SSAA (Six Sigma Academy Amsterdam) International

I really hate to fly longer than 2-3 hours, but in 2025 I found myself yet again on board of a plane, this time being imprisoned for almost 14 hours as it would fly from Amsterdam to Tokyo. This already long flight had become even longer due to the fact that certain airspace had to be avoided due to political factors. Be it as it may, with such an ocean of time at my disposal, I drafted a new offline course and I watched Joker Folie a Deux, not once but twice. I actually appreciated it too, contrary to the vast majority of people. In fact, I found it to be a masterpiece!  I wanted to make the trip to Japan for years, but every time something had come up and I couldn’t get the factory access that I wanted. But this time was different and I managed to secure a good mix of factory tours and interviews with professionals and academics. The trip was worth the hassle. On the third day of the trip, I left an extremely hot Tokyo to travel to an even hotter Nagoya. I would have never im...

It was a rainy evening in Maastricht, a not particularly big city in the South of Holland. It had been raining non stop for 3 weeks and if you wouldn't know better, you would wonder why the heavens do not run out of water! Maastricht is a city that seems to have been stuck with one leg in the early 20th century and it is exactly that which gives it its charm. For me, a trip to Maastricht is not just a trip in space. It is also a trip in time! Anyways, enough with the city marketing, especially because they did not pay a cent to sponsor this article!   I had a busy day in Maastricht discussing a possible partnership with a Belgian e-commerce company. Long story short, we did not agree on a cooperation, but we had a few laughs and shared some valuable experiences and that too is not a bad outcome. Without an agreement, but with a cup of coffee in my hand, I was waiting in the central station of Maastricht, waiting for the train that would take me back home. Then I hear "hello si...

"Is Lean more suitable than Agile for my company?" This is like asking: "Is mashed potatoes better than restaurant?" Agile is first and foremost 4 values, namely: Individuals and interactions  over processes and tools   Working software  over comprehensive documentation   Customer collaboration  over contract negotiation   Responding to change  over following a plan As you can clearly see, these are not very rigidly defined. They leave a lot to the ones implementing these values. It's up to them to come up with the right tools and techniques to give shape to these 4 values. This is where Lean might come in (but please realize that it does not have to ). Lean has an impressive library of tools and techniques that can help to give shape to some of these values. So Lean might complement Agile, but choosing between either Lean or Agile is not relevant.    www.ssaa.nl

When engaging in organizational change, never forget the 20-60-20 rule. Roughly 20% of the organization is enthousiast about the change, 60% is ambivalent and does not really care (you are just change number 785 to them) and 20% is hostile. The trick to to activate the enthousiast 20% to sell the change to the 60%. Ignore the hostile 20%, they are a given, a constant. They dislike your change no matter how you wrap it, how you spin it, and how you modify it. Do not waste time on them, do not try to investigate their motivation, it is all a lost cause.  www.ssaa.nl

Lean and six sigma are often combined but are not the same. In some ways they even clash! One such clash is due to the central position of Kaizen in Lean. Kaizen reflects the Japanese origin of Lean and is about continuous, gradual improvements rather than sudden breakthroughs that may shock the system and create negative consequences. However, sudden major breakthroughs are a key characteristic of six sigma projects. At the end of a six sigma project, we generally do have a major breakthrough and not a series of incremental continuous improvements. Six Sigma does shock the system! In a way this reflects the American background of six sigma that has its origin around the Chicago area in the 1980's. So when Lean is incorporated in six sigma, it typically enters the six sigma project as tools like 5S, House of Quality, Hoshin Kanri, Andon etc. But it does not fully enter Six Sigma, because it clashes in some areas. That is also the reason why a Lean Six Sigma study program does not c...

Waste is Lean is not the same as "waste" according to the dictionary. In Japanese we refer to the waste in Lean as "muda" (無駄). Muda or waste is just another way of referring to a non-value adding activity or NVAA. Its opposite is a value adding activity or VAA. A value adding activity meets 3 conditions: There is transformation of some kind (in form, function, value etc.) Customer is willing to pay for that transformation. The transformation is done right the first time. No repairs or rework is needed that is directly or indirectly paid by the customer. If all three conditions hold, we are talking about a VAA, If even one of them does not hold, we speak of a NVAA or "muda" or waste. Example: Cooking pasta in a restaurant is a VAA. Raw paste is transformed to cooked pasta. The mainstream customer will value cooked pasta more than raw pasta (not that tasty, trust us!) and we assume it is done correctly the first time, which means that the chef did not burn ...

In the classic Lean, there are 7 types of waste. But recently an 8th type has been added. The 8th type is not universally agreed on, but most reputable sources will refer to it as the "waste of talent" or waste of information." Do you know the exact skills of the people you are working with, or work for you? Do they know yours with 100% accuracy? If the answer is "no" or "maybe not completely" then we are dealing with a pure form of waste, perhaps even one of the most serious ones! One way to deal with that is to use a "skill matrix." Learn more about a skill matrix by clicking here .  www.ssaa.nl