A Bare-Bones Approach to Lean Sigma for Low-Resource Environments

Abstract

This research proposes a bare-bones version of lean sigma appropriate for use in extremely resourcelimited environments. In these environments, such as those found typically in developing nations, the time and money needed to build a ‘traditional’ lean sigma infrastructure are unavailable. A survey of existing research and the authors’ professional experience are used to summarize the resources needed to run a traditional lean sigma program. This motivates the need for a bare-bones approach to lean sigma, the essential elements of which are then proposed.