The Marketing Minute: If Your Marketing Budget Gets Cut in Half, Then What?
Punching Out: How Are the Big Boys in Electronics Doing?
It’s Only Common Sense: Complexity Is the Enemy of Profit
Lean vs. TQM vs. Six Sigma
August 2, 2023 | Steve Williams, The Right Approach Consulting LLCEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Introduction
Lean, Total Quality Management (TQM), and Six Sigma are three popular methodologies used in business and manufacturing sectors to improve processes, increase efficiency, and reduce waste. While they share some similarities, each approach has its unique focus and tools. Here's a comparison of Lean, TQM, and Six Sigma.
The Founding Fathers
Companies like Toyota are often touted (with good reason) as the gold standard for quality system models. Toyota’s TPS (Toyota Production System) has been highly publicized and has gained increasing acceptance in American manufacturing operations over the last decade or so. What has not been highly publicized is the fact that many of these concepts originated in America, and quality pioneers like W. Edwards Deming had to take their show on the road to Japan only after being rejected by the leaders of American industry. The contributions of such legends as Dr. Deming, Dr. Joseph Juran, Philip Crosby, Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Dr. Walter Shewhart, and Shigeo Shingo had such an impact on the world that they truly are the Founding Fathers of modern quality.
“We strive to decide our own fate. We act with self-reliance, trusting in our own abilities. We accept responsibility for our conduct and for maintaining and improving the skills that enable us to produce added value.”
–Excerpt from Toyota Motor Corporation’s internal document, “Toyota Way”
Lean
Lean is a methodology and philosophy that originated from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and is widely used in various industries for process improvement and waste reduction. The core principle of Lean is to maximize value for customers by minimizing or eliminating non-value-added activities or waste. The primary focus of Lean is on creating flow and eliminating waste throughout the entire value stream, from the beginning of a process to its end. Waste, also known as "Muda" in Lean terminology, refers to any activity or process step that does not add value from the customer's perspective. Figure 1 illustrates the eight types of wastes identified in Lean Manufacturing.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the July 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Subscribe
Stay ahead of the technologies shaping the future of electronics with our latest newsletter, Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest. Get expert insights on advanced packaging, materials, and system-level innovation, delivered straight to your inbox.
Subscribe now to stay informed, competitive, and connected.
Suggested Items
Kymeta Joins Red Cat Initiative for Maritime Connectivity
05/15/2026 | Globe NewswireRed Cat Holdings, Inc. , a U.S.-based provider of advanced all-domain drone and robotic solutions for defense and national security, announced that Kymeta, a world-leading flat-panel satellite terminal manufacturer, has joined the Red Cat Futures Initiative, the company’s industry-wide consortium accelerating advanced autonomous systems for modern warfare.
SPARK Microsystems Selected for CAD $1M in Government of Canada-backed FABrIC Funding
05/14/2026 | BUSINESS WIRESPARK Microsystems, a Canadian fabless semiconductor company specializing in next-generation short-range wireless communications, has been selected by FABrIC as a CAD $1 million grant recipient funded by the Government of Canada.
System Architecture Beyond the Die With Advanced Packaging as the Scaling Factor
05/14/2026 | Chetan Arvind Patil, Marvell TechnologyIn conventional monolithic semiconductor design, system integration was achieved within a single die and constrained by reticle limits. Compute cores, cache, memory controllers, and input output (I/O) interfaces were all co-optimized on a single process node, with performance closely tied to transistor density and on-die interconnect efficiency. This monolithic system-on-chip (SoC) approach enabled low-latency communication and relatively straightforward power delivery. However, as design for compute-intensive SoCs approaches reticle limits and advanced-node costs increase, the ability to continue scaling within a single die begins to diminish.
Rethinking Reinforcement Materials for Advanced Packaging
05/14/2026 | Ivana Ivanovic, Flexiramics B.V.Materials that once quietly supported the industry are now becoming limiting factors. The electronics industry is experiencing unprecedented pressure as RF systems push into mmWave frequencies, high-speed digital architectures advance into their next performance generation, and power densities climb across automotive, telecom, aerospace, and computing. Reinforcement materials, long treated as a background detail in laminate design, are suddenly at the centre of performance, reliability, and supply‑chain discussions.
Below the Surface: Active Component and Module Submounts—The Architecture Behind Performance
05/14/2026 | Chandra Gupta -- Column: Below the SurfaceIf you were to peel back the layers of a modern electronic system, such as a satellite transceiver, a LiDAR module, or a 5G base station, you would not immediately notice a specific component doing some of the most important work. It doesn’t amplify signals, emit light, or process data, yet without it, none of those functions would be stable, reliable, or scalable. That component is the active device submount.