A free sample from Understanding Lean & Six Sigma, Book 7 of the NJN Consulting Asset Management Series.
Lean and Six Sigma have a place in industrial maintenance — but the textbooks treat LSS as if every problem is a manufacturing process problem. Book 7 takes the methodology that matters (DMAIC, SIPOC, statistical methods, lean waste, control charts) and applies it specifically to maintenance and reliability work. The toolkit your DE program needs to mature.
A practitioner's guide.
Chapter 1 · Definition, Purpose and Context
Plus 9-12 further chapters covering the full pillar — see book pages for the complete table of contents.
Lean is a body of practice originating with the Toyota Production System that focuses on the systematic elimination of waste and the improvement of flow through a process. Its core question is: what activity in this process does not add value for the customer, and how do we remove it?
Within LSS, a defect is any output of a process that fails to meet a customer-defined specification. This is the same definition used in Book 5: a defect is not a broken machine — it is a process output that did not do what the customer needed it to do.
The purpose of this book is to give the working practitioner the diagnostic toolkit that powers a credible Defect Elimination program. Book 5 defined what defect elimination is and described the five-step DE process. This book — Book 7 — explains how to do that work using Lean and Six Sigma tools.
LSS without DE tends to become a training program: belts are awarded, projects are charted, but the work done on the plant floor does not change. DE without LSS tends to become reactive maintenance with extra paperwork. The two combined deliver.
The diagnostic toolkit — SIPOC, DMAIC, statistical methods. LSS for industrial maintenance.
More videos on the NJN Consulting channel →
Prefer to listen? Lean & Six Sigma — podcast episode →
Want all eight books? The Anthology bundles Books 1–8 plus framing material for $49.99 PDF / $79.99 paperback / $119.99 hardcover. See the Anthology →