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Precincts of Lean Six Sigma: An Academic Perspective

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Precincts of Lean Six Sigma: An Academic Perspective
Ashok Patole *
Dr. B. E. Narkhede **
Dr. S. P. Deshmukh ***
Dr. K. Maduletty ****

Abstract 1. Introduction
Lean Six Sigma as a quality improvement methodology Many Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma projects
has been gaining considerable attention in recent years. begins with much fanfare. However, most of them
Understanding the key features, obstacles, precincts and
fizzle out within the first six months. The current trend
shortcomings of the Lean Six Sigma methodologies allows
suggests that most businesses have not been able to
organizations to better support their strategic directions,
capture or sustain the benefits of a lean transformation.
and increasing needs for coaching, mentoring, and training.
It also provides opportunities to better implement Lean Six
Lean manufacturing represents a fundamental change
Sigma projects. In this paper, an academic perspective on and most businesses have pursued change in a tactical
the subject is presented that highlighting the potential and manner. They must adopt effective strategies to pursue
possible limitations of Lean Six Sigma applications. Without this change. Since Jack Welch, the former chief
intermingling into the mechanics of the subject in detail, the executive officer of GE, popularized Six Sigma in the
points raised could be useful to those who are thinking on late 1990s, the business-management methodology
the appropriateness of Lean Six Sigma to their respective has had a profound impact [1]. Yet, amazingly, the
organizations. This paper also examines the evolution, majority of all corporate Six Sigma initiatives,
benefits, and challenges of Lean Six Sigma practices, eleven approximately 60 percent, fail to yield the desired
parameters that are to be taken care to avoid failure of results, according to Praveen Gupta, a noted author
Six Sigma or Lea Six Sigma and identified the key factors who has been involved with the methodology since
influencing successful six sigma project implementations. its origin in the 1980s.Amid rising concern regarding
It combines the lessons learned from successful six sigma
these failures, more corporations across multiple
projects and considers further improvements to the six sigma
industry sectors are now pulling back on their Six
approach.
Sigma initiatives, realizing that the methodology by
Key words: Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Precincts of itself is not the cure-all for corporate ills. At Home
Lean Six Sigma Depot, for example, former CEO Robert Nardelli was
ousted after his strict focus on Six Sigma negatively
* Ph.D. Scholar in the Department of Production affected worker morale and consumer sentiment. In
Engineering VJTI, Mumbai. the American Customer Satisfaction Index rankings,
E-mail Address: [email protected],
the company dropped from a top mark among major
** Associate Professor in the Department of Production retailers to the bottom in 2005. Profitability soared,
Engineering, VJTI, Mumbai. but the stock price plummeted. Examples shows that
E-mail Address: [email protected],
companies cannot focus on implementing Six Sigma
*** Associate Professor in the General Engineering Dept., in isolation (Cristopher Del Angel, Joe Froelich,
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.
2008). There are ways to avoid all this. However many
E-mail Address: [email protected]
people who introduce these initiatives, are less willing
**** Asst. Professor, National Institute of Industrial
to do what is really required to ensure success, which
Engineering, NITIE, Mumbai 400 087
[email protected] is highlighted in this paper.

Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 26

2. Major Reasons of Failure 2.3. Part-time Black Belts

The proceeds from a well-deployed Six Sigma Many of the organizations that fail to realize the true
initiative can be richly rewarding. The results of many impact of Six Sigma treat Black Belt positions as
business organizations stand in evidence to that. But part-time jobs. It is essential that Black Belts be full-
the opposite also is true. Many organizations have time positions. Black Belts require a lot of skill, both
technical as well as behavioral. The position needs to
started Six Sigma initiatives with much fanfare only to
concentrate full-time on improving the performances
have the deployment eventually fizzle out miserably.
in areas that are linked to strategic objectives of the
So what goes wrong? Why are there conflicting
organization. A typical return expected from each Black
experiences with Six Sigma initiatives? The answer
Belt project is several times that person’s annual salary,
lies in the basics of deployment. Major reasons which and a number of projects can be completed each year.
are critical to the failure of a Six Sigma deployment A part-time Black Belt is really only the equivalent of
are outlined as the eleven ways as shown in figure 1, a Green Belt. A business should select the best of its
The parameters influencing Lean Six Sigma project. people to undergo training and certification as Black
Belts. Black Belt positions should be used as a step in
2.1. Lack of Commitment from the Top
the grooming of the organization’s future leaders [3].
Commitment to Six Sigma from top leadership means
2.4. Projects Not Linked to Organizational
100 percent commitment or in other words walk-the-
Objectives
talk. Paying lip service or expressing support to the
initiative only in mailers or meetings is not sufficient. For Six Sigma to yield the benefits desired, projects
The commitment needs to be visible through actions. undertaken must be aligned to the strategic objectives
Top management should embrace the principles of of the company. A democratic approach does not
Six Sigma in such a manner that it becomes a way work here. Project selection must use a balance of
of life [3]. In many organizations, the CEO thinks that top-down and bottom-up approaches. Localized
Six Sigma is the responsibility of a select few Black improvements that are disconnected from the strategic
Belts and Master Black Belts. That is one sure route objectives could be more harmful than beneficial to the
toward a failed Six Sigma program. The Champion or organization.
deployment leader should have a fair knowledge about 2.5. Focusing on Quantity Instead of Quality
the methodology. A deployment leader who himself
does not know much about the methodology would Although a wider participation in a Six Sigma initiative,
hardly be expected to inspire confidence in others. especially at the start of the initiative is desirable,
this should not lead to the quality of projects being
2.2. Lack of Devotion from Middle Level sacrificed for quantity of projects. A large number of
Management projects completed might look good, but the impact
of the projects undertaken is much more important [2].
Martin C., Senior Quality Manager at BASF Fuel
Cell, believes the biggest change has to be in middle 2.6. No Review Mechanism
management. For all the programs of TQM, ISO, Six
Projects and the progress of the improvement initiative
Sigma and others, they have the attitude to ride the
if not reviewed regularly will lead to the momentum
wave until it passes. According to him, no problems
of the initiative fizzling out. Getting starting again
could be solved if middle managers gave information
would then be an uphill task. There should be a sound
as freely and timely as people networking do to grow
governance mechanism to ensure that the projects
their networks. In short, it is not only the program or get reviewed regularly and the projects progress in a
commitment by the CEOs, but it is also the middle timely manner [4]. Review committees should include
management manager’s play and duties. senior management.

Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 27

2.7. No Visible Reward and Recognition Mechanism 2.11. Expecting Too Much and Too Soon

There needs to be a visible reward and recognition While Six Sigma deserves the positive reputation it gets
mechanism to the initiative [5]. Rewards can be monetary from the larger returns it provides to the bottom-line,
as well as non-monetary like public recognition, it is not wise to expect too much from the very start of
certification, etc. Some organizations link incentives the initiative [9]. Like all major initiatives, it requires a
to the initiative. good amount of investment. This investment typically
starts giving significant returns about the third year.
2.8. No Infrastructural Support to Teams Working A business organization should not be discouraged if
on Projects returns are slow initially. Since Six Sigma is focused
Teams working on projects require a lot of support on reducing variation and improving performance and
in driving their projects. This means infrastructural is a system-oriented methodology, it takes time for the
support like statistical software, mentoring supports, returns to grow and stabilize. Expecting phenomenal
etc. Availability of these reduces a lot of difficulties results too soon may discourage top leadership and
that teams face during the life of their project [6]. result in those driving the initiative become defensive.
Organizations with deployment leadership that expect These are the major pitfalls that one needs to avoid
project teams will manage on their own are doomed to while deploying Six Sigma in an organization. If those
failure. deploying Six Sigma keep wary of these, the initiative
is likely to be much smoother and more successful.
2.9. Copy-and-Paste Deployment

Deployment of any initiative requires a lot of sensitivity LACK OF

COMMITME

toward an organization’s prevalent environment. Just a EXPECTING NT FROM LACK OF

TOO MUCH DEVOTION
TOP FROM MIDDLE

copy-and-paste kind of approach, wherein one reads a & TOO SOON LEVEL
MAGAGEMENT

book and tries to deploy, does not work. One needs to

COPY & Part-time
be cognizant of the specific needs of the organization PASTE
Black
DEPLOYMEN
and customize the deployment accordingly while T Belts

keeping the basics intact. Six Sigma is quite different MAJOR

from other methodologies like Kaizen, TQM, Quality TOO MUCH
FAILURE
Focusing on
REASONS
Circles, etc., hence requires a different approach. What
INSISTENCE Quanty
ON instead of

worked with these methodologies may not work for a

STATISTICS
Quality

Six Sigma deployment.

