Lean Six Sigma

About: Lean Six Sigma is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1919 publications have been published within this topic receiving 29142 citations.

DMAIC in improving patient care processes: Challenges and facilitators in context of healthcare

Abstract: This study aims to understand the DMAIC process applied in the context of Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma focusing on direct patient care. For such a purpose, a systematic literature review was performed on DMAIC found in empirical studies about Hospitals and Emergency units. Several articles have been reviewed and two topics were addressed with the aim of performing the DMAIC process through Six Sigma/Lean Six Sigma, namely: challenges and facilitators. Resistance to change and limited resources, for example, were recurring themes as regards implementation challenges.

Use of a Lean Six Sigma approach to investigate excessive quality control (QC) material use and resulting costs.

Abstract: The Eastern Health Clinical Biochemistry Laboratories cater to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the last ten years, a significant increase in annual expenses on quality control material and calibrator purchases was observed. Two major Clinical Chemistry Laboratories at the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) and St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital (STC), St. John’s, work as referral centers for the province. The study’s design was based on the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process and involved tests performed on ten automated Abbott Clinical Chemistry (CC) and Immunoassay (IA) analyzers. The cost of purchasing the QC material from Bio-Rad and Randox had increased due to defective QC and analyzer test assignment process design. The processes were modified. An Individualized Quality Control Plan (IQCP) was developed. Modification in quality control processes helped in bringing down the cost and usage of both QC and calibrators. The cost and usage of individual control material were reduced by 25 to 52% depending on the type of quality control. Total annual expenditure on the purchase of different QC materials before modification was estimated as CAD 346,395(2019) which was reduced to CAD 255,267 with annual savings of 91,128 CAD (26%) after modification (2020). The average usage reduction for various calibrators was 40% with the highest reduction in the use of urine calibrators. The annual cost of calibrators was reduced from CAD 30,568.42 (2019-20) to CAD 17,517 (2020-21) with the saving of approximately 13,051 Canadian dollars (43 %) for the laboratory. There is a constant compulsion in every industry to manage costs. Implementation of Lean and Six Sigma methodology in removing Muda of high costs in a Clinical Chemistry Laboratory is the most warranted strategy in developing a cost-effective laboratory framework.

A Systematic Literature Review of Lean Six Sigma in Various Industries

Abstract: The Lean Six Sigma / LSS approach has received a lot of attention in various industrial sectors, from the manufacturing industry to the service industry. More specific knowledge about Lean Six Sigma has grown rapidly. Much of the training and research on Lean Six Sigma is carried out in various industries. This literature review is related to LSS's purpose to provide an overview of Lean Six Sigma implementation in the manufacturing industry. The Lean Six Sigma approach introduced and implemented for a long time is DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and control). This paper discusses the published literature related to Six Sigma ranging from 2015 to 2020. This paper involves the study review of 50 papers related to the implementation of LSS of known database search, including Google Scholar, Elsevier, Science Direct, and other worldwide publishers. This literature review contains results from a variety of different perspectives. The perspective includes the focus of the industry, the focus of the number of distribution by country, the focus of the year of publication, and the number of publishers. This is useful for all types of manufacturing industries to find solutions to problems. The paper also provides advantages for researchers next to add to the literature.

An empirical investigation to evaluate the relationship between success factors of Lean Six Sigma and waste management issues

Abstract: This paper evaluates the relationship between critical success factors (CSF's) of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) with the various issues contributing towards waste management in manufacturing SME's. In this study, 121 SME's of manufacturing sector in India have been extensively surveyed, to assess the relative impact of waste management techniques implemented in the manufacturing sector. The correlations between major factors of LSS with the various major issues contributing towards waste management in Indian manufacturing SME's has been identified. A correlation between various issues and the factors of LSS has been developed through the calculation of Cronbach's alpha and value of reliability. Afterwards discriminate validity testing has been done and Pearson correlation matrix has been formulated. This study provides the relationship between the issues related to the higher waste in manufacturing sector with the major contributing factors of a waste management technique, i.e., LSS considered in present study.