Implementing Lean principles with the Six Sigma advantage: How a battery company realized significant improvements

Abstract Lean Manufacturing can produce startlingly good results—but implementing them can be costly in time and other resources, whose investment does not always pay off. When Lean principles are integrated with Six Sigma practices, however, their success rate grows—and, most importantly, improvements become embedded in daily work life on a continuing basis. One battery company instituted this blend of methods, and dramatically reduced its cost of capital while streamlining its manufacturing process—as well as improving its customer satisfaction levels. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.