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It’s no secret that Lean Six Sigma is an effective way to cut waste, streamline processes and improve quality. It blends Lean’s focus on efficiency with Six Sigma’s emphasis on reducing defects. Companies now use the approach across supply chains to solve problems, control costs and keep operations moving.
“Supply chains have always lived with disruption, but the scale and speed of recent shocks have exposed deeper weaknesses: brittle networks, shallow risk buffers and overreliance on linear processes,” Villanova University points out in a new report on the tight connection between supply chain resilience and Lean.
“The question many leaders are asking is not how to return to normal, but how to design operations capable of absorbing volatility and sustaining performance,” the university continues. “That shift from recovery to resilience demands a different caliber of process leadership.”
Managing Volatility
Supply chain disruption isn’t a new problem, but the frequency and scale of recent shocks have made resilience a top priority for most organizations. “Supply chain logistics have always been finely balanced systems, dependent on precise timing, rapid pivots and slim margins,” Fleetpoint’s Mark Salisbury states in “Building a resilient supply chain amid unparalleled disruptions.”
“Over the past decade, these systems have faced an unrelenting series of disruptions that have exposed just how fragile global supply networks can be,” Salisbury continues. “From factory shutdowns and flash flooding to forced labor scandals, trade wars, canal blockages and supplier collapses, these crises have redefined the way procurement and supply chain leaders think about risk.”
In its report, Villanova highlights how Lean Six Sigma methods can be applied to strengthen resilience. It says leaders, in particular, need tools that spot fragility early, manage variability and build flexibility into their systems. Lean Six Sigma provides that framework by:
- Redefining success metrics. Traditional key performance indicators (KPIs) track throughput, delivery and defect rates. Resilience requires new indicators such as supplier redundancy, buffer utilization and lead-time elasticity. These metrics help leaders see weak spots before they become failures.
- Using data to uncover variability. The combination of Six Sigma’s DMAIC framework (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) and advanced analytics can help companies pinpoint systemic vulnerabilities that may be overlooked in day-to-day reporting. Instead of reacting to breakdowns, supply chains can anticipate patterns and prepare responses.
- Designing for adaptability. Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is a methodology used to create new processes or products from the ground up with quality, efficiency and resilience built in from the start. According to Villanova, DFSS builds flexibility into processes at the start. Embedding risk management in the design phase, for example, makes supply chains better able to flex under pressure rather than having to scramble after disruption has already impacted operations.
- Extending continuous improvement to leadership. Villanova says Master Black Belts can push Lean Six Sigma beyond the shop floor and into governance. This helps ensure resilience practices stay in place through leadership changes, market shifts and strategic pivots, it adds.
- Applying Lean thinking to buffers and beyond. All companies know that stockpiling inventory is costly and often ineffective. Lean Six Sigma reframes inventory around service continuity, using data to place targeted buffers, rebalance just-in-time and just-in-case strategies, and build real-time visibility. The same approach can be used for processes like freight routing, supplier rationalization and demand planning.
Leading Through Turbulence
Ultimately, Villanova says supply chain leaders have to be able to design processes that hold up under pressure, and it sees Lean as a viable tool for achieving that goal. “Disruption isn’t going away,” it adds. “The professionals who lead through that turbulence will not be the ones with the longest resumes of past projects, but the ones with the deepest mastery of resilient process design.”
