6. Over processing
7. Defects

Sometimes an eight waste is added and that’s the waste of not recognizing and using the skills and experience of the people working in a process. This is an insidious waste we often find in organizations.

Read our blog post "8 Lean Process Wastes"

One of the important advantages of being a "lean" organization is enhanced customer satisfaction. A lean producer or service provider knows exactly what the customer wants, when the customer wants it, and produces just that at the lowest cost.

Read more about Lean in our blog post; "What is Lean?"

A common myth about Lean is that it is applicable only on the factory floor. Lean techniques are appropriate for almost any process, there is always waste to be found. The key principles are the same for all process improvements: identify what the customer wants, eliminate all waste from the process, make the value flow continuously, as pulled by the customer, and then work toward perfection.

The staff at Lean Six Sigma Experts have used Lean Six Sigma concepts and tools to achieve the same dramatic results found in factory in a variety of office environments. So we can confidently say that Lean, if properly applied, can be a game changers for service providers and knowledge work processes.

Read our blog post; "Lean Six Sigma: Not Just for Manufacturing"

A process improvement program is a way of improving customer satisfaction, making work easier while reducing costs, and increasing efficiency. The goal of using Lean is to improve performance and create more value for the organization by eliminating waste —not people— in processes and work areas. In due course, as waste is eliminated there are more opportunities and better job security for all employees.

Lean improvements to work processes come from the people working in the processes. If an organization uses Lean to get rid of people, it will be killing the goose laying the golden eggs. The improvements, if any, will be short-lived and the organization will soon face bigger problems than before it started Lean.

Think of process improvement efforts as a journey. It's not something you start and complete in specific period of time. If you say we will be Lean by certain date you may be missing the point of “continuous improvement”. This does not mean that there are not milestones to reach along the journey but continuous improvement does not end if you truly want to provide your customers the best possible products and services.

Probably. There are organizations that have implemented Lean successfully without the help of a consultant, but not many. Those that have, were extremely committed and dedicated a great deal of resources to the implementation. Their success is hard won and many of the lessons they learn along the way are learned the hard way. Without outside help, it will take longer, the road will be bumpier and even staunch advocates will be more frustrated than they would be with the right help.

To learn more, read our White Paper; "Build Internal Capability or Hire External Consultants?"

A Kaizen Event is a short (3-5 days) but intense improvement effort on a specific process or a part of a specific process. It is a team (6-9 people) event in which the team members are dedicated fulltime to using their collective experience and expertise to eliminate waste in the problem space. The outcome of a kaizen event is a better process by the end of event timeline.

Like a kaizen event a Process Improvement Project is a team effort to create a better process. However, a project has a wider scope, may require additional resources, and can take much longer. A project’s outcome is often driven by specific organizational goals, with specific deliverables outlined. Kaizen events are also tied to organizational goals but their impact is less and in line with the kaizen philosophy of small steps for the better.

There is. There is plenty of general information that can be found on the internet and in books. This information tends to be generic and often it is difficult to see how it is applicable to your organization. This information is a good starting point.

The best way to learn about Lean and other process improvement approaches is to get in touch with people who have been there and done that.

The staff of Lean Six Sigma Experts are such people and we do not say that lightly. Our staff is experienced in applying Lean and Six Sigma in a wide range of industries and organizations.