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Wow, I’ve seen more than a few insipid remarks here, but that one takes the cake. Sounds like you’re one of the losers who couldn’t change and got left by the wayside.

Thanks for the old ad hominem reply.

Actually what I am is an old creative software guy. There's a pretty good chance you seen some of the stuff I've done, and read about some stuff you probably haven't seen. I'm also a math guy. (Math degrees, SAT scores with closed curves only, you know or maybe you don't)

Here's what Wikipedia says about your beloved six-sigma:

A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million).

So this BS is about manufacturing. Much of the stuff I do has NEVER been done before. (E.g. I was the one who wrote the control software for the first electric brakes that were flown on an airplane; and stopped it too.) Unfortunately the bozos who run big corporations and get sold this six-sigma load really don't view manufacturing very differently from R&D and Engineering; and they have their underlings tell us how to do what we do. The problem is that they haven't a clue. And they don't know how to compose symphonies either.

But what about manufacturing. Does it matter what the cost is of trying to manufacture something with fewer than one failure in every 250,000 units? Not to the Ivory Tower A$$holes who push this nonsense, it doesn't. Sure it's nice not to get any returns. But the company I am most familiar with that pushes this nonsense, manufactures in the thousands, not millions; and half the stuff they ship out comes back for repair. It's a real Dilbertorium.

ML/NJ

If you think Lean is about manufacturing only, you simply don't know what it is. I don't know who you've worked for or what “bills of goods” they've been sold, but Lean is about much more than simply production.

Six Sigma on the other hand has almost nothing to do with production per se and is primarily an engineering design toolkit - and yes, manufacturing engineering as well.

The comment about symphonies is non sequitur idiocy. No one has ever suggested the use of either for purely creative aesthetic endeavors. But then you know that don't you? You were just looking for a chance at a cheap shot.

Hank