Lean Six Sigma Thesis

Again, in the above example on finance record changes, Sarbanes-Oxley guidelines require that one person requests the change, another person approves the change and a third person makes the change.

For example, in a recent BPM engagement, we automated a finance department’s vendor record change process.

Changes to finance records were normally done via paper forms, which were then entered into an electronic database.

In the ongoing evolution of process improvement and design, Lean has focused on getting the flow and value right, while Six Sigma has focused on customer service and eliminating defects.

The next generation of practitioners must build on these achievements and allow for more rapid optimization and automation of the business process.

Because the IT system required specific data codes and had its own structure, validation and rules, the business process had been adapted to fit the system rather than the other way around.

We were able to capture and re-design the true business process by building in new business rules to match this process and this data exactly, not the data of the underlying IT system.

How often have you seen a “process” diagram from IT that was more correctly a “data flow” diagram or list of applications?

BPM tools allow organizations to capture and design optimized target processes that are then directly executed using standards-based integration technology.

The interface with the existing IT system was hidden within the BPM layer, where the electronic database rules could match up.

Six Sigma and Lean tools can generate conceptual process models that may be difficult to enforce and measure when implemented.