Project Archives - 6sigma

Top Six Sigma Green Belt Projects

admin — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 20:21:00 +0000

Green Belts are in many ways the worker ants of the Six Sigma colony. You can use them for just about anything, including Six Sigma project work. Just received your Six Sigma Green Belt certificate? Well, remember, not all projects turn out to be good ideas when in practice. Do yourself a favor and follow our advice as we look at our top Green Belt projects ideas.

What Makes a Green Belt Project?

Many people ask us what goes into a great Green Belt project, and it’s important to know the answer. Before selecting your next Six Sigma project, Green Belts should know what makes their work unique. So how do we recognize a great Green Belt project? Well, first of all, ensure your project is feasible for at least three months. It’s no good starting a project only for it to fall apart soon after. By targeting the issues that are just right, i.e. not too complex, nor too minor, your project has the best chance of success. Your project needs to be able to sustain you for a do-able period. Otherwise, productivity will start to lag. Below are some of our top Green Belt project ideas.

Learn more about our Six Sigma Green Belt training

Process Improvement Projects

Green Belts often deal with data to predict customer demand and identify process issues. Process improvement or problem-solving projects allow Green Belts to flex their analytical skills. Imagine you have an inefficient production system that you want to improve, but can’t find the root cause. A Green Belt project could target this issue to identify the underlying problem. By analyzing the process to see how it works, Green Belts can quickly identify causes of concern, such as redundant process stages.

Quality Improvement Projects

Quality is everything in Six Sigma. By reducing variation, Green Belt projects can make dramatic changes to your business success. Six Sigma’s aim is to achieve only 3.4 defects per million, which equates to a higher than 99% quality. You could find yourself with a substandard batch of phones fresh off the manufacturing floor. One batch could soon turn into several without proper attention. Green Belt project teams use techniques like root cause analysis and affinity diagrams to trace one issue to the next. This allows them to determine the root cause of the issue so you can act on it. You can then either change suppliers or source better quality parts, which means greater overall product quality. Greater quality leads to positive customer satisfaction which also ensures continued loyalty and profit.

Innovation Projects

Leveraging data to predict customer demand forms one of many Green Belt responsibilities. You can direct your Green Belt projects toward changing existing products to suit customer needs or starting from scratch. Green Belts regularly incorporate Lean principles into their work, allowing them to monitor and manipulate supply chains. This allows you to predict future demand and satisfy customer needs before the customer even knows what those needs are. You could base your Green Belt project around the creation of innovative new products that will extend your market reach. Using Six Sigma and Lean techniques, Green Belts can help your company attract customers who were previously out of reach.

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Read More on Six Sigma Green Belt:

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The Six Sigma Green Belt Makes You Rich in Knowledge

The Most Complete Six Sigma Green Belt Virtual Training Ever Taught

The post Top Six Sigma Green Belt Projects appeared first on 6sigma.

Top 10 Reasons for Six Sigma Master Black Belt Training

admin — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 20:48:04 +0000

Master Black Belts are apex predators. Sitting at the top of the pyramid, they act as mentors and teachers, as well as consultants and project leaders. In this article, we look at the top 10 reasons for Six Sigma Master Black Belt training.

A Mentor for Lower Class Six Sigma Belts

One of the most rewarding and engaging benefits of achieving Master Black Belt certification is that you can help those below you in their progression. Equally, through mentoring Six Sigma Green Belts, Six Sigma Black Belt, and more, you can mold potential future MBBs like yourself.

Develop and Maintain a Strong Six Sigma Curriculum

MBBs are heavily involved in developing and maintaining Six Sigma curriculums for training centers. You will also ensure your organization delivers the best possible training, spanning techniques like DMAIC and Design of Experiments, to related concepts like Lean and Kaizen.

Deliver Six Sigma Classroom Training for Employees

Some Master Black Belts also deliver training at a classroom level. You will lead them through each concept and technique, teaching them to apply their knowledge in a practical context. Passing on your skills and expertise ensures Six Sigma’s future as the pinnacle of process improvement work.

Help Implement Six Sigma Methodology in the Workplace

As a Master Black Belt, it is your responsibility to direct and monitor Six Sigma improvement projects, seeing them to fruition. Additionally, by liaising with business executives, Black Belts, and Project Champions, you act as a Six Sigma figurehead in the workplace.

New Career Opportunities

While some Six Sigma MBBs choose to remain with the businesses they work for, this level of training opens a lot of doors for the career-minded. Ever thought about consulting? With Master Black Belt certification, you can earn a handsome living for yourself while benefiting Six Sigma’s reputation in the process.

The Top of Your Game

MBBs are at the top of their game, and also the top of the Six Sigma hierarchy. Are you ambitious and committed to your work? Do you want to reach the top? Master Black Belt training can get you there.

Develop an Expert Knowledge of Six Sigma Ideas

Master Black Belts are among the most talented and sought-after Six Sigma candidates by businesses all over the world. Furthermore, along with the title comes a wide-ranging knowledge of Six Sigma methodology. To hone your skills to the max and become a Six Sigma expert, MBB training is for you.

Help Your Business Achieve Success in the Market

Six Sigma MBBs help their businesses drive for success in the market. They do this by increasing productivity and improving processes so customer satisfaction can improve. The more you benefit your business, the more it benefits you.

The Big Picture

Master Black Belt training can help those who see the big picture meet their potential. Why allow yourself to languish doing menial work when you could be the company’s shining star instead? Under-utilization of talented staff is a major cause of waste. Don’t let yourself be wasted.

