Lean Six Sigma For Dummies (4^th Ed.)

Become a process improvement star with Lean Six Sigma! 

Thinking Lean? Not in terms of weight loss, but operational efficiency? Then you can get into the Lean mindset with Lean Six Sigma For Dummies.  A popular process improvement strategy used in many corporations, Lean Six Sigma exemplifies eliminating waste and optimizing flow at an operational level. With the strategies outlined in this book, you?ll have your projects, team, and maybe even your organization running at peak efficiency. 

Written by two experts that have been teaching Lean Six Sigma for over 20 years, Lean Six Sigma For Dummies explains the jargon surrounding this organizational practice, outlines the key principles of both Lean thinking and the Six Sigma process, and breaks it all down into easy-to-follow steps. 

• Use Lean Six Sigma to develop a culture of continuous improvement 
• Complete repetitive tasks through robotic process automation 
• Assess how well your company and employees adapt to Lean Six Sigma 
• Discover tips on how to implement Lean Six Sigma every day 
• Find best practices to sustain ongoing improvements 

With handy checklists and helpful advice, Lean Six Sigma For Dummies shows you how to implement Lean Six Sigma in any industry, within any size organization. Pick up your copy to successfully lean into the Lean Six Sigma mindset yourself.  

Introduction 1

Part 1: Understanding Lean Six Sigma 5

Chapter 1: Defining Lean Six Sigma 7

Chapter 2: Understanding the Principles of Lean Six Sigma 27

Part 2: Lean Six Sigma Foundations 43

Chapter 3: Identifying Your Process Customers 45

Chapter 4: Understanding Your Customers’ Needs 55

Chapter 5: Understanding the Process 73

Chapter 6: Managing People and Change 97

Part 3: Understanding Performance and Analyzing the Process 109

Chapter 7: Gathering Data 111

Chapter 8: Presenting Your Data 133

Chapter 9: Identifying Root Causes 153

Chapter 10: Identifying Non-Value-Adding Steps and Waste 167

Chapter 11: Getting the Process to Flow 179

Part 4: Improving and Innovating 191

Chapter 12: Thinking Differently and Generating Solutions 193

Chapter 13: Discovering the Opportunity for Prevention 203

Chapter 14: Introducing Design for Six Sigma 217

Chapter 15: Discovering Design Thinking 235

Chapter 16: Applying Agile to Lean Six Sigma Projects 247

Part 5: Deploying Lean Six Sigma and Making Change Happen 257

Chapter 17: Running Rapid Improvement Events and Solving Problems with DMAIC 259

Chapter 18: Ensuring Everyday Operational Excellence 269

Chapter 19: Leading the Deployment and Selecting the Right Projects 279

Chapter 20: Putting It All Together: Checklists to Support Your DMAIC Project 297

Part 6: The Part of Tens 311

Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Best-Practice Project Storyboards 313

Chapter 22: Ten Pitfalls to Avoid 319

Chapter 23: Ten (Plus One) Places to Go for Help 327

Index 335

Martin Brenig-Jones is CEO of Catalyst Consulting, Europe’s leading Lean Six Sigma solutions provider. He has 30 years of experience in Quality and Change Management.

Jo Dowdall has 21 years of experience as a Continuous Improvement profes­sional, coach, trainer, and advocate. She is an accomplished Quality Manager and Master Black Belt.