Description

This theme integrates Lean Manufacturing’s emphasis on waste elimination, flow and customer value with systematic quality management, defect prevention and variation reduction. It covers Lean Six Sigma (LSS), DMAIC, Jidoka, Poka-Yoke, quality at source, Total Quality Management (TQM), root cause analysis, Pareto analysis, Ishikawa/cause-and-effect analysis, 5 Whys, statistical process control (SPC), process capability, measurement-system reliability, corrective and preventive actions, continuous improvement and performance measurement. Researchers are guided to distinguish waste-related losses from defect- and variation-related losses and to select Lean, Six Sigma or an integrated Lean Six Sigma approach according to the nature of the problem rather than applying improvement tools mechanically. The supplied literature provides strong methodological support for this integration.