Spread the Six Sigma Gospel

Six Sigma Master Black Belts are by far the most qualified to preach Six Sigma ideas to businesses everywhere. Moreover, by pursuing Master Black Belt training, you are making a commitment to it, which creates a strong case for Six Sigma skeptics.

For more information on our Six Sigma Master Black Belt courses or services, please visit 6sigma.com.

The post Top 10 Reasons for Six Sigma Master Black Belt Training appeared first on 6sigma.

Who Works on a Six Sigma Project?

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 15:02:02 +0000

The basis of any good Six Sigma project is its team. Likewise, within a team there are many different roles. These roles focus either on initiative or project leadership, typically divided into the following categories:

Six Sigma Deployment Leader (DP)
Six Sigma Champion
Master Black Belt (MBB)
Black Belt (BB)
Green Belt (GB)
Yellow Belt (YB)

This article will explain these roles, who is best to fill them, and why they are important to Six Sigma success.

Six Sigma Deployment Leader

The Deployment Leader is the figurehead for the team. DP roles are often taken on by the business leader themselves. Furthermore, the DP will typically hire the rest of the team. This also includes working with the MBB to organize, cultivate, and drive the project at all levels by meeting the following objectives:

Establish appropriate and reasonable business goals.
Motivate the team.
Maintain an active role in all activities related to the project.

The best DPs promote or continuous improvement, leverage the budget for further initiatives, and ultimately develop a fully capable Six Sigma company culture. Remember, the more time and interest you invest, the higher the chances of success for your project.

Six Sigma Champion

Champions are usually managers within the company, organizing and directing the business, function and/or value stream towards significant process improvement. They will interact with and utilize GBs to overcome obstacles, while working with BBs and MBBs to manage the development of the project.

The best Champions clearly demonstrate how the project benefits the organization, helping to meet business priorities. Most Champions will have a portfolio of prior projects.

Master Black Belt

Master Black Belts work with DPs to translate high-level company goals into Six Sigma strategies. Interacting with Champions to manage the project, they are also responsible for leading the development of Six Sigma in the business, while maintaining the division’s overall Six Sigma effort. In accordance with Six Sigma and Kaizen, the MBB promotes transparency, creativity and challenging of the status quo to aid development. MBBs often have prior mentoring and/or statistical experience, and can progress to Chief Quality Officer relatively quickly.

Black Belt

Similarly to MBBs, Black Belts are relied on to create a transparent, honest environment with a key focus on factual data to inform group decisions. Working with those above and below them in the hierarchy, BBs will work tactically to ensure results are identified and process changes are honed and sustained by Champions and MBBs. The best BBs often come from careers in Business Analysis and Process Improvement, with prior Six Sigma experience on their résumé.

Green Belt

Green Belts are responsible for supporting BBs in identifying and applying process changes. GBs also act as part-time Project Leaders, requiring them to scope projects, lead those below them, and liaise with BBs to ensure all project goals are executed properly. GBs are critical to the success of Six Sigma projects and will usually have some background experience in senior management.

Yellow Belt

Yellow Belts do not lead projects alone. Instead, they will act in a worker bee role. This mostly includes deferring to the GBs and BBs to aid the progression of the project. YBs are core team members and are often support those above them in the hierarchy. These tasks help to develop process maps, capture data, create simulations, and generate improvements.

The post Who Works on a Six Sigma Project? appeared first on 6sigma.

When Projects Go Bad: How to Spot Bad Six Sigma Practices

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 15:14:57 +0000

No matter how beneficial a Six Sigma project is going to be, there will always be some problems. The more challenging a project is, the more likely that poor Six Sigma practices will arise. This may be through cutting corners, lackadaisical teamwork, or eschewing Six Sigma practices altogether. There are many ways a project can go bad, but this article will illustrate what to look out for. Loose lips may sink ships, but lax Six Sigma can compromise a project just as much.

What Goes Wrong

A great deal of Six Sigma projects present inherent challenges from the beginning. However, consistent, effective teamwork is usually more than enough to resolve any problems faced. However, this isn’t always the case.

One reason a project turns bad is your team taking the wrong approach. Lean methodology, DMAIC, and Kaizen are all practices that work well under certain conditions in particular situations.

Just as in any occupation, using the wrong tool for the job will get you nowhere. For example, DMAIC, while a strategy that accomplishes project goals, is not suitable for administrative, business-related problems. DMAIC is designed to define, measure, analyze, improve, and control production processes. By utilizing it in the wrong situation, it can hinder the implementation of a solution.

Spotting the Warning Signs

It pays to be able to identify common warning signs that a Six Sigma project may be turning bad. Be on the lookout for any of these situations:

If the project manager or team leaders cannot clearly define the problem, this will lead to confusion and poor practices.

If you find that you are unable to glean relevant data with which to evaluate your process performance, as well as customer satisfaction rates, then you will effectively be “flying blind” as you start to implement Six Sigma. Six Sigma relies on teamwork, yes, but quantifiable data is just as important.

If an appropriate solution is already evident but the project leaders and/or company executives are reluctant to implement the solution, bad Six Sigma is likely to follow. This can be due to a variety of reasons, but will often lead to them commissioning a DMAIC project that places the burden on an outside party. While this may work in the short-term, the problem is likely to return in the future if company practices are not at optimum levels. By resolving this problem completely, and aligning the project with critical-few business priorities, you will need to change the entire company culture. Management practices will trickle down through the company and affect worker practices. Kaizen is an excellent method for resolving this sort of problem.

If the company is currently undergoing significant changes to its practices, the instability inherent here would prevent DMAIC from making any effective changes.

The post When Projects Go Bad: How to Spot Bad Six Sigma Practices appeared first on 6sigma.