My name is Cedro Toro. I founded Lean Six Sigma Toolbox in 2012 to help companies achieve their goals by creating a culture of Continuous Improvement. My team and I help hospitals, manufacturing companies, mining companies, banks, insurance agencies, you name it, improve their processes and get measurable results.
We believe your people are the key to your success which is why we focus on People first, then Processes, which ultimately delivers improved Performance!
How can Lean Six Sigma Toolbox help my company or team?
Lean Six Sigma Toolbox provides 3 primary services:
- Training
We are a preferred Lean Six Sigma certification provider delivering Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Green Belt, and Black Belt certification in multiple formats:- 100% Online
- Blended Online and In-Person
- 100% In-Person.
- Rapid Improvement Projects or Kaizen Events
- Typically delivered in-person, these events teach teams how to use Lean Six Sigma through hands on experience in their own processes. We focus on improving one or two processes, teaching the tools and principles of Lean and Six Sigma along the way.
- Turnarounds and Interim COO
- For companies who need immediate results, we act as interum leadership providing a rapid, multi-disciplinary approach to improving top line revenue and / or profitability and capacity.
- Our sister company, Value Stream Capital, is invests in or acquires companies that have high demand but are held back by capacity constraints, quickly improve production rates to meet demand.
- For example, a new mattress company needed to streamline operations before an IPO.
- Another product company was struggling to be profitable despite growing 25% year over year. In these scenarios the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox team comes in to perform an assessment then changes multiple aspects of the organization and processes quickly to achieve the desired outcome.
To learn more about our turnaround services or to sell your business visit www.valuestreamcapital.com
Foundational Tools in the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox
A toolbox puts everything you need to get the job done at your fingertips. Some tools are used every day and become well worn. Others may rest at the bottom of your toolbox, ready to grab when you need them. Our job at Lean Six Sigma Toolbox is to give your team the tools they need, when they need them, so they can be experts at structured problem solving and process design.
While not a comprehensive list the following tools are essential to the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox and should be understood by leaders responsible for continuously improving your business.
- Just In Time
- Continuous Flow
- Kanban
- 8 wastes (7 wastes if you’re a purist)
- Reducing Variation
- DMAIC – Project Management
- Kaizen Event – Rapid Project Management
- Poka Yoke – Mistake Proofing
- Quick Changeover
- Standard Work
- 5S
As you can see from the above image, Lean is built on a foundation of respect. If that does not exist, you cannot and are not a Lean organization. This key point is missed by most and results in catastrophic failure by companies trying to be Lean without it. Respect is the foundation of the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox.
Six Sigma – Part of the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox
Today Lean and Six Sigma have been combined into a single methodology to improve your business. It is important, however, to understand that the history and approach used by Six Sigma is fundamentally different than Lean. Lean or the Toyota Production System came from Japan, from Toyota, from the teachings of Deming and Ohno and Shingo. Six Sigma came from the United States, from Motorola, from Bill Smith and others. They brought together a lot of quality tools and ideas to eliminate defects in manufacturing, save money, and become more efficient. While the desired outcome is similar to Lean the approach is very different.
Six Sigma is built on a foundation of data.
In God We Trust… All Others Bring Data!
-Six Sigma Gurus
The goal of Six Sigma is to eliminate sources of variation through structured problem solving. Sound familiar? Eliminating variation is 1 of the 3 focus areas of Lean.
The Six Sigma Toolbox
The Six Sigma Toolbox fits nicely within the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox because variation causes defects, rework, delay, which are all waste! Some key tools include:
- Statistical Quality Control
- Pareto
- Control Charts
- Correlation
- Regression
- ANOVA
- Design of Experiments
- Confidence Intervals
- Hypothesis Testing
- Control Plans
- Voice of the Customer
There are a lot of quality tools. More than we could possible list here. Which ones are most useful? It depends on your industry, your job, and the problem you are trying to solve.
Six Sigma’s approach is traditionally more technical than Lean. You won’t be teaching everyone how to do a DOE (design of experiments), at least you shouldn’t. Some companies try, training all their employees in statistics when only a handful are really needed. What a waste! Lean is more of a “people’s approach” to solving problems. It uses basic tools like 5 Whys to help everyone solve problems. Everyone should be trained in these tools which is what our Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Green Belt courses accomplish.
Where Six Sigma historically relied on experts with a technical skill set, our Lean Six Sigma training balances both areas in a unified, pragmatic approach. Using both Lean and Six Sigma together will help your team solve problems more quickly, and design processes that have high quality and efficiency.
The Key to Success
The Key to your success will be learning the foundational tools and putting them in your Lean Six Sigma Toolbox. Then using the tools that are useful to you over and over again until they become second nature. It’s also important to grow your toolbox. Increase your knowledge and skill so you don’t start using a hammer for everything just because you are really good with a hammer.
We are here to help! Let the experience of the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox team be your guide on the Lean journey.
Who Benefits?
Healthcare is taking advantage of Lean Six Sigma in a big way. They are cutting wait times, improving patient outcomes, and making life easier on the staff. It is amazing to see how the same tools that evolved in manufacturing work so well in any environment, particularly healthcare.
Manufacturing. Of course the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox works in manufacturing. It was created there to solve real problems everyone faces like, too many defects, too much inventory, rework, scrap, long lead times, etc…
Your Team. Your employees are and should be the primary people who benefit. Lean Six Sigma should make their life easier. Overburdening is one of the 3 focus areas of Lean. It should be your focus as well! Happy employees make great products and provide amazing service. It’s true.
Your Customers. Lower costs, faster delivery, higher quality products. All of these promises can be delivered with a team of problem solvers on your side. Teach your team the tools in the Lean Six Sigma Toolbox and support them as they go to work solving problems for your customers.
Lean Six Sigma Works!
If you are ready to get started, you can sign up for one of our Live Online courses right now.
If you still have questions about how Lean Six Sigma can work for you and your business, or you need a custom quote, just fill out the form below.