Innovating Lean Six Sigma: A Strategic Guide to Deploying the World's Most Effective Business Improvement Process

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What’s First?

The Big Four Questions That Shape a Deployment

The headlines around Lean Six Sigma almost always involve big deployments that have been spectacularly successful: Caterpillar’s 2001 Annual Report, for example, noted that in the first year of deployment, its gains from Six Sigma were already more than twice the implementation costs. By its 2002 Annual Report, Caterpillar was reporting net free cash flow of $645 million in its machinery and engine operations, attributed to Six Sigma. Eli Lilly and Company reported, “We exceeded our goal of $250 million in benefit from Six Sigma in 2006, and that is on track to double in 2007.” The ...