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Similarities And Differences Between Six Sigma, Lean, And Kaizen

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The Similarities and Differences of Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen
Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen are all strategies that hold their roots in business for the positive improvement of functions for particular entities. These strategies are unique in their global applicability and specific processes and yet similar with regard to the manner in which they are structured. They can be applied to improve processes for anything from large scale manufacturing to something as simple as gardening. The purpose of this paper is to introduce these individual strategies and then illustrate the similarities and differences among them.
Individual Strategies
Six Sigma was first introduced in the 1980’s by none other than Motorola. It was not however necessarily a novel concept at the time so much as it drew from a conglomerate of proven manufacturing principles. It is strikingly similar to the scientific method in design. Six Sigma approaches areas that may not necessarily be viewed as problematic with an open mind. It seeks to analyze problems or questions with a stepwise, statistical, and quantitative focus in order to discover, fix, or disprove problems that may or may not exist within a process. By doing this Six Sigma can improve efficiency and therefore improve positive outcomes for whatever the endpoint may be (Mast, Bisgaard, & others, 2007).
Lean is a similar concept to Six Sigma. It is a method designed to improve a process to ultimately save value in some way. Lean was originally

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