The Lean Six Sigma Methodology applied to the service industry. The European Central Bank case

The consistent growth of the global service industry over the years has sparked the need for organizations and institutions to adopt specific approaches aimed at improving efficiency, enhancing the value delivered, and continuously evolving. This thesis project aims to demonstrate how the Lean Six Sigma methodology is applied within the services environment and is the result of an internship at the European Central Bank. In particular, the purpose is to analyze the tools and methods utilized while conducting process improvement initiatives. The study begins by exploring the development of the Lean Philosophy and examining the critical success factors for its implementation in the service field. Next, the various Lean and Six Sigma tools utilized will be analyzed in detail. A key discussion point will be how these tools are integrated to create a systematic approach and their individual contribution to the final objective of enhancing and optimizing workflows. Eventually, a case study regarding the process of handling and managing the response approach to emails and queries will demonstrate the application of the improvement methodology. The analysis identified several issues, and through systematic problem-solving techniques, a set of solutions addressing these challenges was developed. The focus was on optimizing the workflow and the interactions among the actors, enhancing cooperation and information sharing, and identifying new software to support the various process activities. Using the impact-effort matrix tool, the solutions were organized based on two dimensions, and an enhanced version of the workflow was drafted. In addition, a numerical estimation of the impact was provided. The project has demonstrated the significant potential of a structured yet adaptable process improvement methodology in identifying workflow issues and formulating sustainable, effective solutions.