Lean and Six Sigma Part 1

Wendy: Welcome to another addition to Momentum where we can share ideas and how you can gain and sustain momentum within your career or organization. I am Wendy Walden. Today we are talking about Lean and Six Sigma training we offered in our continuing education division here at Greenville Technology.

Wendy: My first guest is Marco Luzzatti. Marco is Greenville Tech’s expert on Lean and Six Sigma. He is also consultant and a trainer. Welcome Marko.

Marco: Thank you, thank you for having me.

Wendy: How are you?

Marco: I am doing very well. Thank you for the opportunity.

Wendy: Great

Wendy: Let’s first start out by defining what Lean is. I mean Lean for some people who are not familiar with it could mean many things. But other people may be familiar with it. Let's define what Lean is.

Marco: I will give the very short condensed version

Wendy: Okay
Marco: We are short on time but I think Lean's strength it helps increase the speed, the capacity, the flexibility of processes. The flexibility, the ability to switch back and forth from one task to another, so many times we want to do things faster or get more out, Leans a great methodology to use and it is successful by looking for waste and try to eliminate waste in processes.

Wendy: Now what are some of the things that are taught in the Lean training?

Marco: We’ll usually start, we have a whole comprehensive methodology but some of the things we can do is we can do assessments within companies. Often companies like to do some basic Lean 101 training, five S training, value stream mapping and progress to some of the more complex tools and methods. We also, in addition to training we offer services to help companies implement Lean through things like Kiser events or strategic planning or things of that nature.

Wendy: Now let's talk about Six Sigma. They are two different applications about methodology but let's talk about that.

Marco: Six Sigma's strength is a little different than Lean's. It’s much more focused on quality and reducing variation and helping with chronic problem solving. It also gives us a very rigorous data driven problem solving approach to dealing with problems. The other thing that Six Sigma has brought to the table is making companies dedicated to resources towards improvement and these resources have clear defined roles and responsibilities. So you hear of black belts and Green belts and champions,

Wendy: Sure

Marco: And all these very defined roles within a Six Sigma program.

Wendy: Would a company want to implement one versus other? Lean versus Six Sigma or would they want to implement both to get the more bang for the money.

Marco: You know I am often asked that question actually.

Wendy: Well good

Marco: which should we do first

Wendy: Good

Marco: which is better, I tell people that is really the wrong question. You need to start with what is your biggest problem areas. What are you trying to accomplish and bring the right methodology to there? So often we you with an advocate an combined approach depending on what your problems are bringing other tools and methods that are necessary to solve the problems but I would say Lean and Six Sigma and constraint Management and some other methodologies really if you combine them you build on the strengths of those methods.

Wendy: Sure

Marco: you minimize the weaknesses. And today Lean and Six Sigma are really some of the best ways we have for simultaneously improving quality, the speed, the capacity, the cost of the process.

Wendy: And I know within Lean the training we have various degrees of Lean training there. Its not just Lean Green Belt, Lean Black Belt, we also have different areas. Why don't you touch on that?

Marco: Okay, we only have two major segments. One is pure lean component and we got a partner SC manufacturer extension partnership that got a national reputation from Lean and constraint management services, we work with them to provide pure lean services. We are also are affiliated with internationally recognized George Group who do Lean and Six Sigma training and they are recognized as world leaders in Lean and Six Sigma so we are one of the four locations in the country that do open enrollment training for the George group so we have people coming in from all over the world

Wendy: That's great

Marco: to take from us Black belt and Green Belt training.

Wendy: Good, now what are some, what are some tangible, financial impact of an organization would have by implementing Lean?

Marco: Okay, I would say and we are trying to get a good handle on how Lean impacts but we probably have in the neighborhood of between 50 and 60 million dollars in income impacts through our training or other services we provide around Lean and Lean Six Sigma. I just got a project submission last week where that Lean Six Sigma black belt and this org a government org. At that about 170,000 on one project. We have had projects rang up savings up to 35 to 40 million dollars over the course of the year.

