Lean Six Sigma

Processes break. In software projects, features ship late and bugs accumulate. In business operations, costs grow and customers complain.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is the world's most proven methodology for diagnosing exactly why things fail and fixing them permanently — with data, not guesswork.

This course is a career accelerator for students in Management and Informatics. It bridges business operations and technology by applying the same rigorous improvement framework used by organizations from Toyota to Amazon and from hospitals to software firms. 

In 14 hands-on sessions, you will work through the full DMAIC cycle — from defining a real problem and measuring its impact, to analyzing root causes, designing solutions, and keeping the gains.

The course is deliberately practical. 

Rather than memorizing abstract theories, you will produce real artifacts in every session: process maps drawn on whiteboards, data analyses run in RStudio, simulations run in Simul8, and a final concise A3 project report that demonstrates your mastery of the entire framework.

Almost all work is completed during the 3-hour class blocks, so the out-of-class burden is minimal.

By the end of the semester, you will hold a portfolio of problem-solving artifacts and Green Belt-level knowledge that sets you apart in any organization that cares about quality, efficiency, and continuous improvement.

Upon completing this course, students will be able to:

1.Identify and quantify waste and inefficiency in both business operations and IT environments using Lean principles.

2.Execute the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) framework to lead an end-to-end improvement project.

3.Create Value Stream Maps (VSM) and SIPOC diagrams to visualize and communicate complex workflows.

4.Apply statistical tools in RStudio to analyze process data, perform hypothesis testing, and calculate Six Sigma metrics (DPMO, Sigma level, process capability).

5.Design Lean solutions — including 5S, Kanban, and Poka-Yoke — to streamline processes and prevent errors.

6.Build and interpret Statistical Process Control (SPC) charts to monitor and sustain improvements over time.

These objectives align with Green Belt certification requirements and are directly applicable to careers in management consulting, IT project management, operations, and digital transformation.

• Quality education
• Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• Responsible consumption and production

In presence

This course is built on the principle that telling is not training. Passive listening produces passive learners. Every 3-hour session therefore follows a consistent structure: a brief conceptual framing (why this tool matters and when to use it), followed immediately by a hands-on activity in which students apply the concept to a realistic Management or Informatics scenario.

Activities alternate between three formats. Whiteboard and physical sessions — such as Value Stream Mapping with post-its or Fishbone diagrams — require students to produce tangible, in-room artifacts that are photographed and submitted before leaving class. Data laboratory sessions use RStudio with datasets designed specifically for the course, giving students direct experience with the statistical tools that underpin Six Sigma decision-making. 

Assessment is continuous and attendance-based. 

Students who attend regularly are evaluated through three components:

1.  In-class artifacts and live justifications produced during the 14 sessions (5 points), 
2. A group DMAIC A3 report presented in the final session (3 points), 
3. A short closed-book written exam in the January session consisting of multiple-choice and data-interpretation questions (2 points).

Students who do not attend regularly are required to sit an oral examination in the January session and must demonstrate the capability to create a complete set of LSS deliverables  to demonstrate the level of knowledge that attending students acquire through the course activities.