Ifyou participate Lean Change Coach, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt training, you should have your own project so that you can apply what you have learned immediately. A successful project is also a criterion for Lean Six Sigma certification. It is a good idea to think about the choice of project before the training starts.
The aim is to choose a project where you can apply Lean and/or Six Sigma tools well and successfully complete it in 2-6 months. Here are six practical selection criteria based on my experience to help you make the most of your project selection:
1. Select one project goal related to process improvement
Choose a target that is not just a random error but is related to the performance of a process. Choose only one objective, e.g. to reduce errors or to shorten delivery time. You will get results faster if you solve one problem at a time instead of trying to improve "the whole world". Often, improving one objective will also have a positive impact on other problems. For example, if you reduce the number of defects, you no longer have to fix them, so delivery times are shorter, repair costs are reduced and job and customer satisfaction are improved. All with one goal!
2. Select an existing process
Select an existing process that you want to improve. This is important so that you can measure the baseline, how big the problem actually is in terms of data. If you are just developing a new process and want to use Lean Six Sigma, choose Design for Six Sigma. DFSS is a methodology for developing new processes, products and services.
3. Choose a problem for which data is readily available
Select the process and the problem to be improved, so that data on the problem is readily and relatively quickly available. During a Lean Six Sigma project, process performance is measured at baseline, the process is analysed to determine the right solutions, and process performance is measured after improvements are made. If data takes a long time to collect, the project will be stretched unnecessarily. A good rule of thumb is to collect about 30 measurement points per month. For example, if your goal is to reduce product lead time, you should deliver at least 30 products per month.
If you participate in Lean training, data availability and data analysis are less central to practicing the training tools.
4. Secure management support for your project
Choose a project that supports your business goals and is a priority for your manager. For a successful project in 2-6 months, you need time and resources for your project. Sufficient resources will usually only succeed if the project goal supports your business objectives.
5. Choose a project without major investment needs
Limit the project so that you don't assume that you need large investments (e.g. IT). Investments slow down the project and are usually too large for the first Lean Six Sigma project.
6. Choose a project where the solution is not known in advance
Choose a problem whose solution is not yet known. The advice may seem obvious, but in practice, I often see that Lean (Six Sigma) is desired to be used for deploying pre-determined solutions when deployment does not go according to plan. If the solution is already known, it is best to deploy it, and Lean Six Sigma is not needed for it. If the deployment of the chosen solution has not gone smoothly, it is good to first see why before starting a Lean Six Sigma project. The selected solution may not be effective after all. In that case, one may also consider a Lean (Six Sigma) project if the chosen solution can still be changed.
Examples of typical improvement projects:
- Reducing the Lead time of the Invoicing Process
- Reducing the lead time of the production process
- Reducing Product Delivery Time
- Reducing Errors in Stock Management
- Reducing the time taken to process an application
- Reducing the number of error messages
- Reducing complaints
- Improving the volume of telephone sales
Once you have completed several successful improvement projects and have mastered the methods and tools, you can choose more challenging projects.
We will go through the selection and scoping of the project more thoroughly in the Lean Change Agent, Green Belt, and Black Belt training. You still have time to change your project, if necessary, even after the first training module if your initial selection is not successful. However, with these tips, you can start choosing your project even before the start of the training.
You can explore examples of Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt training participants' practice projects in different sectors during their training for Lean Six Sigma certification: Examples of Lean Six Sigma projects.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us.
Lean Six Sigma,
Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
