Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

Question: 1. what is different between Lean-Six Sigma and traditional quality improvement?

Lean-Six Sigma differs from traditional quality improvement in procedure but the intended result is similar. Like traditional quality improvement methods, it is engineered to ensure that the company stays in business but better economies of scale are achieved. Lean-Six Sigma works on the reduction of expenditures and costs of production. This would entail changing certain systems for more effective ones. On the other hand, traditional quality improvement works with the present systems. Unlike Lean-Six Sigma, the traditional quality improvement capitalizes on what is already there. For instance, if the packaging systems are slow, this program will increase the packaging machinery and staff. On the other hand, the Lean-Six Sigma would find a different packaging system and replace the old with a new and more efficient system. In the long run, the Lean-Six Sigma would ensure that at the same cost or less, the packaging is more effective and faster, which in the long run means it is a cheaper system of operations. The Lean-Six Sigma is more likely to give immediate and drastic results while the traditional quality improvement is a trial and error method of improving the company revenue. The traditional quality improvement needs far more supervision and monitoring as opposed to the Lean-Six Sigma (Lean Six Sigma vs. Traditional Six Sigma, n.d.).

2. What is the difference between routine work and knowledge work? Provide examples of each type of work.

  Routine work is work done as per specified regulations and is predictable in result. Knowledge work is work that requires the expertise of the individual and in most cases the procedure is unpredictable. For instance, when working in a production office, as long as the products expected at the end of the day are the same, the production work is routine work. Knowledge work usually gives the individual freedom to explore their creativity and come up with a result to fit the expected specifications. The two work procedures differ in the set specifications of work. In routine work, the dynamics of the job do not change much. The change is often structured in the routine work and requires extensive consultation before it is effected. For instance, the accounting programs used by a company have to be structured and the accountant basically has to do what is stipulated all year round. On the other hand, knowledge work gives the individual space to reach an end result by using whichever means they deem best. In the production department, for instance, the technicians have the room to decide and find a way of doing things in order to save time or cost. This cannot be dictated by the company regulations because the technician is hired to do the thinking for the company in as far as the production systems are concerned (Nickols, 2015).

References

Lean Six Sigma vs. Traditional Six Sigma. (n.d.). Retrieved from Aveta Business Online: http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma-training-certification-information/lean-six-sigma-vs-traditional-six-sigma/

Nickols, F. (2015, June 27). The Shift from Manual Work to Knowledge Work. Retrieved from Distance Consulting: http://www.nickols.us/shift_to_KW.htm