Abstract
The relationship between lean and Six Sigma has been a popular topic at major Six Sigma conferences and the subject of many books and articles. This relationship may appear to be simple, but in practice it can be more challenging because there are so many ways to piece the two together. Most of the time, people are exposed only to subsets of the two disciplines. From these subsets, the various perspectives on how to best integrate lean and Six Sigma reflect the unique characteristics of the method with which the practitioner is most familiar. A collaborative and comprehensive comparison of the two programs at the nuts-and-bolts level will allow potential users to build their own customized integration perspective with the big picture in mind. Is it preferable to choose one or the other, to use both while keeping them separate, or to combine them into a third form (lean Six Sigma or lean sigma).