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Motorola originally had problems with quality in its manufacturing which led the company to come up with something drastic to change the face of the company. A Motorola quality engineer named Bill Smith dubbed his quality process as Six Sigma and that was the beginning of good times for Motorola then. It won the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge Award in 1988 and pretty soon, Six Sigma became the world standard for quality implementation.
GE (General Electric) builds an entire business around Six Sigma methodology – an overarching, defining, and disciplined methodology that rules the way people, processes, and things work at GE.
The Six Sigma concept is a vision of quality. It lays down parameters for quality and strives for perfection with only 3.4 defects per million opportunities for each product or service transaction.
Some of the Quality approaches and models include:
DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) – a systematic methodology which utilizes tools, measurements, and training to design products or service processes to be produced at Six Sigma levels of quality.
DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) – a process aimed to build for continuous improvement, which is systematic, scientific, and fact-based. It’s a closed-loop process which efficiently eliminates steps within the process that aren’t necessary, focuses on new measurements, and leverages technology for enhancing processes and improvement.
Six Sigma methodologies are implemented and results are achieved by using various tools such as the Pareto’s Diagram, Control chart, Defect measurement, tree diagrams, process mapping, Root Cause Analysis, and Statistical Process control.
As for Six Sigma certifications, you have a wide range of levels and certifications such as Champions, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt, and Master Black Belt, etc.
All that’s nice but how exactly does Six Sigma help businesses? A Ford vehicle operations Center in Saarlouis, Germany followed the DMAIC approach and identified the root causes for the increase in basecoat paint consumption at the center. Using the tools necessary for improving the process at the operations center, a cross-functional Six Sigma team managed to save the company $US 2 million in annual expenditure.
Movistar Argentina’s customer payments process overhauls in a mere 96 hours from the time of Six Sigma implementation. Using Six Sigma tools such as affinity diagrams, gemba interviews, etc., an expert Six Sigma team brought the defect rate down from 12.4% to a mere 5.8%. Likewise, the interval time for payments was shortened from seven minutes to a whopping 3 seconds. The expected annual benefit for the client is reported to be $US 184,000.
A fund services company identifies and prioritizes short term projects using Six Sigma approaches – including Kaizen events – and managed to complete nine quick-fix projects for a saving of $US 220,000.
It’s no wonder then that some of the world’s largest companies all use Six Sigma in one way or the other. Some of the prominent names include 3M, Amazon.com, Apple Computers, Allen Bradley, Accenture, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), Daimler Chrysler, Dell Computers, Coca-Cola Corporation, Caterpillar, ford Motor Company, HSBC, Honeywell, and many more. You can find an indexed list here at asixsigma.com
Why the need for Six Sigma Green Belt Certification?
With a globally felt need for leaving no margin for error in both products and services, companies all over the world need to work on their processes and other business functions with accuracy and fast turnaround times.
The thirst, globally, is for producing high-quality products. Six Sigma – with its host of tools and concepts – stands to fill the gap and help companies achieve the much-needed process improvements leading to lesser expenditure, higher quality, and increased margins.
Tools and Methods
According to Quality Digest, many statistical tools are employed in a systematic and project-oriented fashion. They’ll be used to improve and control processes through the (DMAIC) cycle. Of course, the application of the tools itself now uses technology and have been advancing with time.
The trick is, however, to use specific sets of tools for unique problems that the organization faces. Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt warriors can get cracking down on particular issues with a customized approach. They’ll also be able to lead their teams to ensure quality, reduced costs, and reduced time to delivery simultaneously.
The worth of a Six Sigma Green Belt
More companies today are looking to hire Green Belts and Black belts to solve their quality problems and to derive the benefits of Six Sigma. It’s important, however, to determine the problem areas first, identify issues arising out of specific processes or functions, and then look for either full-time hires or consultants.
To determine whether a Six Sigma Certified candidate is indeed worthy, a company only has to look at the perceived expense or opportunity cost of the said issues that cost it money, time, and loss of opportunity to create value by not focusing on quality and on overall brand value.
Asixsigma.com points out that Six Sigma specifically contributes to cost savings by elimination of variation, exploitation of variation, and removal of cost of poor quality. Further, it helps increased sales and repeats business by providing customers with reliable and high quality products.
Green Belt Requirements and Responsibilities
Six Sigma Greenbelt holders – or warriors as we’d like to call them – analyze and solve quality issues and problems companies face. They work on trying to improve processes, turnaround time, and improve products. The Six Sigma certification requirements vary from one certifying organization to the other. Usually, candidates have to spend at least three years working on or related to Six Sigma Green Belt functional areas. They’d also have to pass a 4-hour, 100-question Six Sigma Green Belt Certification test.
As a Six Sigma Green Belt warrior, your responsibilities include working under the direct supervision of a Six Sigma Black Belt champion and assist them with analysis, collection of data, supervision of other lower level Six Sigma champions directly or indirectly reporting to you.
For companies looking to hire Six Sigma certified professionals, the returns on their investment with such hires is phenomenal. Six Sigma continues to evolve and change. Six Sigma worked for Motorola by the year 1988 worked for hundreds of companies with applications to thousands of projects.
Could your company benefit from Six Sigma too? Do you think Six Sigma Green belt/Black belt warriors are assets to your company?
