How do lean manufacturing and six sigma relate?
Both tools kits support the reduction of waste in businesses. Lean manufacturing focuses on making value flow, i.e. providing an easy to follow, uninterrupted product flow with minimal waste. Six sigma focuses on variation related or lack of process knowledge related waste such as quality issues, tampering leading to amplified variation in the product delivery process etc. If applied in an integrated fashion the tools are complementary and should be used in a hand and glove approach.
