The Use of Lean and Six Sigma Approaches - Essay Example

The lean approach is the process of improving the products created, reducing waste, and empowering people by solving problems. This approach makes companies more competitive and innovative hence improving their sustainability. The lean approach identifies the waste and ensures the problem is corrected by continuous use improvement where its primary focus is on waste reduction in transportation, overproduction, inventory, and defects. A company like Nike used the approach, and it proved a lean approach to be among the best for the yield outcome they got after using it.

In 2002, Nike released the FY 10-11 performance summary which indicated that the use of the lean approach helped them to get better outcomes in their products. Notably, using the approach, CO2 omission reduced by 6 % while the production increased by 20%. Six-Sigma is a program that improves the quality, customer experience, builds good leaders, and lowers the cost to be used in the company (Mason et al. 91). It is data-driven as it reduces defects in a process from the manufacturing process to the transactional process (Mason et al. 99). General electric company is among the companies using the six sigma approach where they have benefited from it by making more than 10 billion dollars in the first five years.