NO Projects not
INFRASTRU linked to
2.10. Too Much Insistence on Statistics and Tools CTURAL organizaon
al objecves
SUPPORT
NO VISIBLE No
Although Six Sigma as a methodology boasts a REWARD OF
RECOGNITIO
Review
Mechanis
multitude of robust statistical tools, one needs to be N

wary of getting trapped by these tools. The practitioner

Figure1. The parameters affecting Lean
needs to use these tools to drive improvement and not Six Sigma projects
the other way round. In fact, according to one survey,
60 to 70 percent of improvement projects do not require 3. Failure Mechanism of Lean Six
advanced statistical tools. While driving projects, the
larger goal of improvement and the essence of the
Sigma Project
methodology should be kept intact. Using tools just for Many companies have embraced Six Sigma, a quality-
the sake of using them because they are part of the Six control system designed to tackle problems such as
Sigma toolkit is not smart or efficient in terms of time production defects, and lean manufacturing, which
[8]
. Flexibility is important. aims to remove all processes that don’t add value to

Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 28

the final product. But many of those companies have Strain (ε ) = Giving up tendency of people in LSS
come across, less than the full satisfaction [7]. After projects.
studying process-improvement programs at large
(Ref: http://www.mathalino.com/reviewer/mechanics-and-
companies over a five-year period to gain insight into strength-of-materials/stress-strain-diagram/19012012
how and why so many of them fail, it is found that
when confronted with increasing stress over time, A closer look at the characteristics of improvement
these programs react in much the same way a metal projects at each of the three stages of the stress-
spring does when it is pulled with increasing force, that strain curve , stretching, yielding and failing, offers
is they progress though “stretching” and “yielding” lessons for executives seeking to avoid Six Sigma
phases before failing entirely. In engineering, this is failures ( Figure 3). The discussion that follows is
known as the “stress-strain curve,” and the length of based on what happened at one aerospace company
each stage varies widely by material, as sketched in that implemented more than 100 improvement
figure 2, stress strain curve of a MC structural steel. projects, only to determine less than two years later
that more than half had failed to generate lasting gains
Experimentally, a metal specimen be placed in tension- (Source: Satya S. Chakravorty, Caraustar professor of
compression-testing machine (just like green, black operations management at Kennesaw State University
belts and others employed in LSS projects); as the axial in Kennesaw, Ga. [email protected].)
load is gradually increased in increments, the total
elongation over the gauge length is measured at each 3.1 Stretching Phase
increment of the load (similar to physical and mental
When a metal spring is pulled initially, the material
condition of belts) and this is continued until failure
stretches to accommodate the increase in force between
of the specimen takes place. Knowing the original
points O to E shown in figure 2. In much the same way,
cross-sectional area and length of the specimen, the
the people involved in a process-improvement project
normal stress σ (priority, numbers and duration of
generally find themselves stretching and willing to
LSS projects) and the strain ε (giving up tendency of
tackle all necessary tasks in the early going. At the
people in LSS projects) can be obtained. The graph of
aerospace company, an improvement project typically
these quantities with the stress σ along the y-axis and
began with the formation of a team consisting of 10 to
the strain ε along the x-axis is called the stress-strain
18 members from various departments. A Six Sigma or
diagram or curve.
other improvement expert was assigned to the team to
guide and train them. At this stage, teams were excited
to learn and apply what they were being taught.

Team members collected data on their current working

environment and, with the help of the Six Sigma expert,
identified the changes they most needed to make to
achieve their stated goal, say a reduction in the rate
of defects in manufactured parts or fewer mistakes
in order writing and billing. The expert developed a
“to do” list that included action items, responsibilities
and deadlines and made sure needed resources were
available.
Figure 2 - Stress-Strain Curve of a medium-carbon
structural steel (To illustrate analogy with LSS projects) Because top executives were paying close attention
to the project at this stage, managers made clear to
Normal Stress (σ ) = Priority, numbers and duration of employees that the improvement initiative was their
LSS projects top priority. For example, producing error-free bills

Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 29

became more important than processing a certain bogged down trying to perform the statistical analysis
quantity of bills each day. While daily production previously handled by the expert. Some teams started
slipped initially when the team transitioned to the spending too much time on the improvement project,
new way of working, it improved when the group which affected their ability to meet production quotas
grew accustomed to the new process. When the team and other daily responsibilities. Amid the confusion
reached its goal, say it reduced billing errors by a and facing pressure from managers to keep up with day-
certain percentage; the improvement project was to-day duties, some team members started reverting to
declared a success. old habits. The team’s performance stopped improving
and, in some cases, started to regress.
The director who was spearheading the company’s Six
Sigma initiatives shared the teams’ achievements with When reporting on the status of their projects, teams
others in the company. Team members were given tried to make themselves look better by highlighting
rewards such as gift certificates to restaurants, and what they hoped to accomplish in the future, instead
their pictures appeared in the company newsletter. The of what they were accomplishing now. Some team
division vice president reported on the team’s success members became discouraged and started to doubt
to the company’s other vice presidents and to its top the benefits of the improvement strategies. The
executives. improvement director, whose salary and bonus
depended on the success of the company’s Six Sigma
3.2 Yielding Phase
initiatives, highlighted projects that were showing
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. If a metal great progress and ignored those that weren’t. As a
spring continues to be pulled, there will come a point result, company executives were unaware that some
when the material yields as it struggles to support the improvement teams were slowly starting to crack
increase in pressure, beyond point Y shown in figure under the pressure.
2. Though still intact, the spring becomes permanently
deformed, stretched out as the bonds between atoms
are broken and new ones formed.

