In recent years, some practitioners have combined Six Sigma ideas with lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, often simply, "Lean," is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination...

 to yield a methodology named Lean Six Sigma. Lean manufacturing – addressing process flow and waste issues – and Six Sigma, with its focus on variation and design, are viewed as complementary disciplines in Lean Six Sigma, aimed at promoting "business and operational excellence". This is used in companies such as IBM to focus transformation efforts not just on efficiency but also on growth. It serves as a foundation for innovation throughout the organization, from manufacturing and software development to sales and service delivery functions.

See also

• Six Sigma
  Six Sigma
  Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in 1986. , it is widely used in many sectors of industry.Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and...
  
  
• Business process
  Business process
  A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...
  
  
• Design for Six Sigma
  Design for Six Sigma
  Design for Six Sigma is a separate and emerging business-process management methodology related to traditional Six Sigma. While the tools and order used in Six Sigma require a process to be in place and functioning, DFSS has the objective of determining the needs of customers and the business, and...
  
  
• Total quality management
  Total Quality Management
  Total quality management or TQM is an integrative philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of products and processes....
  
  
• Total productive maintenance
  Total Productive Maintenance
  Total productive maintenance originated in Japan in 1971 as a method for improved machine availability through better utilization of maintenance and production resources....