Becoming A Six Sigma Green Belt

The telecommunications company Motorola developed a set of quality management methods in the 1980′s that eventually came to be known as the Six Sigma Business Strategy. Since then, many other companies have come to use this or a similar set of strategies in regards to their production and other aspects of their businesses. Staff members devoted to implementing this strategy are often known as the Six Sigma Green Belt staff, or just the Green Belts.

Motorola was criticized in the 1970′s in regards to the quality of their products. This criticism was pointed enough that management at the company gathered to review their internal practices and philosophies to see if there was some way to improve product quality. They discovered that, contrary to common beliefs, products with high quality did not cost more to produce.

Instead, their production costs were actually lower in relationship to their profitability because there were fewer production stoppages and fewer repairs necessary during production when the product had an inherently high quality. They realized that they could increase profits dramatically by ensuring that all products were as free of defects as possible before production began.

Six Sigma Doctrines

The managers at Motorola proceeded to develop three assertions regarding this notion. They declared that it was vital to establish an ongoing evaluation of production and quality that sought to constantly improve quality. This differed from other companies’ practices, which used such strategies on a periodic basis and only when the companies were already in financial trouble. They also made the somewhat unoriginal assertion that the production process possesses qualities that can be measured and improved. Finally, they stated that a company should call on its employees, managers and other staff to dedicate themselves entirely to this mission of production improvement.

These assertions were not entirely original. However, they did demand a cultural change in the workplace. No longer could employees and other staff consider their place of employment as just a place where they worked a set number of hours in exchange for pay. The goal of improvement was to consume workers and managers in a way it never had before.

Certain features of this strategy did distinguish it from previous calls for product improvement. It demanded adherence to decisions that were based on verifiable data, collected and measured by teams that studied internal processes in a disinterested fashion. These teams were not allowed to pass judgment on that they saw. They were only allowed to collect data and analyze it. The Six Sigma strategy calls for a scientific focus that is free of emotional or political persuasion.

Simultaneously, however, observers have noted that this philosophy does impact staff on an emotional level. It demands a certifiable passion from employees in regards to reducing defects and variability in production. Upper management, in particular, is expected to evince this passion.

Nothing sets this strategy apart from others more than its creation of teams within the company that focus on product quality and improvement and nothing else. These teams are known as the Six Sigma Green Belts. In some companies, they are called by similar monikers, such as the black belts or the champions.

Six Sigma Green Belt Training

Beginning in the 1990′s, many companies went beyond simply reassigning employees to these Six Sigma teams. They began to train and certify people for this critical task. The paths to Six Sigma Green Belt certification vary depending on the company which oversees the training.

Some companies only require their Six Sigma applicants to complete a course in quality improvement. This may be followed by qualifying work on a specific project. The latter may or may not be done under the supervision of a master green belt.

Other companies set more rigorous standards for their aspiring green belts. These standards may require more completed projects before certification is awarded. Certain companies administer a written exam which applicants must pass in order to work on green belt projects.

There are actually independent institutes which aid businesses in qualifying staff for these tasks. They perform their services in exchange for a fee. Many of them now offer online training to supplement or even replace standard training.

Six Sigma Implementation

Six Sigma Green Belt team members can work on either of two kinds of projects available within a company. They can focus their efforts on reviewing and improving products that are already in production. They can also choose to work on teams that focus specifically on preparing and improving products before they reach the production stage.

Teams that work on products that are already in production pass through five steps in their efforts to improve production and reduce defects. They first listen to and record public complaints about a specific product. This is called defining the problem. Six Sigma philosophy also calls it “listening to the voice of the customer.”

The second step in this process entails measuring quantifiable data about the current methods of production in regard to this specific product. The team collects all relevant data. They do this, as much as possible, in a scientific fashion without regard to emotional involvement with a product’s success.

Finally, the Six Sigma teams analyze the data in an effort to detect cause-and-effect relationships between errors in production and defects in the final product. Then they seek to improve that process. The last step involves ongoing control and review pf the process to keep it on the right track.

Six Sigma Green Belt Teams dedicated to improving product quality before production also follow five steps in their methodology. They start by defining goals for product designs. Then they identify and measure product potential and risk. This is followed by the development of various alternatives in order to find the best possible version. Next follows the actual design of prototypes and the running of necessary simulations. Finally, the design is verified and the product enters the production stage.

The Six Sigma strategy has entered into widespread use since its development decades ago. Various companies have their own green belts seeking to constantly improve product quality. Many large corporations have publicly announced billions of dollars in savings over the year due to the work of the Six Sigma Green Belt teams.

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