Course Corrections - Chapter Four - Lean Six Sigma
- John Ekman
- Aug 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 19
When business gets offtrack, a small shift can change everything. Course Corrections delivers sharp insights, strategic advice, and real-world stories from the frontlines of business — helping owners navigate with clarity, confidence, and control.
Chapter Four
What is Lean Six Sigma and Why Does It Matter for Your Business?
What is it and why does it matter? |
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Every business, no matter its size, faces the same challenges: wasted time, wasted money, and processes that don’t always flow as smoothly as they should. The difference between businesses that thrive and those that struggle often comes down to how well these challenges are managed.
That’s where Lean Six Sigma comes in.
Lean Six Sigma combines two proven approaches to improvement:
Lean: developed out of the Toyota Production System, it focuses on removing waste, streamlining processes, and ensuring every step adds value.
Six Sigma: developed by Motorola, it’s about reducing errors, variation, and rework, so outcomes are reliable and consistent.
Together, they create a powerful toolkit that helps businesses work smarter, not harder.
A Method That Works for Every Business |
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Originally created for large-scale manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma has since spread to industries as diverse as healthcare, hospitality, professional services, and logistics. Its real strength lies in scalability.
A micro business can apply Lean Six Sigma to streamline ordering, invoicing, or appointment bookings.
A small business might use it to manage stock levels, prevent shortages, and free up cash flow.
A medium business can apply it to logistics, rostering, and customer service systems.
A large enterprise can use it to refine supply chains, improve compliance, and reduce costly inefficiencies.
In every case, the principles are the same:
Eliminate waste.
Reduce errors.
Improve flow.
Deliver better outcomes for customers and staff.
Beyond Tools: Building a Culture of Improvement |
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Lean Six Sigma isn’t just about charts, processes, and data. At its heart, it’s about mindset, culture, and governance.
It encourages staff at every level to ask:
Why are we doing it this way?
Is there a better way to deliver this outcome?
What’s stopping us from getting it right the first time?
And it embeds these improvements into policies and standards:
Standard operating procedures ensure processes are consistent and repeatable.
Quality policies set clear expectations for performance and service.
Governance and compliance frameworks keep improvements aligned with regulations and business objectives.
Behavioural expectations and accountability are codified, reinforcing a culture of continuous improvement.
When this mindset and policy framework take hold, businesses see less firefighting, more proactive problem-solving, and stronger operational control.
Stock, Consumables, and Logistics |
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One of the clearest ways Lean Six Sigma adds value is in the management of stock and consumables.
Many businesses struggle with this balancing act:
Overstocking ties up cash and takes up space. It often leads to waste when items expire or go unused.
Understocking creates shortages, delays, and frustrated customers.
Inconsistent ordering adds confusion and raises costs.
Lean Six Sigma brings discipline and structure. A key concept is safety stock — the buffer inventory that protects you when suppliers are late or demand unexpectedly spikes. By analysing data, businesses can set safety stock at the right level: enough to keep operations running smoothly without locking away valuable capital.
Practical examples include:
A cafe reviewing its consumption, how much waste is generated, and looking at methods and mechanisms to prevent that, then implementing those strategies.
A physiotherapy clinic ensuring consumables like tape and electrodes are always on hand without overspending.
A manufacturer balancing raw materials so production never stalls, but warehouses aren’t clogged.
Whether it’s milk, medical tape, or machinery parts, Lean Six Sigma ensures stock management supports the business instead of draining it.
Beyond Stock: Whole-Business Benefits |
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The same thinking applies outside of logistics.
Lean Six Sigma can refine workflows in administration, finance, rostering, and customer service. The aim is always the same: reduce waste, improve consistency, and strengthen decision-making.
For leadership, that means:
Greater confidence in how the business is performing.
Clearer visibility of risks and inefficiencies.
Decisions backed by data rather than guesswork.
For customers, it means:
Reliable service.
On-time delivery.
Consistent quality.
Whether it’s stock on the shelves or workflows in the office, Lean Six Sigma gives businesses a way to deliver the right outcome, on time, every time.
How Lost Digits Can Help |
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At Lost Digits, we use Lean Six Sigma principles as part of our operational reviews. These reviews are designed to:
Highlight inefficiencies and risks.
Reduce waste and unnecessary costs.
Strengthen logistics and stock management.
Create reliable systems that grow with your business.
The outcome isn’t just a report — it’s a plan for measurable improvements you can count on. For some businesses, that means freeing up cash flow by reworking stock ordering. For others, it’s about refining processes so the team spends less time on fixes and more time delivering value.
👉 If you’re ready to run your business with lower costs, smoother operations, and greater confidence, an operational review with Lost Digits is the place to start.
📞 0417 448 998
Till next time, cheers!
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