Six Sigma: The buzzword in the U.S. armed forces to reinvent “business” processes

First, it was the 96th Regional Readiness Command in Utah (see earlier post); now, it is the U.S. armed forces in Korea. Lean Six Sigma continues to touch the administration in the U.S. army. The very fact that the Six Sigma principle is being pursued across boundaries confirms the success of the initiative.

Not only is Six Sigma enabling the army to cut costs, but it is enabling the army to reinvent and re-engineer processes within the army that remove wasteful steps and increase productivity.

As part of its business transformation efforts, the U.S. armed forces in Korea will graduate its first batch of Lean Six Sigma black belts on July 28. The graduates will be much better equipped to improve business practices within the army, particularly in the important functional areas such as reset, repair, manufacturing, and administration.

The following half year will see the army push through several more black belt and green belt training courses to imbibe process improvements. Army Public Affairs quotes  Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey:

Lean Six Sigma empowers people and helps them see the possibilities. People learn that they can document processes that haven’t been documented, quantify work activities that haven’t been quantified, and measure results that haven’t been measured.<