Organizations are in the midst of a quality revolution — again. Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Quality Function Deployment, Statistical Process Control (performance Measurement & Analysis, and Design of Experiments — these are some of the methods that are producing unprecedented results for organizations.
Honeywell (Allied Signal) has reported over $800 million in savings since the initiation of their Six Sigma program. GE claims savings of some $12 billion. Honeywell claims over $800 million in savings over 5 years. Lean Enterprise at Toyota has produced what is generally regarded as the best production system in the world, capable of producing vehicles of higher quality and at lower cost than any existing competitor. Nokia, Sony, American Express and Toshiba are reporting similar results, as are organizations in health care, government services and industries ranging from mining to banking and from manufacturing to utilities.
There is no more proof of concept required — the methods of Operational Excellence represent best practice in seeking improvement to operations.