Product Description

Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement reveals how to refocus lean/six sigma processes on what author Richard Schonberger—world-renowned process improvement pioneer—calls "the Golden Goals": better quality, quicker response, greater flexibility, and higher value. This manual shows you how it can be done, employing success stories of over 100 companies including Apple, Illinois Tool Works, Dell, Inc., and Wal-Mart, all of which have established themselves as the new, global "Kings of Lean," surpassing even Toyota in long-term improvement.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #307971 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470168868
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Pitfalls and opportunities are explained in straightforward terms that help managers to steer process improvement efforts towards sustained advantage. Schonberger reveals how to refocus lean and Six Sigma processes on what he calls the 'golden goals': better quality, quicker response, greater flexibility and higher value." (Worksmanagement.co.uk, August 2008)

"This book makes the case that "lean won't work without quality", and to that end the author focuses on the companies that have achieved "the world's longest, steepest rates of improvement in leanness" companies like Dell, Wall-Mart. The book poses a curious semantical analysis of the term supply chain management suggesting that the emphasis on the word supply implies that it is the customers' job to manage and improve relations with their suppliers." (IndustryWeek.com, July 2008)

From the Inside Flap

Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process ImprovementA Deeper Look

Among the most effective and robust improvement methodologies in the business world today, lean and six sigma offer sharp managers invaluable strategies and methods for achieving corporate goals. But the concepts behind lean six sigma, by now well-known, have proven highly susceptible to cherry-picking and avoiding difficult but higher-payoff elements.

Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement takes A Deeper Look at this high-potential science of success. Pitfalls and hidden opportunities are explained in simple terms that can help managers steer their companies' process improvement efforts toward sustained advantage in this era of global hypercompetition. Written by world-renowned best-practices pioneer Richard Schonberger, this eye-opening guide reveals invaluable benchmark data and guidance, prominently including long-term "leanness" data for over 1400 companies in thirty-six countries across thirty-three industrial sectors.

This broadly and deeply researched book provides the big picture and the details on what your corporation needs to succeed, including:

• Proven pathways to lean in addition to those of the well-known "lean core"

• How to re-energize the continuous, everyone-involved side of process improvement—as a potent complement to six sigma-based projects

• Designs for plants, production flow, and jobs that maximize human involvement in best practice methodologies

• What manufacturers should be learning from retailers and distributors about managing the supply pipelines

• Making process data primal and numeric goal setting secondary as driving forces for improvement

• Large numbers of graphs contrasting strong and weak performance of many well-known companies

• Unique business models that some of the world's most innovative companies are using effectively to achieve customer-centric results even as they reach out globally

• Addressing the question of why most lean/six sigma and other performance management initiatives undertaken by companies fall short of expectations, this indispensable book shows that sustained improvements in performance must focus on the customer, reducible to intentional dedication to continuously improving quality, response time, flexibility, and value.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement

"Dr. Schonberger reveals why successful companies lose their way on their continuous improvement journey and the magic formula for achieving rapid continuous improvement. This is a must-read for those who must develop or broaden their competitive advantage."

David L. Schlotterbeck, CEO of Clinical and Medical Products, Cardinal Health

"With a stature built on decades of research, reading, and reporting, Schonberger in this book sets about one of his favorite routines: debunking what most consider to be established truths; questioning questionable practices, and offering valuable new insights. With all his opinions solidly backed up with research data, this provocative read will undoubtedly contribute new angles to the worldwide discourse on operations improvement."

Koot Pieterse, Professor, Lean Manufacturing Group, Business School, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

"Finally, a true thought leader, Dick Schonberger, has stepped forward to give clarity to why companies either get better or plateau. Continuous improvement has been misunderstood over the years because most leaders have not fully understood the benefits and shortcomings of the individual methodologies, how they should fit together and how they are best used to engage every associate. The future clearly belongs to those who understand how to organize the pieces effectively into a robust systematic approach."

Craig Long, Vice President, Quality & Six Sigma, Milliken & Company

Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement reveals how to refocus lean/six sigma processes on what author Richard Schonberger—world-renowned process improvement pioneer—calls "the Golden Goals": better quality, quicker response, greater flexibility, and higher value—all with a focus on the universal wants and needs of customers. This excellent step-by-step manual shows how it can be done, employing the success stories of over 100 companies including Apple, Illinois Tool Works, Dell, Inc., Wal-Mart, and General Dynamics, along with SKF of Sweden, Honda of Japan, and Flextronics of Singapore, all of which have established themselves as the new, global "Kings of Lean," surpassing even Toyota in long-term improvement.