Summary

The improve stage is really crucial as it is at this stage that the remedial actions to address the process are taken. The real transformative power of Lean Six Sigma should be felt at this stage. This is where creativity and innovation is most important; ideas are generated, discussed, and prioritized. Indeed, a broad consensus is essential for the improvements to be really effective, but discussion and debate are nevertheless healthy and useful in idea generation. Unlike the measure and analyze stages, the tools used in this stage are not statistical in nature but are broad, taking a holistic perspective of the involved systems and processes. This is crucial because if the solutions are not holistic, there may be serious negative side effects in other areas, which would ultimately reduce the effectiveness of the improvement. Quite often, because of the cost and effort involved, the solutions are first implemented as a pilot in a selected area under controlled conditions. Learning...