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The Lean Six Sigma method is the common theme throughout the business operation of Oldenburger|Fritom. In other words, our logistic management is focused on the needs of you as our customer. This is expressed in our pursuit for operational excellence and continuous improvement.
The Six Sigma management philosophy can be traced back to 1986 when Motorola wanted to compete with the Japanese Kaizen business model in the United States of America. The management philosophy was shared by Motorola with AlliedSignal, then later, Honeywell. AlliedSignal in its turn used Six Sigma to get the company out of its negative spiral.
This didn’t go unnoticed by Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric at the time. In 1995 he applied Six Sigma very successfully to his company. The Lean Six Sigma concept was then introduced in a book for the very first time: ‘Leaning into Six Sigma: The Path to Integration of Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma’ (2001).
In Lean Six Sigma two improvement methods are combined. Lean offers tools mainly based on best practices. Six Sigma offers a project-based approach with quantitative analyzes. Together they are used to improve and innovate processes in a systematical manner. Structured according to the DMAIC model:
During the first stage CTQs (Critical To Quality) are defined to provide insight in the Six Sigma process performance. Based on this, influencing elements are analyzed. As soon as these have been identified, actions can be taken to improve performance, according to the Lean Six Sigma method.
In lean logistics we continuously strive to improve and innovate. That’s why multiple of our employees in our logistic knowledge organization followed a Lean Six Sigma training. These trainings have a belt certification:
The Master Black Belt is the Lean in-house expert at Oldenburger|Fritom. He guides our organization in the methodology and develops and provides trainings for this. Our knowledge organization also has Yellow Belts, Orange Belts and employees who successfully completed the Black Belt and Green Belt training. The Black Belts and Green Belts, like our Lean Master, independently guide improvement processes.
Your logistic process according to the Lean Six Sigma method?
Frans Andeweg
General Affairs and Supply Chain Manager