The benefits of Lean Six Sigma we don't always see.

  The benefits of lean six sigma are widely known now throughout the world.  With organizations, such as Motorola and GE leading the way, where do small businesses sit in terms of the strategic benefits seen by these giants?  Simply put, the same benefits that have been realized by organizational giants are usually more applicable to smaller organizations.  Why?  Smaller organizations have less people and often do not stretch across global boundaries.  This gives them the ability to train more people, move quicker and create results in lightning fast fashions.

  Reducing capital expenses, increasing efficiency and minimizing variability are only a few of the benefits any sized company can realize by undertaking strategic implementation of lean six sigma.  But there are many other benefits that we don't see right away:

Engaged and Confident Employees
  Along with reduced capital expenses, waste and increased efficiency lean six sigma gives employees a means of using their talents in a positive way.  Since every strategy requires effective execution of tactics there is no better way to drive improvements than through the people who are closest to the work.  Those people are the individuals who produce products and services day in and day out.  They are the ones who live at the gemba.  That makes those individuals the perfect resources to tap into when looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a process.  As these employees begin to engage in kaizen events and develop their skills confidence grows within each of them.  As confidence grows within employees and they begin to see, feel and realize their positive impact the benefits reach far beyond performance and accountability, in fact "they are life changing" as Bob Chapman once put it.  As people become confident, motivated and realize their talents they often times continue to search out opportunities and engage in continuous improvement.

Stronger Economic Conditions

•   Rising costs of healthcare, retail and consumer costs soaring and manufacturing being offloaded all around seems to grasp recent trends around many different industries.  While some of these trends mimic years of past lean six sigma provides a very effective means for doctors, retailers and distributers to separate from tasks such as paperwork, reorder points and returns and focus on the customers and consumers.  This results in better diagnosis, higher customer service and a general sense of people caring about people.  
•   It has never been more important to get the product you need in the condition you need it.  Whether it's the holidays where you want your gifts to function properly for the recipient, or a fighter plane that must perform at its best to achieve the mission at hand, lean six sigma helps all customers deliver with fewer defects resulting in fewer return and reverse supply chain activities.
•   We have I-phones, I-watches and I want it right away needs.  As technology increases and the need for products and services continues to be quicker than ever processes have no room for waste in them.  Lean six sigma not only shortens the time it takes to fulfill customer requests but ensures that revenue flows freely in all directions.

  As the years go by it becomes more and more obvious that we need lean and six sigma if we are to survive in changing times.  If not for the more obvious reasons of reduced waste and stable processes but for the reasons we don't always see right away....  What reasons can you think of?