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Business Management Methodologies

A number of organizations also included business or management methodologies in their definition of advanced manufacturing. For example, one organization defines "advanced manufacturing as the insertion of new technology, improved processes, and management methods to improve the manufacturing of products.

Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a business management methodology developed by Motorola. It was used to identify and remove the causes of defects and variability in business processes, with the aim to improve the quality of process outputs. By deploying Six Sigma in organization, a group of Six Sigma experts have to be trained up to use a set of quality management methods and follow a defined sequence of steps (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) in carrying out process improvement projects.

Lean Manufacturing
Lean Manufacturing is a process management philosophy derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and identified as "Lean" in the 1990s. Lean is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources which cannot create values for the end customers to be wasteful, and thus have a target for elimination. It is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota seven wastes in order to improve overall process operations and customer value. Toyota attributes its success of transforming into the world's largest automaker to this power methodology.

Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM)
QRM emphasizes the beneficial effect of reducing internal and external lead times. Shorter lead times improve quality, reduce cost and eliminate non-value-added waste within the organization while simultaneously increasing the organization's competitiveness and market share by serving customers better and faster. The time-based framework of QRM accommodates strategic variability such as offering custom-engineered products while eliminating dysfunctional variability such as rework and changing due dates. For this reason, companies making products in low or varying volumes have used QRM as an alternative or to complement other strategies such as Lean Manufacturing, Total quality management or Six Sigma.