Lean Six Sigma and the city

City leaders in Irving, a city in Texas, learnt Six Sigma operating model to achieve its vision and desire to be the best. City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, directs a workforce largely made up of knowledgeable lean Six Sigma belts, specifically, four black belts, 30 green belts, 28 yellow belts and about 1,000 white belts. Since October 2007, city employees have saved more than 30,000 hours and $38 million, Gonzalez said. Gonzalez said the city considered holding onto job vacancies, believing that any plan for surviving the economic downturn required a focus on efficiency. Irving built one large community pool designed to be energy-efficient and ADA-friendly, and the number of visitors rose to 110,000 each year. Combined with the city's vision of being a model community, Gonzalez said lean Six Sigma also has helped lead to a drop in the crime rate, a vibrant local economy, the opening of a new convention center, and the creation of 3,000 new jobs.