
High process performance implies that the customer has a good experience interacting with a company and its products. This is a result of an empowered culture that is improvement orientated, driven to process and execution excellence, and set to exceed achieving business results.
- What is high process performance?
- How does one achieve maximum process performance?
- How well do your processes perform?
- What is an acceptable process performance to you?
Typically, when measured against KPIs such as first-time-through; customer-service-level; returns, and many others, processes that do not enjoy some form of high process performance program contain less than 5% value add activity. The remainder is waste that can be broadly categorized as follows:
- over production
- over processing
- waiting
- transporting
- defects
- motion
- stock
Appropriate use of Lean and Six Sigma lead to High Process Performance

High process performance is achieved through Process Excellence which results in delivering services and products faster, more efficiently, and of higher quality. While a quality ensures correct quality measures procedures, it is Lean and Six Sigma, or a variation thereof, that ensures continuous improvement and high process performance in a changing environment.
Lean is focused on waste reduction, increasing the flow of material and information, and freeing up capacity to enable speedier delivery and/or increased number of products and services. Click here for more on Lean
Six Sigma works and reduces variation within and of the outputs of processes to create consistency and predictability. The result is reduced defects and increased quality. Click here for more on Six Sigma.
Process excellence program results in high process performance when the “Right” problems and opportunities are addressed, by the “right” people possessing improvement skills, using the “right” methods and tools efficiently to maximize the opportunity, while supported by the “right” level of leadership support to push through successes.
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