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Certified!


Cyclones
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After 5 weeks of class and 16 hours worth of exams, I have gotten my Six Sigma Black Belt certification. I guess now we'll see how useful it is. I think it has a few years of legs left, its one of the major Buzzwords in businesses today. I need to cash in before it fizzles out I guess.

 

:D

 

Sorry, had to do it. :D

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There are 5 (I think) levels of Six Sigma Certification...Yellow, Green, Brown, Black, and Master Black Belt. Usually Yellow, Green and Brown are reserved for supervisors and managers just so they know the basics and don't think the Black Belt is coming in trying some crazy voodoo on their operations.

 

To get the BB cert, I had to take 220 hours of classes, run and complete a project with verifiable financial results, and average 75% on 4 four hour exams (I averaged 87.5.) :D

 

 

 

I’m curious about the project. How long did your project take? How much money did the project save your company? What was your defect rate when you started? Ended? I mean did you really reach 3.4 defects per million opportunities when you were done? If so, that’s awesome! Congrats on the cert.

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I’m curious about the project. How long did your project take? How much money did the project save your company? What was your defect rate when you started? Ended? I mean did you really reach 3.4 defects per million opportunities when you were done? If so, that’s awesome! Congrats on the cert.

 

 

Actually my project was on efficiency more than quality, in this case pages per hour run through our scanner. The industry standard on the scanners we use in our Atlanta facility is around 11,000 pages per hour....we were averaging only about 5500. After some data collection I discovered that far too many poorly sorted claims were getting through to the scanner. We did an overhaul of our mail sort QC process and at the end of the project, we are pushing 7800 pages per hour. At 1.8 cents per page bill rate, that's about $41.00 per hour extra we are now generating on the scanners. We run two scanners 18 hours a day 6 days a week, so that's alot. Not to mention we have strict turnaround times built into our SLA with this client, so missing TAT can cost us tens of thousands per month. The most common reason for missing TAT in the last year was scanner inefficiency, so we think the project will also cut that out. We'll see in a few months what kind of financial benefit it has made. I am guessing somewhere in the 40k per month range. Hello bonus!! :D

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What consultant/comapny certified you? There are many variations today by companies as to what constitutes a certification.

 

The original certification from the GE & Motorola Boys who started there own consulting & certification programs required a minnimum of 6 months of classes and leading at leat 3 six sigma projects with real dollars saved, not projected.

 

I have seen some groups certify in a matter of weeks based on coursework and no implementation.

 

From my Blog (short version):

 

I will only comment on my experiences. Please understand that Six-Sigma goes by many derivatives today (Design, Mfg, Transactional/Service, Lean, Financial, IT, etc), much like many of its quality predecessors programs (TQM, TQL, TQC, CQI, PMI, etc). Most consultants and many quality groups will disagree with my statement, because their programs are unique where others have failed. I wish everyone would just state the program they have today is an “evolution” of earlier programs, instead of taking the first training day explaining the differences of their new and better process which “they” have developed. Six Sigma was no different when it came riding out of the west (Arizona) with all the answers. A few consulting groups located in Arizona did a brilliant marketing campaign and led the way for all other consulting groups to add Six-Sigma to their bag of skills (ISO, Reengineering, etc).

 

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2005/04/quali...sigma-been.html

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What consultant/comapny certified you? There are many variations today by companies as to what constitutes a certification.

 

The original certification from the GE & Motorola Boys who started there own consulting & certification programs required a minnimum of 6 months of classes and leading at leat 3 six sigma projects with real dollars saved, not projected.

 

I have seen some groups certify in a matter of weeks based on coursework and no implementation.

 

From my Blog (short version):

 

I will only comment on my experiences. Please understand that Six-Sigma goes by many derivatives today (Design, Mfg, Transactional/Service, Lean, Financial, IT, etc), much like many of its quality predecessors programs (TQM, TQL, TQC, CQI, PMI, etc). Most consultants and many quality groups will disagree with my statement, because their programs are unique where others have failed. I wish everyone would just state the program they have today is an “evolution” of earlier programs, instead of taking the first training day explaining the differences of their new and better process which “they” have developed. Six Sigma was no different when it came riding out of the west (Arizona) with all the answers. A few consulting groups located in Arizona did a brilliant marketing campaign and led the way for all other consulting groups to add Six-Sigma to their bag of skills (ISO, Reengineering, etc).

 

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2005/04/quali...sigma-been.html

 

 

 

I was certified by Breakthrough Management Group. The actual training took 5 weeks, but total certification time was about 7 months. We had a week of class the first week of every month Jan-May. Each week of class was dedicated to the phases of DMAIC. Between classes, we worked on the project within that phase, and had to provide deliverables as the project progressed. There were many cheaper, quicker options, but we went with this company due to their reputation and in depth training regimen.

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What consultant/comapny certified you? There are many variations today by companies as to what constitutes a certification.

 

The original certification from the GE & Motorola Boys who started there own consulting & certification programs required a minnimum of 6 months of classes and leading at leat 3 six sigma projects with real dollars saved, not projected.

 

I have seen some groups certify in a matter of weeks based on coursework and no implementation.

 

From my Blog (short version):

 

I will only comment on my experiences. Please understand that Six-Sigma goes by many derivatives today (Design, Mfg, Transactional/Service, Lean, Financial, IT, etc), much like many of its quality predecessors programs (TQM, TQL, TQC, CQI, PMI, etc). Most consultants and many quality groups will disagree with my statement, because their programs are unique where others have failed. I wish everyone would just state the program they have today is an “evolution” of earlier programs, instead of taking the first training day explaining the differences of their new and better process which “they” have developed. Six Sigma was no different when it came riding out of the west (Arizona) with all the answers. A few consulting groups located in Arizona did a brilliant marketing campaign and led the way for all other consulting groups to add Six-Sigma to their bag of skills (ISO, Reengineering, etc).

 

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2005/04/quali...sigma-been.html

 

 

Where did the newb come from, does he monitor message boards looking for Six Sigma posts so he can tear people down?

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Apparently you are now being monitored. You forgot the first rule of Six Sigma is you don't talk about Six Sigma.

 

 

Yah, looks like the :D don't take kindly to their stuff being talked about. In that case, I'll start giving a daily update on every project I am working on. :D

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After 5 weeks of class and 16 hours worth of exams, I have gotten my Six Sigma Black Belt certification. I guess now we'll see how useful it is. I think it has a few years of legs left, its one of the major Buzzwords in businesses today. I need to cash in before it fizzles out I guess.

 

Congratulations and good luck. Six Sigma definitely still has legs here at America's Paint Company.

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