De-mystifying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) for Supply Chain and Purchasing Professionals

De-mystifying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) for Supply Chain and Purchasing Professionals

            Many supply chain and purchasing professionals are intimidated by Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and its proponents. Relax; it is just a disciplined approach to problem solving. It uses many tools that have been around for years and the tools have just been cleverly repackaged by consultants. Decisions are data based, disciplined and plodding. Without top-down commitment, it is doomed to fail. Make sure you secure this executive commitment, and better yet make participation a strong criterion for individual performance reviews (raises). Projects should be selected by ROI and since much time and teams are required for a project, they must return or save at least $300,000 to qualify as a full blown LSS project.

            Supply Chain and purchasing professionals must be involved in sourcing the LSS consultant. Experience is critical and a proven track record of project success essential. Get references and insist on examples of work. Use a fixed hourly rate and make sure all developed training and projects remain your property. You can try to make the contract performance based but many LSS firms will not agree to this. Make the goal to be self-sufficient internally within two years with all LSS training and projects.

            Some projects that have been done in purchasing and the supply chain are: inventory cost, part obsolescence prevention, lead-time reduction, backlogs, unexpected orders, customer service internal and external, cost of schedule changes, transaction flows, cost of return product, and supply chain optimization. Many of these involve process mapping which is a type of flow chart that illustrates how things are done and identifies areas of strength or weakness. LSS is not the only tool that can be used by supply management professionals for improvement. In my experience LSS should be used when the potential savings is great and you have some good data to analyze. If you do not have good data the LSS project will take even longer.  If data is sparse, the Lean approach is much preferred which is highly visual, intuitive and does not require as much data.

            Always Lean a process before your use LSS. By this I mean eliminate any redundant steps in the process that can be easily eliminated first. Reduce the number of variables in the process. Try to understand the voice of the customer (VOC) clearly before your start process improvement. Remember if the customer does not really care or value a process step; ask yourself, “Why are we doing it?”

            Finally use kaizens for straight forward less complicated projects. The kaizen approach is usually done by the work team using the process and strives to eliminate waste in the process. The new kaizen improved process should then be quickly implemented. Supply chain and purchasing professionals must take the leadership role in LSS, Lean and kaizens.  In my professional experience, the rewards of these approaches can be astounding. They do however require a measured and disciplined approach, and a commitment to not giving up!

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