Getting Green With Lean (PDF, 483 KB)
The JDSU legal department’s global trade team used lean tools to eliminate waste from its import management processes. By creating a paperless process, the team handled a 500-percent increase in work and eliminated at least 70,000 paper copies per year.
September 2009.

Improving Productivity Through Lean Six Sigma Warehouse Design (PDF, 190 KB)
A Lean Six Sigma improvement team at New Breed Logistics employed quality tools such as value stream mapping, PICK charts, and the 5 Whys to increase product flow and meet customers’ packaging requirements. As a result, overtime decreased by 30 percent, productivity increased 5 percent, shipping accuracy reached 100 percent, and customer satisfaction improved, leading to additional business.
February 2009.

Streamlined Enrollment Nets Big Results for Healthcare Leader (PDF, 193 KB)
Kaiser Permanente Colorado used Lean Six Sigma to evaluate and improve Medicaid enrollment processes. A three-month project resulted in a 45 percent gain in Medicaid membership while increasing Medicaid revenue by more than $1 million annually.
January 2009

Emergency Department Prescribes Lean for Process Improvement (PDF, 179 KB)
When the Mercy Medical Center emergency department used lean techniques to improve process flow, patient satisfaction scores rose from the 30th to the 95th percentile. Value stream mapping helped identify and eliminate non-value-added steps.  
May 2008.

Pall Corporation: A Profile in “Process Excellence” (PDF, 192 KB)
Pall Corporation’s “Process Excellence” combines lean, Six Sigma, dashboard metrics, and team involvement. This combination ensures improvement efforts are aligned with business imperatives and contributes to a culture of accountability.
April 2008.

Lean-Six Sigma: Tools for Rapid Cycle Cost Reduction (PDF, 82 KB)
Financial leaders should take leadership roles in deploying Lean-Six Sigma to improve costs for healthcare organizations: start today by taking a “Manager Quality Waste Walk.”

Create a Lean, Mean Machine (PDF, 183 KB)
Lean’s emphasis on the elimination of waste results in higher customer satisfaction, profitability, throughput and efficiency.

Lean and Six Sigma–A One-Two Punch (PDF, 123 KB)
Using the Six Sigma/kaizen team-based approach, results are implemented faster with the participation of employees from the shop floor to the executive suite.

How To Compare Six Sigma, Lean and the Theory of Constraints (PDF 108 KB)
Three improvement methodologies—Six Sigma, lean thinking and theory of constraints—are discussed, and a model is presented to clarify their concepts, similarities and differences.

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