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Organisations in the public and pri-vate sectors, whether with a man-ufacturing or service focus, are allkeen to look at methods forimprovement. It seems as if it

ought to be relatively straightforward to achieveimprovement and to build on current gains, but isit happening?

For a variety of reasons, it seems that manyimprovement programmes and initiatives neverquite deliver their potential. Some never really getstarted and some businesses can never be surewhat programme to introduce – whether lean, sixsigma or kaizen would be the appropriate tool touse. The primary causes for this failure centrearound leadership understanding and commit-ment, the role and behaviour of managers and thepotential complexity of the tools and techniquesneeded in the improvement process.

Kai sigmaBut what if things were different? We’ve devel-oped an approach, kai sigma, to address theseissues. Kai sigma brings together the powerfulconcepts of kaizen, ie involving people in contin-uously seeking to improve performance, but with-in the framework of DMAIC (define, measure,analyse, improve and control), a tool used in sixsigma. So, improvement can then come fromfocusing on how the work gets done and howwell it gets done.

Firstly, managers and their teams need to have aclear understanding of their processes and roles.

kai sigma

introducing kai sigmaNew tools and techniques, training and thededication of staff to focused project teamscan make six sigma a daunting prospect tosome organisations. But is there an easierway in? Martin Brenig-Jones outlines anew approach

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Managers should work on processes with the peo-ple involved, to find ways of continuously improv-ing. By working in this way, people feel capableand are able to challenge and improve theirprocess and the way they work.

Secondly, improvement activity needs to beundertaken systematically, using the framework ofDMAIC commonly used in lean six sigma pro-grammes. This helps avoid the dual temptations ofjumping to conclusions and solutions withoutreally understanding the problem. The DMAICmethodology provides a framework for the projectwhich ensures business problem solving goesthrough a rigorous approach – not just jumping tosolutions. The methodology focuses first on thedefine and measure phases of understanding whatthe problem is and how bad it is, such as delaysand errors in invoicing or defects in productsshipped to customers. The approach then focuseson the analyse phase, getting down to the rootcauses. Then, in the improve phase, on getting tothe best solution to solve the problem and finally,the control phase.

The key principles of kai sigma are as follows:• the improvement is undertaken pragmatically• pre-project training time for team members is

minimised• the approach is well facilitated by people who

are able to identify how best to tackle the prob-lem, using the right method and the right tools

• the results come through quicklyThese key concepts are supported by a carefullyselected set of practical and relevant tools andtechniques that enable people to solve problems.At its heart is the need to ensure that people at alllevels of an organisation both feel able and are ableto contribute suggestions and to implementchanges to processes. Naturally, this has significantimplications for the culture of the organisation

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Retail sectorA well-known specialist retail chain currently undergoing amajor change programme opted to use kai sigma. In this casethe approach has proved successful; a basis for rapid actionwas created by the improvement team even before the firstfacilitated workshop had taken place.The tools utilised in the‘define’ phase of the workshop included:• 15-word flipchart (to help create the problem statement) • affinity diagram and interrelationship diagram (for some collabo-rative working around the issue with the team members present)• SIPOC – a process scoping toolOne of the keys to success here has been the skills of thefacilitator who is a highly experienced ex-General Electric(GE) black belt. She avoided using lean or six sigma jargon andfocused the team on using the tools in a way which theycould relate to in their everyday work, while also engagingwith senior management before and after the event.

In this respect, kai sigma has some similarity to the suc-cessful ‘workout’ improvement workshop-based approach,which was originally developed in GE during the 1990s whereJack Welch specifically engaged local teams in improvementactivities.

GP surgerySouth Street Surgery in Bishops Stortford, a GP practice with20,000 patients, opted for kai sigma to tackle a specific prob-lem with patient calls. Again, no training of project team mem-bers took place before the first workshop.

This workshop was run as a one-day rapid improvementevent using the kai sigma principles to tackle a telephonequeuing problem that patients were experiencing when callingin at 8.30am on Monday mornings to make clinical appoint-ments.The DMAIC methodology was used literally over thecourse of one day to take the team through a structuredproblem-solving approach.This resulted in a prioritised list ofimprovements.

Dr Paresh Dawda, partner at the surgery, said: ‘What it hasenabled us to do is harness the thoughts and suggestions of thefrontline workers (the receptionists) who already knew thesolutions. By involving them in the process and coming up withthe solutions, when it’s come to the implementation, we’ve hadtheir wholehearted support, which is great.’

Discussing the benefits of the workshop-based approach,Dr Mark Jenns, senior partner, commented: ‘The first eventconvinced us that this was a very useful way of doing things toachieve change quickly.You can have lots of ideas for changebut they never actually happen or take months to process.This rapid event really puts a lot of time and effort into afocused approach.’

