Introduction
The global workplace and organizational structure are changing rapidly to meet the forces of competition, sustainability, and profitability. Business processes and waste management are becoming focal areas of enterprises. Creating efficient and a more robust business structure requires the understanding of the principles that will enhance reasonable profit margins, boost morale, and be adaptive to changes in the chosen industry. The Lean Six Sigma approach is fundamentally designed to streamline service or goods production processes by cutting out steps that may be unnecessary or wasteful so that stages that add value to a product are retained. The article “Want More from Lean Six Sigma?” by Neuhaus and Guarraia (2007) is about how businesses need to undertake internal X-Ray diagnosis to identify where process changes are required to achieve greater efficiency and competitiveness. The article argues that utilization of Black belts through Lean Six Sigma in organizations is not sufficient in driving value and competitive edge without proper diagnosis. It addresses the absence of business evaluation before introducing black belts holders.
Discussion
A company desirous of improving efficiency, capacity, and profit value has a better chance of success by undertaking an x-ray analysis done by proficient black belts. The analytic process involves three stages: Value Stream Mapping; Benchmarking; and Prioritizing. The x-ray aspect of structural change precedes the application of the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC process. This process is the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. In value stream mapping, the X-ray team meticulously scans the organization to accurately identify areas that need changes and cost cutting to minimize waste in time and resources. Through benchmarking, the team measures processes against established baseline so as to set new performance goals and identify shortcomings. After value stream mapping and benchmarking, prioritization is when the areas that will result in performance improvement are prioritized and pursued as strategic goals.
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How It Apply To Project/Company
The information from the reading is suggestive, indicating that assessment is critical to efficiency. Before a change is instituted in an organizational process, an X-ray is needful. Operational procedures and the associated costs have to be mapped, benchmarked, and prioritized. The identification of sources of wastes, business bottleneck, in each production process helps a company reduce production cost and improve capacity. The benchmarking phase is essential in establishing functional flow parameters, external and internal, for each production process with the aim of improving performance. This process is typically a comparison analysis with an external competitor's data. The comparison may highlight internal mechanisms that are affecting performance and profitability, similar to SWOT.
The article is enlightening and instructive in some ways. The three X-ray steps will aid businesses to avoid transformation efforts that will fail in producing expected outcomes. Speed and savings are achievable if a proper X-ray of each production component of a business is conducted. The three steps will lead to a manageable strategic goal of the company by strengthening overall capacity and moral improvement. This reading applies to my BBP project significantly. The X-ray findings are likely to inject operational changes that may involve management and other staff. Also, prioritization of changes is in the order of importance, lower cost, and timeframe. It means everyone is part of the X-ray diagnosis because contributions towards the final diagnosis are from each production unit.
Conclusion
The reading is insightful and informative. One has learned that it is better to carry out an X-ray analysis of business systems before introducing black belts. This cautionary step is important because Lean Six Sigma black belts are not always adequate in driving organizational value on their own. Also, it does slow down businesses and often fails in improving companies’ competitive edge. One will advise that before applying Lean Six Sigma principles, a company need the three X-ray stages.
