Michael L. George - Lean Six Sigma in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

PRAISE FOR

LEAN SIX SIGMA

IN THE AGE OF

ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE

When I was at Caterpillar, we selected the George Group to help deploy Lean Six Sigma methodologies by training thousands of employees, dealers, and suppliers. We achieved breakthroughs in cost reduction, quality, and process improvements that helped create a more nimble company. Weve used those same methods at U.S. Steel to support our business turnaround. Now, Mike George is applying Artificial Intelligence to Lean Six Sigma. I encourage executives and managers to read his book and learn more about the next generation of business process improvement.

David Burritt
President and Chief Executive Officer, United States Steel Corporation

Mike George once again leads the way on the journey of continuous improvement. How appropriate that the exciting new tools of AI should be added to Lean Six Sigma to support even greater levels of cycle time reduction. The book introduces Artificial Intelligence using a real application in a manufacturing company that everyone can understand because the improvements can be physically seen. The book includes applications of AI in product development and project management. Mike lays out a path to a defensible business model that should excite every leader who has to contend with a rapidly changing environment. I highly recommend this book!

Lou Giuliano
former CEO and President of ITT Industries

The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) and the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) were early adopters of Continuous Process Improvement (CPI), including Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and Theory of Constraints (TOC) which became significant enablers of AIRSpeed and the NAE CPI tool kit. The initial deployment, using the George Group as facilitators and teachers, resulted in an estimated financial impact (cost savings and cost avoidance) exceeding $500 million. As our ability to process greater volumes of data more quickly has evolved, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a more practical business tool to overcome intuition and to provide the accelerator for deeper cost reductions than were possible with traditional CPI methods alone. For those looking for the next revolution in process improvement, this book is a must-read.

Vice Admiral Walter B. Massenburg, USN (Retired)
Former Commander, Naval Air Systems Command

Lean Six Sigma in the Age of Artificial Intelligence provides an excellent pedagogical example of the practical application of Neural Networks and Deep Learning in minimizing the cost and cycle time of Job Shop Manufacturing. This exposition of Artificial Intelligence combines clarity and brevity and will be comprehensible to a wide audience of readers. Artificial Intelligence achieved remarkable increases in profit and on-time delivery in a case study application. The book builds on this foundation to employ Artificial Intelligence in several other applications. Given the resulting competitive advantage and productivity benefits, all companies must employ Artificial Intelligence wherever it is applicable.

John D. C. Little
University Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management

Copyright 2019 by Michael George. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Dedicated to my wife, Jackie

My best editor, partner, friend, and only love