Six Sigma Blog

Black Belts: Your Own Or Hired?

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

It’s good to ensure that your organization deploys the Six Sigma method. However, the easiest part is the decision-making process with the actual deployment becoming a huge commitment. For instance, if an organization needs to ensure that the Six Sigma method is followed to a ‘T’, it may have to make a few sacrifices.

The company may have to foot the bill to train its own people as Black Belts and Green Belts by releasing them from their current duties. An alternative is to hire Black Belts from different organizations and have them lead projects.

Both options have their advantages and disadvantages and it is important that company leaders weigh all these pros and cons before taking the final decision. When you decide to get your own employees trained for the purpose, the investment is huge – both in terms of money and productive hours lost. However, the return on that investment in terms of moral and culture change may be even larger.

Another benefit of promoting your own employees is that it improves the employee-employer relationship. Those you’ve short listed for the Six Sigma training know they are trusted by the company and will want to live up to this trust.

Now, let us take a look at the other side of the coin. When you get in an external Black Belt who’s already completed Six Sigma training, you save on huge initial investments. However, you do have to pay for hiring costs to bring in external Black Belts. And you cannot get the Black Belt to work from the word go. They need time and resources to become familiar with your company’s processes. One other disadvantage with hiring Black Belts is that their need to learn more about processes to initiate Six Sigma projects, can lengthen project times and delay results.

Six Sigma certificate from Kaplan University

Here is some good news for working professionals who are interested in leading complex process improvements. The Kaplan University has recently launched its online Six Sigma Certificate program. The certificate program is a self-study program that has two levels. The first level is the Green Belt level that can be completed in six months. The advanced part of the program, the Black Belt level will take about 12 months to complete.

It may be recalled that the methodologies of Six Sigma are intended to help businesses improve productivity and also generate tangible savings. Today more and more companies are interested in improving their processes, maintain quality and yet manage costs. Six Sigma is the answer to their requirements. It is therefore felt that with the growing need in adopters of Six Sigma methodologies, more and more companies will be hiring trained personnel and hence the case for the certificate program. Reliable Plant reports:

“Professionals with Six Sigma certification typically earn nearly 10 percent more than those without certification, according to the American Society of Quality 2004 Salary Survey. The typical salary for a Six Sigma Black Belt is $88,858".

Does Six Sigma Pay?

-- By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer

Ever wondered if those obscene amounts spent on improvement operations such as Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing ever paid off? Looking at the pioneers in these technologies like Motorola, Toyota and Ford, one would assume that they did. But what about the average-Joe companies those embark on these ventures?

A survey of 1,500 professionals from a wide spectrum of organizations conducted by iSixSigma found that the dollars poured in did reap in the expected rewards. Among those companies that already had Six Sigma efforts going on:

• Nearly 50 percent said they would continue at the same level of training and staffing next year.
• More than 33 percent said they would boost investment for training.
• At least 44 percent said they would increase investment for staffing.
• Only 17 percent said they would reduce training expenditure.
• Just 8 percent felt the need to decrease staffing levels.
• As much as 46 percent said they had enterprise-wide Six Sigma deployments in place.
• More than 43 percent said they were expecting enterprise-wide implementations of Six Sigma sometime in the near future.

Of those who had yet to test the Six Sigma waters:

• A little more than half, 53 percent, said that Six Sigma featured as part of future plans.
• The other 47 percent had no intentions of going anywhere near Six Sigma.

Six Sigma for IT Management: Now on the stands!

Six experts have contributed to a book on the applicability of Six Sigma in IT management. A first of its kind, the book targets both the initiated and the uninitiated, and looks into the benefits of Six Sigma in the IT environment, the right timing for utilizing the Six Sigma principles, and the practical techniques that will help IT practitioners minimize defects in their business processes.

The book also talks about the ITIL approach, and how this can be combined with Six Sigma to produce the desired result in the IT industry. Published by itSMF, the book is available across the globe at local outlets and on the stores of Amazon.com and Van Haren Publishing.

For more information on this important publication, click here.

Six Sigma Training

There has been an increased interest in Six Sigma in recent years. There are several Six Sigma training processes that will help you learn how poor quality harms your business. Six Sigma training will enable you explore what Six Sigma means and the critical elements of the approach. You will gain an understanding of the new roles that some employees will fill.

