Insights: Books: ISBN 978-3-642-35900-2

Place your order online now at Springer.com or at Amazon.com

Handbook on Continuous Improvement Transformation:
The Lean Six Sigma Framework and Systematic Methodology for Implementation
Aristide van Aartsengel and Selahattin Kurtoglu

 

Series: Management for Professionals
Content Level: Professional/practitioner

• Provides a framework and systematic methodology for "Continuous Improvement" transformation.
• Based on a global project management standard (PMI - PMBOK).
• Connects the Lean Six-Sigma model with the PDSA cycle.

 
From the back cover:
This handbook provides a comprehensive and detailed framework for the implementation of "Continuous Improvement" and Lean Six Sigma in a professional project management environment. For this purpose the book brings together Lean Six Sigma and the PMBOK standard for project management. It provides an integrated approach, which can be used for both transactional and manufacturing businesses to better define ways to reduce costs, enhance processes ,and achieve faster implementation and new product or service development. The reader is guided carefully and reliably through the detailed procedures introduced in this book using a comprehensive, conceptual and practical well-balanced approach.

Extended Description:

In today's hyper-competitive international marketplace, with severe economic turmoil, "Continuous Improvement" transformation is a condition for achieving and sustaining success. For an enterprise business not just to perform excellently, but to perform excellently consistently there must be improvement efforts in both the "Continuous Improvement" philosophy and break-through improvement methodology. Every enterprise business must have systematic methods for making smart decisions, attacking problems, improving its products and services, and keeping customers delighted. Anything less than a systematic, disciplined approach is leaving the enterprise business future in the hands of chance.

The progressive realization of a "Continuous Improvement" transformation requires a framework and a systematic methodology for studying the constituent elements or processes associated with the determining factors of the system considered. It also requires a way of differentiating between the different types of variation present in those processes. The rationale of this book is to provide an answer to the second basic question to ask of management for a successful implementation of any improvement initiative: "Are we doing things right?"

This handbook provides a comprehensive and detailed framework for the implementation of "Continuous Improvement" and Lean Six Sigma in a professional project management environment. For this purpose the book brings together Lean Six Sigma and the PMBOK standard for project management. It provides an integrated approach, which can be used for both transactional and manufacturing businesses to better define ways to reduce costs, enhance processes, and achieve faster implementation and new product or service development. The reader is guided carefully and reliably through the detailed procedures introduced in this book using a comprehensive, conceptual and practical well-balanced approach.

Selected Reviews (Before Publication):

• Whether involved with improving products/processes within a business or assembly quality, this handbook provides a practical and fundamental approach for improving performance. The book serves as an excellent reference for those involved with change, specifically, change that will result in improvement.
  Karl-Thomas Thom - Area Manager General Assembly bei Opel
   
• A simple and easy to use methodology for making improvements. The Handbook on Continuous Improvement Transformation has brought to our business and my life a simple and easy methodology for making improvements regardless of the scope of the process. The handbook is based on a systems approach to improvements, which allows a better understanding of how the improvements that you are working on affect your system.
  Hans Riedel - Senior Expert in Manufacturing Processes and Manufacturing Management
   
• The book is easy to read and has useful examples of real life improvement efforts. I use this book on a daily basis. It allows me the opportunity to manage our company's, my clients as well as my own improvement efforts.
  Uwe W. Herzog - Director Project Management
   
• This is a good text which helps a lot to the people learning on how to do improvements in the fields related to job. Highly recommended to use as a reference for process improvement projects.
  Brunhilde -Adalbert - Director of Quality and Continuous Improvement, TRG
   
• A very clear update of performance improvement process for business. The authors have done a tremendous job of organizing a great amount of knowledge into an elegant model for improvement. It can be used with equal success to improve your projects or guide your global business transformation. A must for every improvement bookshelf.
  Maetzig Rainer - Founder and CEO of ARL
   
• For anyone wanting to learn about quality and improvement principles, model, method and tools, this is the ONLY book you will ever need to read. This handbook can be used as an introduction to the concept for newly trained staff and an everyday reference for those working on real projects. Don't hesitate to buy this book if you're at all interested or working in the quality and performance improvement field.
  Werner Reinhardt - Senior Consultant, AHCA
   
• I found this book both practically useful and inspiring. Also, in almost every case when I asked "what does he mean by this?" the authors answered the question either in the next paragraph or on the next page.
  Schlingensief Martin Roth - Director Center for Continuous Quality Improvement, CQIA