Striving for results with Six Sigma Training

Six sigma training and the resulting process is not as clear cut and simple as one may think. Although this process has provided corporations countless opportunities to control costs and produce on a more cost effective basis, the management and leadership roles must never be discounted in the six sigma training and implementation phase.

Prior to undergoing six sigma training or even developing a six sigma training program, management and employees should be fully acquainted with the processes and effects of what six sigma is about and how it will benefit all stakeholders within the organization.

Six sigma training is based on the various processes of six sigma, which strive to attain near perfection in terms of quality in the organization. It is not limited to the manufacturing process, but applies to transactional and service behavior within the company as a whole.

The overall process is a data driven approach and methodology to attain as much a near perfect scenario. In the six sigma training program employees must realize the emphasis of the key elements of correctly collecting the data and the resulting statistical representation of the process and performance thereof.

Six sigma training and implementation is concerned with a quantitative description of processes, and once implemented the methodology is utilized to improve the process and the reduction of any variation or potential variations. The understanding is that a variation is outside of customer specification, which in fact can be seen as a defect, within any of the described processes.

The methodologies of DMAIC and DMADV must be comprehensively described and taught within the six sigma training modules. These processes are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control for the DMAIC process. Whilst the DMADV process entails Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Verify. The six sigma training of DMAIC is targeted at improvement of existing processes and essentially employment of this methodology entails incremental improvement. The DMADV in six sigma training is targeted at new processes or products to attain the six sigma quality levels.

The six sigma training process should be implemented from a top down approach, filtering down from senior management to process managers and then through the structures of quality leaders, project managers and employees. The various levels of employees as described here are allocated specific titles with the processes; Quality leaders are termed Master Black Belts, followed by the black belts being the project leaders and the employees known as Green belts. The training will vary according to each allocated position due to complexity of the applications. The six sigma training program is one of the most important issues and needs the quality content and framework to ensure optimal results, as this will affect the overall organizational culture once the six sigma processes have been implemented.

The main application of six sigma training is centered on saving the organization millions of dollars and if implemented correctly will ensure that objective. Many multinational and local companies have successfully employed the six sigma training and processes and are reaping the financial rewards of these scientific cost saving processes.