Similarly, in the middle stage of an improvement

project, when the Six Sigma expert moves on to
another project and top management turns it focus to
another group of workers, implementation starts to
wobble, and teams may find themselves struggling to
maintain the gains they achieved early on.

With the departure of the Six Sigma expert, the teams

at the aerospace company lost their objective voice and
the person who performed the sophisticated statistical
analysis that allowed them to prioritize the tasks
that most affected performance, thus needed fixing
the most. Without the expert to rein them in, some
team members began pushing agendas that benefited
themselves and their departments, making it harder for Figure 3: Stress Strain Curve. (Data Collection and
the team to agree on new goals. analysis stopped prematurely for some of the projects, a
possible sign that the teams were unable to continue with
While teams at this stage continued to look for the process improvement) Source: Satya S. Chakravorty,
flaws in their current working environments, they got [email protected].

Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 30

3.3 Failing Stage each team on a full-time basis is too expensive, one
improvement expert could be assigned on a part-time
Over time, pulling will cause the material in one basis to several teams for an extended period of one
area of the metal spring to narrow, creating a neck to two years. Later, managers could be trained to take
that becomes smaller and smaller until it is unable over that role. Performance appraisals need to be to
to sustain any pressure at all. At that point, it breaks successful implementation of improvement projects.
into pieces. Similarly, at the final stage of a process- Studies point out that raises, even in small amounts,
improvement project, team members find themselves can motivate team members to embrace new, better
unable or reluctant to cope up improvement steps, work practices. Without such incentives, employees
and the effort ultimately fails. With the improvement often regress to their old ways of working once the
expert not available further and no additional training initial enthusiasm for Six Sigma dies down.
in Six Sigma or other improvement strategies provided
by the aerospace company, team members became Improvement teams should have no more than six to
increasingly discouraged by their failure to build on nine members, and the timeline for launching a project
earlier success. They ultimately stopped caring about should be no longer than six to eight weeks. The bigger
the improvement project, partly because it wasn’t tied the team, the greater the chance members will have
to their performance reviews. competing interests and the harder it will be for them
to agree on goals, especially after the improvement
As morale sagged, no one stepped forward to bear expert has moved on to a new project. And the longer
leadership of the improvement project, so the team lost it takes to implement improvements, the greater the
interest in looking for ways to improve their current chance people and resources will be diverted to other
work environment. The company allowed newly efforts. Executives are required to directly participate
formed improvement teams to simmer people and in improvement projects, not just “support” them.
resources from older teams, so the only improvements Because it was in his best interests, the director in
that were made were those related to safety, and even charge of the improvement projects at the aerospace
then, only the bare minimum was done. Members company created the illusion that everything was
steadily regress to their old ways of working, and great by communicating only about projects that were
the group’s performance returned to what it had yielding excellent results. By observing the successes
been before the project began. With projects failing and failures of improvement programs, rather than
despondently, many teams reported their achievements relying on someone else’s interpretation, executives
incorrectly, giving a false sense of success. Since the can make more accurate assessments as to which
director continued to communicate only about projects ones are worth continuing. Some of the major factors
that were showing excellent results, it took several affecting Lean Six Sigma projects are mentioned as
months for the division vice president to become aware given in table 1.
of the widespread failures and reluctantly inform the
company’s top executives. 5. Conclusion
If Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma fail, this is due
4. Lessons Learned to the lack of true senior management commitment,
Even though risk of failures is always present in either top or middle, and understanding of the change
complex lean manufacturing or six sigma projects, a process. Consequently the ultimate responsibility of
few of the lessons can definitely be learnt. the success or failure of any change program falls on
shoulders of the most senior leadership on the site.
The involvement of a Lean Six Sigma or other Eleven parameters that are to be taken care to avoid
improvement expert is required if teams are to remain failure of Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma and Key factors
motivated, continue learning and maintain gains [10]. affecting Lean Six Sigma project are mentioned here
If the cost of providing an improvement expert to are helpful for overall performance improvement.

Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 31

6. Acknowledgement 8. Michael E. Cusumano, “The limits of “Lean”,
Sloan Management Review, Summer 1994.
The authors are grateful to all the resources cited in
this paper. 9. Anne Hudson, “Why Six Sigma Projects Fail &
How to Prevent It”, CEO of Grouputer Solutions,
7. References [email protected]

1. Foster S.T., “Does Six Sigma improve 10. Peter Bruuna and Robert N. Mefford, “Lean
performance?”, Quality Management Journal production and the Internet”, Int. J. Production
2007, 14:7-20. Economics 89 (2004) 247–260.

2. George M.L., “Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six 11. Russell D. Lansbury, Byoung-Hoon Lee and
Sigma Quality with Lean Production Speed”, Seoghun Woo, “Technology, Human Resources
McGraw-Hill: Blacklick, OH, 2002. and International Competitiveness in the
Korean Auto Industry”, Conference on Science,
3. Hoerl R.W., “Six Sigma Black Belts: what do they
Technology and Innovation JF Kennedy School
need to know”, Journal of Quality Engineering
of Government, Harvard University, 23-24
2001, 33 (4), 391-406 .
September 2002.
4. Jiju Antony, “Pros and Cons of Six Sigma:
12. Rachna Shah, Peter T. Ward, “Defining and
an academic perspective”, http://www.
improvementand innovation.com/features/article/ developing measures of Lean Production”.
pros-and-cons-six-sigma-academic-perspective/, 13. Satya S.Chakravorty, “Six Sigma failures: An
Jan 2008. escalation model”, Springer science + Business
5. Lee.C., “Why you can safely ignore six sigma”, Media, LLC 2009, August 2009.
Fortune, 2001, 22 January. 14. T.N.Goh, “A Strategic Assessment of Six Sigma”,
6. Mullavery F., “Shackled by bad six sigma”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International
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Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 32

 Table 1: Key factors influencing successful Lean Six Sigma project

Sr. Factor Question Failure Mode Lesson to Learn / Characteristic of successful

No organization
1 Visible Senior Do leaders in When leaders do As with any critical organizational change effort, Six
leader. your organization not consistently Sigma requires leaders to stay engaged in the effort. For
stay involved demonstrate their Six Sigma initiatives to succeed, leaders must reinforce
after an important sponsorship and the importance of Six Sigma to their organization in
initiative is commitment, Six their regular communications and in the ways that they
launched? Sigma can fall short of manage their business and people.
expectations.
2 Alignment Does your Experience shows Utilizing a Balanced Scorecard is a best practice
to a clear organization have that Six Sigma is associated with Six Sigma implementation. The
organization a clearly defined likely to fail if it is Scorecard helps to identify and prioritize the Six Sigma
strategy strategy? not directly linked improvement projects that will have the greatest impact
to the organizational on strategic objectives and desired business results.
strategy. Organizations should avoid initiating a “collection of
projects” that is disconnected from the organizational
strategy.
3 Performance Are people in Six Sigma efforts will Six Sigma is most successful when organizations
tracking and your organization fail if projects are not implement a process for ongoing, regular reviews
accountability held accountable managed and tracked of projects. These organizations maintain line of
for critical aggressively, and the sight to the progress, track overall performance, and
projects and people involved are hold Champions and Teams accountable for timely
results? not held accountable execution.
for results.
4 To link How well does Six Sigma is hailed for The secret to avoiding this problem is to quantify
projects to your organization its bottom-line impact, anticipated results before initiating projects, and to
bottom line quantify the so if Six Sigma ensure they are tightly linked to business unit budgets
impact expected projects are executed and the bottom line. It’s wise to involve a Finance
results for an without clear financial representative to establish rules and guidelines, and to
improvement results, leaders will be stay involved in the quantification effort.
project? disappointed with the
efforts.
5 Allocation Does your When organizations Successful Six Sigma teams select Black Belt and
of human organization do not take a Green Belt candidates who are process-oriented, have a
resources have a process structured approach penchant for data-driven decision-making, and possess
for allocating to how they allocate a willingness to learn and apply statistical tools.
resources for resources to support To help assure success, effective Six Sigma teams agree
critical projects? their Six Sigma on a team structure, realistic resources, and key skill
efforts, Six Sigma will requirements prior to commencing Six Sigma projects.
probably fail.
6 Emphasis on Does your Six Sigma can fail if Six Sigma is a framework, not a recipe. Paying more
rigid approach organization an organization places attention to the steps than the desired outcome can
and technical adopt or adapt? too much emphasis result in too much bureaucracy and delayed impact.
tools on the mechanics and It’s better to view the approach as a framework with a
technical aspects of robust tool set, and then apply the relevant tools to the
the methodology. improvement opportunity.

Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December, 2012 33

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