Improvement of claim processing cycle time through Lean Six Sigma methodology

Purpose – In the service sector, reduction of cycle time is one of the key issues. Among various approaches, Lean Six Sigma became very popular as it provides the organisation the desired speed with quality. The purpose of this paper is to present a Lean Six Sigma case study for reducing cycle time in the claim settlement process in insurance or financial services. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an application of Lean Six Sigma methodology for claim settlement cycle time reduction in the insurance sector. Findings – Lean Six Sigma is found to work very well in the insurance sector for reducing process cycle time by carrying out process changes. Mixing statistical and analytical techniques helps to improve the process speed and is very well demonstrated by Lean Six Sigma approach for service organizations. Originality/value – This paper utilizes Lean and Six Sigma approaches in process improvement and presents an application. The main idea behind this paper is to demonstrate how combining Lean concepts/techniques with Six‐Sigma methodology can speed up problem‐solving approaches. Apart from the paper's value for managers, it can also help researchers to extend this for other areas of business processes.