Stop Wasting, Start Winning

Wasting time. Wasting money. Wasting energy.

Most businesses don’t realize they’re leaking profits every day through poor processes. In fact, a study by IDC found that companies lose up to 30% of their annual revenue due to inefficiencies.

That’s not just a small leak. That’s a flood.

But here’s the good news: you can fix it. And the tool you need is called Lean Six Sigma—a no-fluff, no-fail method used by global giants like Toyota, Amazon, and GE to cut waste and boost performance.

Let’s break it down in plain English.

What Is Lean Six Sigma? (In 20 Seconds)

Lean Six Sigma is a mashup of two powerful ideas:

• Lean = Cut the fat. Remove steps that don’t add value.
• Six Sigma = Get it right. Reduce mistakes, rework, and errors.

Think of Lean as a cleanup crew. Think of Six Sigma as a quality control team. Together, they streamline your business and tighten up every part of your process.

🕰️ Quick history:

• Lean started at Toyota to improve car manufacturing.
• Six Sigma started at Motorola to reduce defects.
• In the 1980s, they merged into Lean Six Sigma—a proven, data-driven system for improvement.

The 8 Wastes Killing Your Business

Lean focuses on eliminating waste. But what does “waste” really mean? It’s anything that doesn’t add value to the customer.

There are 8 main types, remembered by the acronym TIMWOODS:

1. Transport – Unnecessary movement of goods.
2. Inventory – Excess stock that ties up money.
3. Motion – Useless movement of people or tools.
4. Waiting – Delays in processes, approvals, or systems.
5. Overproduction – Making more than needed.
6. Overprocessing – Doing extra work nobody asked for.
7. Defects – Errors that need fixing or redoing.
8. Skills – Not using your people’s full talents.

🧠 Example: Making reports nobody reads? That’s overproduction. Asking workers to manually enter data that a system could do? That’s motion and overprocessing.

Where Do You Start? The DMAIC Formula

The backbone of Lean Six Sigma is a 5-step method called DMAIC:

1. Define – What’s the problem?
2. Measure – How bad is it? Use data.
3. Analyze – Why is it happening?
4. Improve – What’s the solution?
5. Control – How will you keep it fixed?

Think of it like fixing a leak:

• Find the drip (Define),
• See how much water you’re losing (Measure),
• Discover what’s causing it (Analyze),
• Patch it up (Improve),
• Check daily to prevent it again (Control).

📊 Famous quote:

“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.”
– W. Edwards Deming

Real-World Wins

✅ General Electric (GE) used Lean Six Sigma to save over $10 billion in five years.
🏥 Hospitals cut patient wait times by 25% using these tools.
🚗 Toyota became the gold standard in quality and speed by removing waste and empowering its workers.

This isn’t theory. This works in the real world. Across industries. Every day.

Quick Wins You Can Try Today

You don’t need a certification to start fixing things. Try these small steps now:

• ✏️ Map your process. Use sticky notes if needed. Look at each step. Ask: “Is this really needed?”
• 🧹 Do a 5S audit:
  1. Sort
  2. Set in order
  3. Shine
  4. Standardize
  5. Sustain
     This clears clutter and brings order to chaos.
• 👂 Talk to your frontline team. They know where the problems are hiding.
• ❓Ask this magic question:
  “Does this add value for the customer?”
  If not—kill it, automate it, or improve it.

Wrap-Up: Small Fixes, Big Results

You don’t need to fix your whole company overnight. Just fix one broken process. Then another. Then another.

Track your progress. Learn from results. Repeat what works.

📌 Final takeaway:
Lean Six Sigma is not just a corporate buzzword.
It’s a clear path to higher profits, smoother systems, and happier customers.

Ready to get lean and level up? Contact Now!