Manufacturing Magazine December 2014 | Page 21

feature article shortened headline

‘ BAE Systems has implemented lean sigma across its business and many argue it ’ s this strategy that allows the company to remain at the forefront of the sector ’

effectiveness and efficiency by removing waste and non valueadded activities , decreasing defects and decreasing cycle time .
The concept of merging lean and six-sigma can be traced back to 1997 when BAE Systems combined both principles . The company named the program Lean Sigma , its aim being to protect market share in the aerospace industry . They mixed together the
Kaisen team with Black Belts , the aim being to reducing variation within their processes . As a result the company achieved substantial improvements in productivity , lead-time , savings and reliability . Since then , BAE Systems has implemented lean sigma across its business and many argue its this strategy that allows the company to remain at the forefront of the sector .
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