Value Engineering Synergies with Lean Six Sigma

Chapter 3

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Methodology*

This chapter describes two methodological approaches to LSS. Some LSS proponents have asserted that no continuous process improvement methodology has “a more balanced approach or success than Lean Six Sigma.”^† In fact, the word Lean, when used as an adjective, often connotes a new and streamlined way of carrying out some activity using Lean principles. For example, Lean design has been defined as “the power to do less of what doesn’t matter and more of what does matter.”^‡

The first approach to LSS is the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) methodology. It is by far the most common. The steps in the DMAIC process are described in Section A and diagrammed in Figure 3.1. The LSS variant ...