Packed with Knowledge !

So often in corporate life, profit is generated when you learn how to have your cake and eat it, too. Well, pick up a fork. Author Michael L. George shows you how to apply both Lean and Six Sigma to your service operation so you can accomplish goals you may have thought were mutually exclusive: work faster and increase quality. A Lean Six Sigma expert, the author deftly explains how most service operations are sitting on a potential treasure trove of cost savings. He uses real-world case studies involving the likes of Lockheed Martin and Bank One. The key to the cake cupboard, however, is listening to the voice of your customers and faithfully addressing their perspective about your service. We highly recommend this comprehensive volume to any service organization that wants to become simultaneously leaner, better and friendlier in the eyes of its customers.

Michael George has opened my eyes

I have heard Six-Sigma discussed often, but truly thought it was something that applied to manufacturing only. Same with Lean: Kanban, Toyota, JIT. I am a manager in a professional services industry. So, outside of memorizing the theory for exams during B-School, I thought little more of Six-Sigma.

Michael George has opened my eyes. He points out (in a non-technical way) both the differences in Lean and Six Sigma, and how they complement each other. He does this through some description of the Lean and Six-Sigma techniques, and follows up with some revealing case studies, how Lean and Six-Sigma tools can apply to services.

Six-Sigma brings an awful lot to the table. Six-Sigma was the backbone of Jack Welch's eye-popping success at GE, shaving hundreds of millions off of the company's cost structure. A proscribed series of steps, Six-Sigma's customer focused methodology (DMAIC) allows the practitioner, generally referred to as Green or Black Belts, to rationally Define a problem, Measure it, Analyze the causes, make adjustments to Improve the problem, and ultimately Control the corrected process. In each of these steps, Six-Sigma deploys standard tools that help the practitioner ensure that processes are producing standardized outputs well within specs. The result, if implemented correctly, is higher quality output. Increased quality= less quality costs (scrap, customer returns) =increased margins.

Lean is largely managing processes to increase the velocity of them. Increased velocity means less work in process (WIP). Lean means determining which activities are value added, and which are not. Then, you get rid of the bathwater and keep the baby.

When the two methodologies are combined, you have greater velocity (product turns), less inventory in the pipeline and processes that build value for the customer (Lean Concepts). You also have measurable quality standards that are continually fine tuning the processes, honing in on fitting more and more perfectly the specs desired by consumers. This reduces quality costs dramatically (Six Sigma Concepts).

George follows up with some interesting case studies of how Black and Green Belts have worked to improve processes in Lockheed-Martin, Bank One and, most interesting of all, the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana (Yes, Virginia, if there is rationality in government, there just may be a Santa Claus!). I would have liked to see more of the technical aspects: A case study from the problem definition phase through control, how the various Lean and Six Sigma tools were applied instead of the macro-level explanations of before and after.

I liked the book well enough. It gave me an overview, and an idea of how to implement the tools. However, I would have appreciated some down and dirty, nuts and bolts how-to. After all, the book jacket promises to teach you how to shave dollars from the bottom line. Still, an invaluable, thought provoking read for any manager in a service industry. You may want to pick up "Business Process Mapping" by Jacka and Keller, and "Statistics for Six-Sigma Made Easy" by Brussee to familiarize yourself with the nuts and bolts of Six-Sigma Quality tools.

Interesting integration of Lean and 6-Sigma

The author has established his credentials with a number of books on both lean manufacturing (a Toyota innovation) and 6-Sigma, with a body of work that spans and integrates both approaches. This is the first book I've come across that employs lean principles in services, and is unique in that it integrates 6-Sigma as well.

The approach set forth is achievable if there is management commitment to perform. The benefits of using this hybrid approach are clearly and realistically communicated in the book, with possible benefits in best case scenarios of up to 50% reduction in delivery time, with cost reduction in near the same range, and resource efficiency attainment of up to 20%. On the other hand, the author also communicates that attaining these efficiencies requires an investment in training, organization and process reengineering, so this book is realistic about what it will take to implement the hybrid lean/6-Sigma approach.

I like the details and practical advice, combined with concepts and a touch of theory, and the lack of what I consider to be hype. If you understand either lean principles or 6-Sigma - or better, are practicing one or the other - the information in this book becomes all the more valuable because significant barriers to attainment have already been breached. If you are attempting either approach for the first time, this book will show you what is possible in the future as your chosen initiative (lean or 6-Sigma) stabilizes and starts producing a positive ROI.

This is an excellent addition to the body of knowledge related to service delivery in any industry or discipline, as well as service level management. Even if you use this book for ideas instead of implementing a major improvement initiative you will find many opportunities to better serve your customers.