A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AN ORIGINAL AND A POST-HOC APPLICATION OF LEAN SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY

Abstract

Current society develops faster and faster every day with customers\u27 demands increasing rapidly. Decreasing time for product development and enhancing customer satisfaction are becoming more significant. In the business world, there is no industry that could exist without an efficient supply chain. In the fierce competitive environment of today, the supply chain must address potential problems and risks that may exist and assure continuous improvement. One common supply chain management practice in many industries is to apply lean methodology to the supply chain model in order to maximize the customers\u27 value and eliminate waste. By eliminating waste, the process can be expedited, a company\u27s costs reduced and profitability improved. Today, in many industries, applying other principles to the supply chain is very popular. Information Technology software flow synchronizes the physical flow with the data flow and in order to expedite the supply chain process. Application of information technology and Six Sigma philosophy has also become a part of supply chain management. Lean Six Sigma principles utilize analytical methods to optimize each link of the supply chain to promote a winning customer/supplier model. Poor supply chain management will harm the health of any business process and could lead to high losses while a well managed and structured supply chain will support a positive direction furthering a company\u27s success. This study analyzes Lean and Six Sigma support of the Supply Chain from multiple angles and addresses certain issues that potentially exist. It is based on an original case study to reduce package Engineering Change lead time and details the revisions the author has taken to improve on that work. The corresponding data analysis from the refined project results show how the package EC process could be improved, the value add based upon the post hoc analysis and the methodology used to benefit the high technology supply chain and overall business performance