Lean Six Sigma for Service

Lean Six Sigma for Service

by Michael George
Released July 2003
Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill
ISBN: 9780071436359

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Bring the miracle of Lean Six Sigma improvement out of manufacturing and into services

Much of the U.S. economy is now based on services rather than manufacturing. Yet the majority of books on Six Sigma and Lean--today's major quality improvement initiatives--explain only how to implement these techniques in a manufacturing environment.

Lean Six Sigma for Services fills the need for a service-based approach, explaining how companies of all types can cost-effectively translate manufacturing-oriented Lean Six Sigma tools into the service delivery process.

Filled with case studies detailing dramatic service improvements in organizations from Lockheed Martin to Stanford University Hospital, this bottom-line book provides executives and managers with the knowledge they need to:

  • Reduce service costs by 30 to 60 percent
  • Improve service delivery time by 50 percent
  • Expand capacity by 20 percent without adding staff

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Lean Six Sigma for Service
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction
  7. PART I Using Lean Six Sigma for Strategic Advantage in Service
    1. Chapter 1 The ROI of Lean Six Sigma for Services
      1. What Does Lean Six Sigma Mean for Services?
      2. Applying Lean Six Sigma to Services
      3. Why Services Are Full of Waste—and Ripe for Lean Six Sigma
      4. The Strategic Imperative of Investing in Lean Six Sigma
      5. Revenue Growth Drives Shareholder Value
      6. Conclusion
    2. Chapter 2 Getting Faster to Get Better (Why You Need Both Lean and Six Sigma)
      1. Defect-free Service: What Six Sigma has to offer
      2. Speed & Low Cost: What Lean can contribute
      3. A Lean Primer
      4. Basic Lean Lessons
      5. Service Example of "Hard" Lean Tools
      6. Why Does Lean Need Six Sigma?
      7. Why Does Six Sigma Need Lean?
      8. Blending Lean and Six Sigma to Optimize Service
      9. Success Story #1 Lockheed Martin
    3. Chapter 3 Seeing Services Through Your Customers' Eyes
      1. VOC Use #1: Strategic business decisions
      2. VOC Use #2: Product/service evaluation and design
      3. VOC Use #3: Process improvement and problem-solving
      4. VOC Use #4: Shaping job descriptions & skill sets around customer needs
      5. Conclusion
      6. Success Story #2 Bank One
    4. Chapter 4 Executing Corporate Strategy with Lean Six Sigma
      1. Applying Value-Based Management to Project Selection
      2. Stage 1: Identifying the Burning Platform of shareholder value creation
      3. Stage 2: Mapping the value streams
      4. Stage 3: Prioritizing projects (finding the Time Traps)
      5. Value Creation Through Acquisitions and Divestitures
      6. Conclusion
      7. Success Story #3 City of Fort Wayne, Indiana
    5. Chapter 5 The Value in Conquering Complexity
      1. Face-to-Face with the Cost of Complexity
      2. The Forces Driving Increased Service/Product Complexity
      3. Strategies for Reducing Complexity
      4. Calculating the Cost of Complexity
      5. Conclusion
      6. Success Story #4 Stanford Hospital and Clinics
  8. Part II Deploying Lean Six Sigma in Service Organizations
    1. Introduction
    2. Chapter 6 Phase 1: Readiness Assessment
      1. Readiness Step 1: Select the Champion
      2. Readiness Step 2: Establish a baseline snapshot
      3. Readiness Step 3: Interviews with top management
      4. Readiness Step 4: Engaging key influencers
      5. Readiness Step 5: Assessing the impact
      6. Conclusion
    3. Chapter 7 Phase 2: Engagement (Creating Pull)
      1. Examples of Engagement Strategies
      2. Education, Communication, and Involvement
      3. Rules of Engagement
      4. Conclusion: Starting off on the right foot
    4. Chapter 8 Phase 3: Mobilization
      1. Mobilization Goal #1: Commission an executive team
      2. Mobilization Goal #2: Create the infrastructure
      3. Mobilization Goal #3: Develop training
      4. Mobilization Goal #4: Select and charter first-wave projects
      5. Mobilization Goal #5: Reach consensus on common metrics
      6. Conclusion
    5. Chapter 9 Phase 4: Performance & Control
      1. Planning Ahead
      2. Avoiding the Pitfalls in Lean Six Sigma Deployment
      3. Vigilance: Warning signals and decelerators
      4. Conclusion: Achieving transformational change
  9. Part III Improving Services
    1. Chapter 10 Service Process Challenges
      1. Process Challenges in Service
      2. The Biggest Challenge in Service: Learning to recognize waste
      3. Running Projects in a Service Environment
      4. Conclusion
    2. Chapter 11 Using DMAIC to Improve Service Processes
      1. Project Chartering: The transition into Define
      2. Basic Elements of Define
      3. Basic Elements of Measure
      4. Basic Elements of Analyze
      5. Basic Elements of Improve
      6. Basic Elements of Control
      7. Improving Your Improvements
      8. Conclusion
    3. Chapter 12 First Wave Service Projects
      1. Case #1: Understanding the process
      2. Case #2: Blaming the visible part of the process
      3. Case #3: Turning a customer hassle into a delighter
      4. Case #4: Getting rid of backlog
      5. Case #5: It's not just WIP piling up
      6. Lessons We Can Learn
    4. Chapter 13 Raising the Stakes in Service Process Improvement
      1. Case #6: Gaining control over process complexity [a service Kaizen project]
      2. Case #7: Collaborating with internal customers
      3. Case #8: Improving response time on signature services
      4. Case #9: Cleaning up your workspace (a 5S+1 project)
      5. Case #10: Knowing what's here (and where it is)
      6. Case #11: Changing professional practice
      7. Case #12: Developing supplier relationships through Lean Six Sigma
      8. Lessons We Can Learn
    5. Chapter 14 Designing World-Class Services (Design for Lean Six Sigma)
      1. Designing Services with DMEDI
      2. Define
      3. Measure
      4. Explore
      5. Develop
      6. Implement
      7. Conclusion
  10. Index

Product information

  • Title: Lean Six Sigma for Service
  • Author(s): Michael George
  • Release date: July 2003
  • Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill
  • ISBN: 9780071436359