Case studiesand for the role of the manager.

Kai sigma has so far been operated as a facili-tated workshop approach to improvement, but it isnot intended as a ‘training delivery’ product(although training and coaching requirementsmight be identified as a result), nor is it intendedas a replacement for a full lean six sigma pro-gramme. Where organisations are unsure of theimprovement route to take, kai sigma may providea way forward, enabling them to assess:• the effectiveness of the approach• the readiness for an improvement programme• what they are realistically able to implement• next steps, from taking on the approach them-

selves to introducing a full-scale programmeThe kai sigma approach does need to be expertlyfacilitated by people who are able to identify howbest to tackle the problem, using the right methodand the right tools.They also need to know how toscope the problems being addressed and to assesswhen more advanced tools and techniques mightbe needed.

In terms of the commonly used tools needed,they are likely to include:• CTQs (critical to quality) • SIPOC diagrams (suppliers, inputs, process,

outputs, customers) • process stapling • process or value-stream maps• theory of constraints • seven wastes• Kaizen’s five-step method (5S)• visual management• data collection• data displays, control charts, Pareto diagrams• fishbone and interrelationship diagrams• FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis) and

error proofing• control plans

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These are a mix of tools and techniques used inlean and six sigma, but if appropriate, the facilita-tor does not need to use the language of lean sixsigma. The aim is to involve people in makingimprovements to their processes through a seriesof workshops following the DMAIC phases.

It starts with a clear definition of a problem anda relatively narrow scope. We need to understandwhat’s happening now. How does the work getdone? How well does it get done?

Process stapling is a very effective techniquethat also serves to highlight non-value-add andwaste. It may highlight potential solutions imme-diately and can be accompanied by what we call a‘walking flipchart’. Basic data is gathered usingthis flipchart to capture the opportunities, such asidentifying waste, non-value-add steps, the needfor 5S or visual management.

Sometimes, the first steps will be agreeing astandard process, where there is none. This willprovide real gains very easily and enable some sta-bility and predictability in the process. The realityis that a process cannot really be improved until itis standardised. Once this is carried out, there is agenuine chance to stabilise the process and promptfurther improvements.

If defects occur, the first question should be,‘has the standard process been followed?’ If it has,then the process needs to be improved. Either way,once the process is truly understood, it can beimproved.

In the evolving culture of continuous improve-ment, processes need to be constantly examined,encouraging ideas from the people in the process,and using kai sigma, where appropriate. As per-formance increases over time and improvementgains become harder to achieve, it is likely thatmore formal DMAIC improvement projects will beneeded, using more sophisticated tools and tech-niques, but kai sigma is a good place to start.

What’s different?So how does the kai sigma approach compare to amore traditional six sigma project? In the main, theimprovement team members will be the people inthe process. This will involve them for up to five or

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Martin Brenig-Jones is a director of Catalyst Consulting. Priorto joining Catalyst in 2000, he was head of quality at BT. Sincejoining Catalyst he has trained and coached over 1,000 peoplein lean six sigma techniques and has worked across Europeand in the US. He can be contacted at E: mbj@catalystconsult-ing.co.uk or visit www.catalystconsulting.co.uk

six days full-time, over five or six weeks, or, insome cases, a one-week hit. This compares to per-haps four months part-time in a traditional DMAICproject, though the actual team hours may turn outto be similar.

There is also likely to be more use of teamknowledge rather than detailed analysis with abias for action (perhaps 70 to 80 per cent confi-dent as opposed to 95 per cent in a typical sixsigma project). You might also find that the solu-tion may be known by the team, but historicallythey have not been listened to. Either way, imple-mentation of the solution is actioned quickly.

As with a traditional DMAIC project, the con-trol phase in kai sigma is vital to ensure theimprovement gain is maintained. The controlphase ensures that the solution is implementedand a good control system with the right ongoingmeasures is put in place and that this continuesafter the improvement project has been satisfacto-rily completed.

This is something that can be overlooked intypical lean improvement activities. Although leanbrings important additional tools and techniquesinto the toolkit, it does not have an underpinningmethodology akin to DMAIC and therefore doesnot have the rigour of the control phase.

In summary, we believe that kai sigma providesthe way forward, whether you are just starting onan improvement path or whether you have startedalready, but have lost direction. It’s important tostress that our approach is to maximise the poten-tial from lean thinking and six sigma by integrat-ing the two approaches. One plus one really doesadd up to more than two. Lean six sigma producesa natural and powerful synergy, but to achieve thisin the long term, kai sigma might provide an ini-tial stepping stone

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