Wendy: Okay, now you talked about the George Group a little bit and we have at Greenville Tech a very credible Lean and Six Sigma training program. Part of that is because of our affiliation with the George Group. Talk a little more about that if you will.

Marco: Basically we went out nationally looking for providers for lean and Six Sigma training. We had a number of criteria. Actually the George Group was the only group we have found that actually meant all our criteria. Plus some, they are very forward thinking they have already move on Lean Six Sigma looking for the weaknesses of Lean Six Sigma and adding those to the as well so. Due to that partnership we have had people from example from the Marine Corporation and or the Army. We have had major corporations who have attend the training. We have had people from as far away as Germany and

Wendy: sure

Marco: and from Kuwait so part of it is the strength of the George Group name. The certificate needs to mean something.

Wendy: That's right, absolutely.

Marco: so you want to have a reputable provider

Wendy: Well I know you do a number of national as well as international training like you just said and you also do a lot of customized training as well. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?


Marco: Sure, often companies have enough people where they want to do training or have consulting done in house or well go all over the country to speak specially or do training specifically with a company's own personnel so usually if you have above ten people or so it is usually a lot cheaper to do it.

Wendy: Sure

Marco: to customize and we can meet your needs a little more directly. The one thing I like is though, we love doing training but we are about results so

Wendy: absolutely

Marco: so if it needs to move beyond the training realm we will stand side by side with folks and work in the trenches if we have to get the results.

Wendy: Got it. Let me ask you someone who is going to take a lean Black belt or green belt typically what kind of individual would take the training would a company send.

Marco: Okay, When we talk about Lean Sigma black belt green belt we are talking about the highest potential people in an organization. They are often selected because they show good leadership potential and in many cases they are actually pulled out of management for two to three years and put on these high impact projects and then fed back into the work place and often they rise in the organization. That's how you change your culture when you give people this, you know unique training it changes the way people think and you need that back and change their organization. We have some company now making it part of their leadership development program

Wendy: sure

Marco: and makes it mandatory for those people.

Wendy: And we might also want to Point out, Marco this makes a person a lot more marketable.

Marco: definitely

Wendy: by having this training

Marco: yea, we have had a number of individuals, probably close to 30 at this point who have displaced from the work place. Most of them are engineers or other professionals and they found that not having a lean six sigma training has been a barrier to their employment so once they get this training they usually are snapped up.

Wendy: Pretty quickly

Marco: pretty quickly in terms of jobs. So it has a very successful program. Plus we have been able to get some on the job experience. We are able to partner them with local companies to do projects. So they volunteer their time and have a major impact on a company at the same time, its part of the training.

Wendy: Right. Last question for you what set our training; Greenville Technology's training apart from other training that is offered out there?

Marco: Well, first off I think we are very focused on results and we spend a lot of extra time to try to help companies get results, both in the Lean training and the Lean six Sigma training and the Lean Six Sigma training. I spend hours on the phone with people calling me and asking me questions you know after they have had the training

Wendy: right

Marco: which we are constantly trying to strive to be better to improve. I think the evaluations we get the feedback, we get many thanks that pour in all after the training

Wendy: we’re doing something right

Marco: we are doing something right and word is getting out so. I had a gentleman up at a seminar in NY and told me he had run into someone and they were talking and the gentleman found out this individual had taken some training at tech and he asked all if he knew all about tech.

Wendy: and he talked about Macro Luzzatti

Marco: I felt kind of special at that point.

Wendy: I know first hand you guys are getting beat on by a lot of companies nationally about training and doing some kind of customized work so I know there is not enough of you to go around and we are truly, truly ,very, very happy to have you as part of our instructors on Lean. Thank you very much.

Marco: Thank you very much.

Wendy: Alright, when we come back we will speak to Bill Wydell and get his thoughts on Lean in the US, so stay with us.