What's next for Six sigma? An established culture? The Future of Six Sigma

[WALLACE]

What's next for Six Sigma?
My sister in-law is a master BB with GE and, she indicated to me that, Six sigma at GE is moving more towards lean tools and techniques. She also mentioned that SS is more or less, an established culture at GE for the most part and, a natural progression or assimilation to and with other business tools and techniques is being infused into the mainstream.
What does the group have to say?
Wallace.

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by WALLACE

What's next for Six Sigma?
My sister in-law is a master BB with GE and, she indicated to me that, Six sigma at GE is moving more towards lean tools and techniques. She also mentioned that SS is more or less, an established culture at GE for the most part and, a natural progression or assimilation to and with other business tools and techniques is being infused into the mainstream.
What does the group have to say?
Wallace.

Interesting.
Certainly, paid staff and elected officials at ASQ seem to be much more Six Sigma-centric than in the past. In addition, I belong to an ASQ interest group (on its way to becoming a Division or Forum): ASQ's Advanced Manufacturing Interest Group (AMIG) which has lean manufacturing as its central focus.

Therefore, I can report that ASQ seems to be echoing what your sister-in-law observes at GE.

[WALLACE]

Maybe the fact is that, we in the west have at last decided to cut through the BS of quality initiatives. Maybe, just maybe, we have come to the realization point that, Lean tools and techniques have all along been the potential panacea for the ills of standardized western quality management.
Hmm, I wonder.
Wallace

[Bill Pflanz]

Originally Posted by WALLACE

What's next for Six Sigma?
My sister in-law ... also mentioned that SS is more or less, an established culture at GE for the most part and, a natural progression or assimilation to and with other business tools and techniques is being infused into the mainstream.
What does the group have to say?
Wallace.

It didn't take very long after Jack's departure for GE to decide that maybe there was something else besides Six Sigma. Since SS is now part of the established culture they are probably replacing their SS training with lean manufacturing. I just saw a book on Lean Six Sigma which combines the two methodologies.

Since we are getting leaner, maybe they could have black and green suspenders to hold everything up and differentiate between the various grades.

Maybe I shouldn't have made the last comment and trademarked it first.

Bill

[WALLACE]

The other parallel is that, TOYOTA has lean as their established culture and they use statistical tools that are merely part of the SPC tool box.
There's lots of lessons to be learned there for sure.
Wallace.

[Darius]

Here also, in the company that I work with, It began to work with Kaisen and now trained some in SS and Lean Manufacturing.

It's a tendence.

[Mike S.]

Originally Posted by WALLACE

Maybe, just maybe, we have come to the realization point that, Lean tools and techniques have all along been the potential panacea for the ills of standardized western quality management.

Wallace

Lean a panacea? Not likely IMO unless some lean tools and techniques involve reprogramming grey matter in the brains of Management. As I have said in another thread, IMO much of today's Management does not lack the right tools, they lack the will to use them.

[WALLACE]

Originally Posted by Mike S.

Lean a panacea? Not likely IMO unless some lean tools and techniques involve reprogramming grey matter in the brains of Management. As I have said in another thread, IMO much of today's Management does not lack the right tools, they lack the will to use them.

The word Panacea may have been misapropriately used in my post, It was the best I could come up with though. I firmly believe that, we in the west do indeed need a tool box of management tools that would act as a panacea for the ills of management practices.
Mike, why do you believe management lacks the will to use the right tools?
Wallace.