Every business today is constantly looking for new ways to make their production and manufacturing processes leaner, greener, and more efficient. Waste reduction is critical for a higher return on investment of the raw materials, power, labor, and other overheads that a company accrues. Enter Six Sigma, which can be a discipline, set of techniques, or culture that businesses are now using to get ahead of wasteful activities that significantly dent profits.
Every operation or production manager should at least have Lean Six Sigma green belt training to have the competencies needed in ensuring profitability.
What is Six Sigma?
You may have heard of Six Sigma lean manufacturing, Six Sigma DMAIC or Six Sigma methodology. Engineer Bill Smith developed six Sigma methodology in Motorola in the early 1980s; he aimed to reduce the number of defects in Motorola.
Six Sigma, generally, is a set of techniques used to eliminate wastes and improve the processes involved in manufacturing, thus improving product quality, improving customer satisfaction, and reducing defects in every organizational process. This set of techniques uses statistical methods, production metrics, and continuous improvement methodologies to optimize manufacturing and improve the quality of output by identifying and removing all defects and variations.trainin
How does Six Sigma work?
Six Sigma is applied in business to measure the efficiency and performance of their production processes. Six Sigma is usually the goal with reference to defects per million. Six Sigma optimized processes should have only 3.4 deviations in 1,000,000 products, which is a yield of 99.99966%. You can thus improve your processes to get to Six Sigma, from four sigma (99.38%) to five sigma (99.977%) then six, to ensure maximum customer satisfaction and reduce operational costs.
Six Sigma methodology DMAIC phases:
DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control, and is a Six Sigma sub-methodology that is applied to optimize existing processes. All these steps play a part in a cyclic process to ensure the best possible results:
The 4 Levels of Six Sigma training
Six Sigma certification levels include yellow belt, green belt, black belt, and master black belt certifications.
- Yellow belt training offers you the basic training on Six Sigma methodology and jargon.
- Green belt training is a more in-depth training in case studies to demonstrate the use of Six Sigma approaches and tools.
- For black belt training, you need to complete two six-sigma projects and have at least three years of full-time employment. You will master all Six Sigma philosophies and principles to help you lead teams effectively in rolling the methodology out in any organization.
- For a master black belt certification, you will need to have a black belt certification and at least five years experience, which can be waived if you have completed at least ten Six Sigma projects. This is a highly sought after certification that not only gives you access to even more in-depth knowledge of the Six Sigma tools, but also a chance to mentor other professionals.
Conclusion
Taking part in six-sigma training is an excellent way to grow your career in business management, especially if you specialize in production and operations management. So what are you waiting for? Gain expertise in Six Sigma and prove your worth in the world of quality management.