Arumugam, V. and Antony, Jiju and Douglas, Alex (2012) Observation : a lean tool for improving the effectiveness of Lean Six Sigma. TQM

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to propose a robust ‘observation’ procedure drawn from the social science research literature for adoption in a Lean Six Sigma project setting. A case study illustrates the application of the proposed observation procedure in a Lean Six Sigma project undertaken in a European airport to improve process speed and reduce variability. Design/methodology/approach-Literature review and case study process information from a real project. Findings-The study finds that by utilising ’observation’, which is basically a Lean tool, not only is speed increased by eliminating waste, but also it helps to identify the root causes of variations in the output quality characteristics, whose reduction is the main objective of a Lean Six Sigma programme. Research Limitation and implications-The proposed approach has been applied and tested in a transactional Lean Six Sigma project. Its applicability to a wider context needs to be established through more case studies in both manufacturing and transactional environments.