Lean production, six sigma quality, TQM and company culture

Abstract

Purpose -The authors analyze the principles and results of lean production and compare the lean production philosophy with the six sigma quality process and the principles of total quality management (TQM). At the end of the paper, it is discussed how to build the necessary company culture for having success with these principles/management philosophies. Design/methodology/approach -Literature search and comparative analysis complemented with a Danish case on wastage in a core process. Findings -It is shown that the lean production philosophy and the six sigma steps are essentially the same and both have developed from the same root -the Japanese TQM practices. The improvement process from six sigma, the DMAIC process, can be regarded as a short version of the Quality Story, which was developed in Japan in the 1960s as a standard for QC-circle presentations. We conclude that the roadmaps of lean production and six sigma quality are examples of new alternative TQM roadmaps. We also conclude that especially with lean production and six sigma quality there seems to be too much focus on training people intools and techniques and at the same time too little focus on understanding the human factor, i.e. how to build the right company culture. Originality/value -The detailed and historical analysis of six sigma quality, lean production and TQM combined with a focus on the human factor and the needed corporate culture.

Similarities and differences between TQM, six sigma and lean

“…One reason for this is due to the fact that six sigma supports all the six values in TQM, see Klefsjö et al (2001). Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard (2001) also state that there is not any contradiction between the objectives in lean and TQM. They support the view presented by Klefsjö et al (2001) above, and argue that six sigma and lean should rather been seen as a collection of concepts and tools, which support the overall principles and aims of TQM.…”

“…They support the view presented by Klefsjö et al (2001) above, and argue that six sigma and lean should rather been seen as a collection of concepts and tools, which support the overall principles and aims of TQM. Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard (2001) mean that six sigma and lean have clear road-maps in order to achieve business excellence, but it is important in order to be successful to stress the corporate culture and human factor in these concepts. TQM is often accused for being blur and unclear, and it is, therefore, the authors' opinion that six sigma and lean can be appropriate approaches for organisations in order to make important progress in the field of quality management.…”

“…These concepts also have the same origin, the quality evolution in Japan after the World War II, see Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard (2001).…”

Lean Thinking for Healthcare

“…Flinders Medical Centre, a medium-sized public sector teaching hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, has, for some time, been implementing lean strategies (King et al 2006) and has been able to operate below its budgeted costs (Jones and Mitchell 2006). Lean thinking has also been advocated in the healthcare setting of the USA through the use of the Six Sigma methodology, which in many ways resembles lean production techniques (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard 2006;Tolga Taner et al 2007;Young et al 2004). Other related literature also reveals that the implementation of lean thinking brings benefi t to healthcare 1.…”

Mineral resource management: Evaluating mineral resource throughput management

“…These approaches are mainly based on the theory of constraints (TOC) developed by Goldratt (1984). Other management and improvement methodologies implemented by the mining industry, with varying success, include total quality management (TQM) (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006), business process management (BPM) (Vom Brocke and Rosemann, 2010) and Six Sigma (SS) (Eckes, 2001).…”