Incorporating a continuous improvement plan into your Six Sigma project will help your business by providing the ability to make improvements to your process as business needs change, or unexpected events occur. Continuous improvement plans allow you to make adjustments to your process without having to undertake an entire new Six Sigma project, which can be costly and time consuming.

1. When you are examining a process, and trying to determine the ideal solution, you need to realize that this will be a continuous process. If you are only considering the current problems, and not considering future problems or improvements, then you will just be back in the same position in the not to distant future.

2. Even when a permanent solution is created, things change from time to time. Therefore, no solution will be 100% foolproof or last forever in any organization or industry. Keeping up with possible changes will help to avoid the need for a complete overhaul later.

3. CIPs (Continuous Improvement Plans) are designed so that people can effectively keep things working without redoing a whole process. Re-doing Six Sigma Projects when they stop working is counter-productive and cost-inhibiting.

4. While Six Sigma is useful in helping to eliminate the existing problems in your processes, the project team must also take into account the future of the business, and future improvements that may be needed. When the Six Sigma project ends, the process must be prepared to deal with any issues that may arise.

5. A business's goals and objectives might change, and a continuous improvement plan would allow for that change to occur without incident. For example, if a company has a driven focus on profitability, but then changes their scope to customer satisfaction, growth, and retention, their CIPs will have the ability to meet these changes with solutions to keep the business focused on the goal, whatever it may be.

Having a Continuous Improvement Plan as a part of Six Sigma Projects is a great way to ensure that a business will get the improvements that they need even after the Six Sigma team has gone. This will keep people more receptive of the changes and make them feel that they have the abilities to achieve their own goals now that the Six Sigma projects have been completed successfully.