The concept of continuous improvement (CI) in business has always been environmentally minded – It comes with the territory of reducing waste, scrap and non-value activity and systematically honing in on optimum performance.
However, this understanding is now reaching the general business community and public. For example, check out <http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-green-minded-companies-adopt-lean-six-sigma-new-/2009/05/11/4174456.htm#>
Lean Six Sigma is the acronym of choice right now for CI, but let’s not get too attached to buzzwords that will be passé in a few years. CI systems can be applied to minimize waste streams, utility and raw material consumption, production rejects, and even the overall carbon footprint. There’s 50 years of knowledge accumulated to drive this effort and the field continues to evolve rapidly.
It’s very important that as the marketing pushes for “green” and “lean six sigma” peak and fade that the fundamental benefit of systematically addressing the root causes of waste and variation continue to be sustainably addressed, not only for business profitability and agility, but also for the benefit of the community and the environment.
It’s a win-win situation if these methodologies are correctly applied so, let “Lean Green Six Sigma” be the slogan of the day, but let’s also understand what lies behind the marketing.