Six Sigma training methods will introduce you to a straightforward framework for satisfying your customers, reducing waster and increasing efficiency and quality in your organization. You will be then in a position to examine how you can meet Six Sigma challenges and the skills that is needed for the growth of the organization.

Read my previous post titled "Developing E-Learning With Six Sigma" to know more about E-Learning with Six Sigma.

Six Sigma Online Training

Six Sigma e-Learning (Six Sigma online training) is delivered via the Internet, CD/DVDS, personal digital assistants, television, MP3 players and phones. e-Learning can be passive or interactive and is found in lectures, tutorials and simulations. More than one format is often involved in e-learning programs. In the case of Six Sigma online training, an entire e-learning industry of e-learning service providers has developed to help organizations facilitate the in-house development of the continuous improvement methodology and culture.

Read our previous post titled “Are you Ready For Six Sigma?” to get useful information on Six Sigma.

Asian automotive industry gets Lean/Six Sigma training

There is good news for the automotive sector in Asia. The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) and Omnex Inc. have come together to offer training in Lean/Six Sigma to companies in China, India, Thailand, and other Asian countries.

AIAG, which was launched in 1982 by representatives from auto leaders Ford, GM, and Chrysler, has now become a globally recognized body. Its partnership with leading automotive consulting firm Omnex is expected to usher in an era of top-rung training facilities in Lean/Six Sigma. PowerHomeBiz quotes Dr. Yilong Chen, General Director of Asia Pacific Affairs and Chief Representative in China:

AIAG looks forward to the opportunity to partner with OMNEX in both North America and Asia. We share a common vision to provide consistent state-of-the-art quality education and training that supports the emerging needs of our growing membership worldwide.

We deliver Lean and Six Sigma in Healthcare, says MMTC

At the end of a Lean/Six Sigma healthcare pilot program run by the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC), the hospital personnel who received the training have emerged with a positive frame of mind. In terms of figures, the hospitals expect the training to pay back anything between $2.8 and $4.1 million.

The training lasted for eight months, during which participants received inputs on improving processes such as increased surgical capacities, improved patient satisfaction along with faster emergency room care, quicker lab results, and shorter patient wait times for specialty clinic appointments.

Lean and Six Sigma principles are normally applied in the manufacturing sector, but the healthcare pilot program has clearly demonstrated that the concepts can be equally effectively applied to non-manufacturing sectors as well. Encouraged by the results of the pilot program, MMTC has envisioned even more ambitious plans:

[MMTC is] inviting hospitals throughout Southeast Michigan to attend and learn about the benefits of embracing LEAN/Six Sigma principles. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear testimony from one of the alumni pilot hospitals. MMTC will host the session on September 29th from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. at the headquarters of Automation Alley in Troy, Michigan.

Yahoo Finance has the full report.

Developing E-Learning With Six Sigma

If your company is planning to launch Six Sigma, you must understand what benefits can Six Sigma bring to your organization. The highly skilled and highly paid black belt professionals bring the projects into control, train green belts and put extra amount of input into corporate culture change.

Training and development are the most challenging parts of Six Sigma initiatives. However, black belt professionals efficiently handle those operations. You can maximize your benefits by adopting E-Learning development along with your Six Sigma initiatives. You must keep the following points in mind before going for E-Learning development:

• True cost of your E-Learning Development
• Critical Requirements of your E-Learning customers
• Critical business imperatives that need to be addressed with the E-Learning
• Articulation of your E-Learning vision

Read our previous post titled "Six Sigma in Business Process Management" to know more information on Six Sigma in businesses.

Free Lean Six Sigma Training Government and Military Personnel

Six Sigma training has succeeded in earning a good name in corporate sector. Now it is all set to make its strong presence in the government and military. Kingsrealm LLC has released a complete Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certifiable training course available at no cost to all the US Government, DoD and Military personnel. The company has voluntarily decided to help the staffs that form a core part of the country's support base.

Kingsrealm simplified its strategic Six Sigma methods and procedures so that everyone can get equal benfits from the training. The training is available online with minimal registration requirements. You can register for free training on the company's website. You can read on of our older posts titled "Army gets high payback because of Lean Six Sigma" to know more about Six Sigma training in the US military.