Lean Six Sigma For Dummies, 4th Edition

Lean Six Sigma For Dummies, 4th Edition

by Martin Brenig-Jones, Jo Dowdall
Released November 2021
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119796718

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Book description

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.  

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Foolish Assumptions
    3. Icons Used In This Book
    4. Beyond This Book
    5. Where to Go From Here
  5. Part 1: Understanding Lean Six Sigma
    1. Chapter 1: Defining Lean Six Sigma
      1. Introducing Lean Thinking
      2. Sussing Six Sigma
      3. Adding More to the Mix
    2. Chapter 2: Understanding the Principles of Lean Six Sigma
      1. Considering the Key Principles of Lean Six Sigma
      2. Improving Existing Processes: Introducing DMAIC
      3. Reviewing Your DMAIC Phases
      4. Taking a Pragmatic Approach
  6. Part 2: Lean Six Sigma Foundations
    1. Chapter 3: Identifying Your Process Customers
      1. Understanding the Process Basics
      2. Getting a High-Level Picture
    2. Chapter 4: Understanding Your Customers’ Needs
      1. Considering Kano
      2. Obtaining the Voice of the Customer
      3. Researching the Requirements
      4. Avoiding Bias
      5. Considering Critical To Quality Customer Requirements
      6. Establishing the Real CTQs
    3. Chapter 5: Understanding the Process
      1. Finding Out How the Work Gets Done
      2. Painting a Picture of the Process
    4. Chapter 6: Managing People and Change
      1. Getting into the Grey Matter
      2. Gaining Acceptance
      3. Sizing Up the Status Quo
      4. Coping with Change
      5. Creating the Vision
      6. Busting Assumptions
  7. Part 3: Understanding Performance and Analyzing the Process
    1. Chapter 7: Gathering Data
      1. Managing by Fact
      2. Developing a Data Collection Plan
    2. Chapter 8: Presenting Your Data
      1. Delving into Different Types of Variation
      2. Recognizing the Importance of Control Charts
    3. Chapter 9: Identifying Root Causes
      1. Unearthing the Suspects
      2. Generating Your List of Suspects
      3. Confirming the Causes
    4. Chapter 10: Identifying Non-Value-Adding Steps and Waste
      1. Defining Value-Adding
      2. Looking at the Eight Wastes
    5. Chapter 11: Getting the Process to Flow
      1. Applying the Theory of Constraints
      2. Managing the Production Cycle
      3. Looking at Your Layout
  8. Part 4: Improving and Innovating
    1. Chapter 12: Thinking Differently and Generating Solutions
      1. Getting Immersed in Ideas
      2. Prioritizing the Ideas
      3. Testing the Ideas to See What Will Fly
    2. Chapter 13: Discovering the Opportunity for Prevention
      1. Looking at Prevention Tools and Techniques
      2. Workplace Organization
      3. Using Visual Management
      4. Profiting from Preventive Maintenance
      5. Avoiding Peaks and Troughs
      6. Building in Business Process Robotics
    3. Chapter 14: Introducing Design for Six Sigma
      1. Introducing DfSS
      2. Introducing DMADV
      3. Defining What Needs Designing
      4. Considering Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
      5. Making Decisions
    4. Chapter 15: Discovering Design Thinking
      1. The Principles of Design Thinking
      2. Comparing DMADV and Design Thinking
      3. Walking through the Design Thinking Steps
      4. Deciding on Design Thinking
    5. Chapter 16: Applying Agile to Lean Six Sigma Projects
      1. Understanding Agile Principles
      2. Embracing an Agile Mindset
      3. Succeeding in the Scrum
      4. Capitalizing on Kanbans
      5. Combining Agile and Lean Six Sigma
  9. Part 5: Deploying Lean Six Sigma and Making Change Happen
    1. Chapter 17: Running Rapid Improvement Events and Solving Problems with DMAIC
      1. Raving about Rapid Improvement
      2. Understanding the Facilitator’s Role
      3. Creating a Checklist for Running Successful Events
      4. Practicing Problem Solving
    2. Chapter 18: Ensuring Everyday Operational Excellence
      1. Standardizing the Process
      2. Making Everyday Operational Excellence a Reality
      3. Understanding Organizational Culture
    3. Chapter 19: Leading the Deployment and Selecting the Right Projects
      1. Considering Key Factors for Successful Deployment
      2. Understanding Executive Sponsorship
      3. Considering Size and Sector
      4. Recognizing the Important Role of Managers
      5. Introducing the Deployment Program Manager
      6. Starting Your Lean Six Sigma Program
      7. Understanding What Project Sponsors Do
      8. Driving Strategy Deployment with Lean Six Sigma
      9. Generating a List of Candidate Improvement Projects
      10. Deciding Whether Lean Six Sigma Is the Right Approach
      11. Setting Up a DMAIC Project
    4. Chapter 20: Putting It All Together: Checklists to Support Your DMAIC Project
      1. Defining the Project
      2. Moving into the Measure Phase
      3. Analyzing to Identify Root Causes
      4. Quantifying the Opportunity
      5. Identifying and Planning the Improvements
      6. Confirming the Customer and Business Benefits
      7. Implementing the Solutions and Controlling the Process
      8. Conducting the Final Benefit Review
  10. Part 6: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Best-Practice Project Storyboards
      1. Keep It Brief
      2. Make It Visual
      3. Make It Flow
      4. Weave the Story Together with a Golden Thread
      5. Keep It Up to Date as You Go Along
      6. Don't Forget the “Happily Ever After” Part
      7. Keep It Simple
      8. Develop a One-Page Summary
      9. Reflect on the Lessons Learned
      10. Share, Share, Share!
    2. Chapter 22: Ten Pitfalls to Avoid
      1. Jumping to Solutions
      2. Coming Down with Analysis Paralysis
      3. Falling into Common Project Traps
      4. Stifling the Program Before You’ve Started
      5. Ignoring Change Management
      6. Getting Complacent
      7. Thinking That You’re Already Doing It
      8. Believing the Myths
      9. Doing the Wrong Things Right
      10. Overtraining
    3. Chapter 23: Ten (Plus One) Places to Go for Help
      1. Your Colleagues
      2. Your Sponsor
      3. Other Organizations
      4. The Internet
      5. Social Media
      6. Networks and Associations
      7. Conferences
      8. Books
      9. Periodicals
      10. Software
      11. Training and Consulting Companies
  11. Index
  12. About the Authors
  13. Connect with Dummies
  14. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Lean Six Sigma For Dummies, 4th Edition
  • Author(s): Martin Brenig-Jones, Jo Dowdall
  • Release date: November 2021
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119796718