Lean Six Sigma is helping to vitalize many small and large organizations by paying attention to the customer’s needs and providing processes with smaller amounts of variation to consistently meet and even exceed those needs. This task is completed when the organization understands its processes better and controls those inputs and the process variations that will affect the customer’s needs the most. The intent of this book is to develop the concepts of the Twelve Pillars, which support the Six Sigma improvement process, tie this to both the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and lean, and then to cover the areas that should be considered during the implementation of the Six Sigma process. The executive management of every organization must read this book to establish the foundation for the Lean Six Sigma concepts to hold and become part of the operating style of the corporation. The tools discussed in this book are just as applicable to making management decisions based on data as they are for the Black Belts and Knowledge Workers of the process. Benefits: Each chapter has a list of questions at the end intended to prod thoughts concerning concepts covered in the chapter. Contents: Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Basic Concepts Required for the Lean Six Sigma Implementation Process Chapter 3 Pillar One: Market and Customer Knowledge Chapter 4 Pillar Two: Leadership Commitment and Business Needs Chapter 5 Pillar Three: The Strategic Planning Process and Project Alignment Chapter 6 Pillar Four: The Training and Consulting Requirements Chapter 7 Pillar Five: The DMAIC, DMADVIC, and Lean Processes Chapter 8 Pillar Six: Voice of the Customer Chapter 9 Pillar Seven: Quality Function Deployment Chapter 10 Pillar Eight: Process Mapping and Customer and Process Measures Chapter 11 Pillar Nine: Process Capability and Analysis Chapter 12 Pillar Ten: Process Solutions and Improvements Chapter 13 Pillar Eleven: Maintaining the Improvement Chapter 14 Pillar Twelve: Planning for Financial Returns, Recognition, and Rewards Chapter 15 The New Paradigm of Six Sigma Chapter 16 The Knowledge Worker and Six Sigma Chapter 17 The Tool Sets Used for Diverse Industries Chapter 18 The Pitfalls of Implementation Chapter 19 The Successes That Can Be Achieved with Lean Six Sigma and the Knowledge Worker Chapter 20 Evaluating the Six Sigma Process Chapter 21 The Lean Involvement with Six Sigma Chapter 22 Integration of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Lean, and Six Sigma Chapter 23 Conclusions Appendix A Answers to Chapter Questions Appendix B Minimum Level of Tools for Phases in the Twelve Pillars of Six Sigma