‘Lean Six Sigma’ is a buzzword within the corporate & business sector, but very few are sure as to what it actually is and what it can do for the career of any professional.
To put it short; Six Sigma is a quality measurement which is often put into place in order to create a near perfect environment whereby there is zero amounts of quality defects present. Lean is about eliminating Wastes or non-value adding activities in processes to improve speed & quality. This combined process is called Lean Six Sigma.
Let’s begin with the birth of Six Sigma… Motorola produced the improvement process of Six Sigma which has now turned into the Lean Six Sigma methodology. The general idea behind Six Sigma is to ultimately eliminate defects by reducing the process variation which is currently in place. The Six Sigma process can be used in any department of any business due to its flexibility and high performance value.
The Lean Six Sigma methodology has become so common that many organisations desire new employee for key roles to have the Six Sigma certification under their belt in the hope that they have learnt the skills and techniques which is taught throughout the process.
There are several levels of expertise in the Lean Six Sigma field in which you can gain throughout your Lean Six Sigma journey.
These levels of expertise are described as ‘belts’:
The first level or belt is the Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt which will allow you to have the knowledge of working with Six Sigma on a daily basis under pressure.
The next stage is the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt which is often thought of as the first level of certification for Lean Six Sigma and provides you with basic teaching of the principles and methods of the Lean Six Sigma methodology.
The next level is to gain the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification which will equip the individual with a great amount of knowledge regarding the process of this practise and will allow him/her to teach others about the methods which should and will be put into place.
The last stage of the Lean Six Sigma journey is the Master Black Belt training course which is about translating the organisation’s vision, mission, goals and metrics to create strategic deployment plan & overseeing execution. This is the highest level of certification one can attain regarding the Lean Six Sigma practices.
Lean Six Sigma is also often referred to by many as the business management system however, many also like to see it as a tool which helps create the perfect environment for any enterprise. Although this tool is not a problem solver it does stop problems from occurring in the first place.