Where Lean and Business Objectives Collide: Customer Acquisition Through Lean Six Sigma

In my post last week, I mentioned some of the lesser touted benefits of Lean Six Sigma. The first of which had to do with increased inshore manufacturing. Coincidentally, this week's post in IndustryWeek by Michael Collins is much related as it critiques the influence of Continuous Improvement Programs on domestic manufacturing growth. In the article, Michael points out the core focus of continuous improvement is on internal processes and although cost savings can be attained, the scope of most continuous improvement programs does not address improving sales or market demand for products. This external or customer facing perspective on continuous improvement is often the biggest hurdle in winning management support for Lean Six Sigma objectives. To reap the full benefits of Lean, it needs to operate as part of a company-wide system. It may be a matter of semantics, however where Lean is inward-facing there is Op-Ex which is outward-facing (I had briefly distinguished between the two in a previous post - here). These two programs should run in parallel. For this reason, I'd like to review some more benefits of Lean Six Sigma that appeal more from a growth perspective:

• Building Value - While most customers would not care if Lean Six Sigma was part of the manufacturing process, all of them would surely appreciate the added value that ultimately results. This can be in the form of improved processes to create an overall better product or cost savings in manufacturing that could be passed on to the customer. Examples include reformatting final packaging of a product to increase the packing efficiency which improves on shipping/freight costs (flat packing).  Another example is reducing the amount of superfluous packaging used to reduce raw material demands (think eco-friendly water bottles). 
   
• Increased Capacity - Although continuous improvement does not entitle you to new customers, improved internal processes and methods should increase the capacity of manufacturing to be able to increase output. This ability to meet market demand is often key when businesses are looking to capitalize on customer acquisition opportunities where it is vital to able to quickly fill in a gap. 
   
• Setting New Industry Standards - Less variation means increased quality means reduced lead times. These are all factors that contribute to setting new industry standards which also lends itself to building value. There's no better beacon for customer acquisition than being an industry leader and in today's marketplace of ubiquitous online reviews and social media, consistency in quality is of the utmost importance. 
   
• Reinvestment of Resources - Instead of finding additional capital to assign to sales/manufacturing you could redirect the cost savings achieved through Lean Six Sigma to gain new business by reinvesting towards sales/manufacturing. 

Although customers do not explicitly demand continuous improvement from their manufacturers, it is a given in today's marketplace. No matter how successful a product, customer expectations are always elevating and continuous improvement is required to meet or exceed these expectations. Therefore, continuous improvement is not just mission critical to customer acquisition but also to retention.