With the growing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, businesses are already embracing themselves for implications across their day-to-day operations. However, regardless of the business industry and the increasing tightening of budgets, companies still need to keep up during hard times to remain competitive.
Companies that want to break out and become leaders in the industry, despite the challenges today, need to be a step ahead of the competition. Successful companies gain this edge by finding ways they can involve every employee in streamlining operations. Lean Six Sigma is one of the most reliable frameworks that businesses can embrace today.
Here's how you can gain a competitive advantage with Lean Six Sigma.
Implement the Basic Principles of Lean Six Sigma
Lean Six Sigma can be adapted and applied to any business industry to help leaders across the board to gain a competitive advantage. But how does it work? Lean Six Sigma allows businesses to eliminate waste, reduce operational costs, and increase revenue while getting employees directly involved in streamlining processes and workflows.
Peter Peterka - SixSigma.us, the leading Consultant on the Lean Six Sigma methodology notes that, for businesses to ensure success in their deployment strategies, key basic principles have to be implemented:
- Clear definition of areas of improvement and outlining of steps to correct issues and eliminate obstacles.
- Measuring success and failures of current processes.
- Reviewing measurement data, adjusting collection processes, and narrowing down the true sources of waste and defects.
- Seeking solutions from employees who're directly involved with planning, workflow processes, and implementing solutions.
- Deploying effective control structures to sustain improvement measures.
Use Lean Six Sigma to Help Your SME Gain the Edge
There's a common myth that Lean Six Sigma only works in large organizations that have the capacity and resources to implement the process. That isn't true as the principles of Lean Six Sigma can be scaled to help SMEs balance the costs associated with significant change and enjoy the benefits that result from improving processes.
By deploying Lean Six Sigma strategies, SMEs can speed up business growth through the reduction of inventory costs, reduced rate of employee turnovers, and reduced amount of overtime that's paid to employees when driving growth through the positive cash flow from the quicker inventory turn and receivables.
The benefits include:
- Improved quality
- Reduced overhead costs
- Increases customer satisfaction
- Long-term viability and stability of the business
- Improved value delivery
Why Lean Six Sigma Certification Training Matters
As competition between businesses of all sizes becomes more fierce, only those that search for new ways to gain a competitive advantage will be able to increase revenue, improve collaboration, and reduce costs. One way you can equip your business to overcome today's market challenges is by launching Lean Six Sigma certification training across your organization - from top-down.
- Yellow Belt certification training is ideal for those supporting improvement projects in a limited role in the Lean Six Sigma team in your business or organization.
- Green Belt certification training is ideal for those taking part in a Six Sigma management team. They're in charge of data collection and analysis for improvement projects. This certification allows for the proper implementation of Lean Six Sigma.
- Black Belt certification training is ideal for team leaders who're in charge of big improvement projects. It's also ideal for those leading problem-solving projects. This certification offers comprehensive training of the Lean Six Sigma methodology.
Various companies offer certification training. Decide what type of training suits your business best. You can opt for lean training and certification classes, specialized instructor-led virtual classes, or online self-paced training to take advantage of your free time as you spend more time indoors.
Conclusion
Just like any other valuable business concept or tool, when applied properly, Lean Six Sigma can give your business the competitive edge you need to achieve your goals. With the proper training, deployment, and process streamlining, your business can enjoy immediate, substantial results.
