Content area
Full text
In the following paragraphs, I will show that the basic concepts of improvement have been around for a long time. We have obfuscated simple truths by trying to combine improvement efforts into some grand universal methodology called Lean Six Sigma.
The origins of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) are not found in the 1980s when the practices of Six Sigma and lean were merged. In fact, the start of LSS traces back to the development of statistical methods in the 1700s. In 1733, Abraham de Moivre, with Pierre-Simon Laplace, developed statistical concepts including probability and the normal curve.
These concepts were used by Eli Whitney near the end of the 18th century to mass produce muskets. Whitney needed to produce 10,000 muskets for the United States military and was able to accomplish this by using objective part measures. Using objective part measures allowed Whitney to create interchangeable parts that were similar enough in fit and function and that allowed for random selection of needed parts for mass assembly. This practice may seem commonplace today; however, during that period of history it was a paradigmshifting concept. The levers that allowed for this paradigm shift were the statistical...