Saving money, increasing profits, and dramatically boosting productivity using lean Six Sigma was the privilege of big corporations that could afford lengthy educational programs, loaded with statistics and lead by expensive consultants. But there is another way.

While managing directors and senior executives of smaller organizations think lean Six Sigma is just “too big” for them, I believe there is practical way to share this methodology, with no high level of statistical education required. In my book, Profitable Empowerment (The Book Refinery Ltd., 2009), I outline a carefully selected set of tools that helps to solve the majority of business problems, including long lead times, poor quality, bad delivery performance, high costs, too many mistakes and corrections, and unsatisfied customers. I also give a framework for using the method within an organization where it can become an integral part of one’s overall business improvement strategy and provide daily results.

For instance, at one Scandinavian company, profits were falling after having good financial gains for several years under supervision of one managing director. The company’s managing team and a project team’s members implemented the same structure and methodology I describe in the book, the focus of which is on cost reduction and increased efficiency.

Here are just a few results the teams were able to achieve within six months:

• Reduction of energy usage by 53 percent

• Reduction of processing time at needling department by 18 percent

• Material savings of 32 percent

• Eight projects were completed with documented, significant improvements in efficiency and employee motivation.

After the first six months of this improvement program profits were the highest in the company’s history. Most important, the managing team together with the managing director now follow an established structure to continuously improve performance.