Training employees as Lean Six Sigma Black Belts will provide the valuable skills needed to tackle the more complex problems confronting your organization. By coupling the proven Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) problem-solving methodology with robust statistical tools, Lean Six Sigma offers a carefully defined roadmap for achieving business process improvements. One does not have to first complete the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt program, as the first two weeks of the Black Belt training coincide with the two-week Green Belt training program already being offered.
To further enhance continuous process improvements within an organization, the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt candidate, with the assistance of the Lean Six Sigma team, will deal with the more complex customer issues and problems (internal and external). As a Leader, the Black Belt will be responsible for guiding teams of Green Belts and other members of his/her organization through the various phases that are taught in the four week training program. At this point, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training equips the candidate with a higher level of logical and objective ways to identify, measure, and eliminate those problems. As a review, the steps that are taken are broken into five phases, known as DMAIC:
- Define – is all about the identifying the customers’ pain (translated from a practical problem to a statistical problem – based on the Voice of the Customer) and determining what is “broken”;
- Measure – is all about identifying the list of inputs where upon the candidates will fine tune a list of “possible causes” down to a manageable and measureable level;
- Analyze – is all about taking the modified list of potential root causes, applying some statistical theory testing and coming up with the definitive root cause(s);
- Improve – is all about finding the right settings or optimal levels of operating the factors of previously identified in the Analyze Phase; and
- Control – is all about sustaining the gain, on an ongoing manner, such that the improvements are now (and forever) under control. Should anything go wrong, the process is now set up to rectify the issue immediately without affecting the customer(s) in any adverse way.
Project management methodologies and practical data analysis techniques are delved into at greater depths, and are applicable at any level of the organization, with greater ways of contributing to the bottom line (reducing the cost of poor quality). Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training enhances the way employees approach their day-to-day work, and allowing the participant to become better qualified for managerial positions down the road. With Lean Six Sigma Black and Green Belts strategically positioned to support each other, they are able to work in teams to problem solve customer issues with quick and sustainable results. Using the DMAIC process, introduced by Motorola in the mid-1980, the improvement capability expands exponentially.
Program Details: The course duration is four weeks, using the 4 x 4 technique identified by Motorola – one week in class, three weeks off to practise the tools learned in the preceding week, repeated three times. Certification has three elements: attending the training; passing the final exam; and completing a Lean Six Sigma DMAIC project, to be signed off by WP1’s in-house Master Black Belt (ASQ Certified). This should allow the participant to be able to take the ASQ written multiple choice exam for official certification as an ASQ CSSBB (Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt).
Program Objectives: Upon completion of the four-week Lean Six Sigma course, the participant is deemed a Black Belt Candidate. From this point onward, the candidate will have the tools necessary to complete a LSS Black Belt project within 4 to 6 months from the last day of classes. The candidate will need to submit the project for final approval and certification from a qualified WP1 CSSMBB.
Facilitator Biography – E. George Woodley: Certifications: Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) in 2002; LSS Master Black Belt (CLSSMBB) by Quality & Productivity Solutions (an ASQ related organization) in 2004; and Lean Master Practitioner in 2005 by Six Sigma.us. George has implemented the tools of Lean and Six Sigma since 2000 for a varied list of clients, both in-house and in open enrolment environments. Some of the tools taught and used have been: Graphical analysis tools (e.g. box plots), Process and Value Stream Mapping, Swim Lanes, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, Cause and Effect Matrices, Process Capability Studies, Measurement System Analysis, Hypothesis Testing, ANOVA, Regression, 5S, Kanban, Kaizen Events, Theory of Constraints, Design of Experiments (traditional, attribute and historical), simulations (Monte Carlo), Statistical Process Control, Mistake Proofing, Response Surface Methodology. Most recently, George developed, delivered and coached candidates Design for Six Sigma for companies such as Inscape (Markham, ON) and Canadian Tire Credit (Kingston, ON). Soft skills include Project Management, mentoring, facilitating, Train-the-Trainer and course development of a specific set of materials for Genentech, a subsidiary of Rausch which enabled five (5) out of six (6) Green Belts to write and pass the American Society for Quality’s Black Belt exam on their first attempt.
Team guidance enabled George to fulfill the role of Project Leader for Lean and Six Sigma deployment initiatives with specific corporations; Washington Mutual bank, Alltel Telecommunications, the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), the American Red Cross and the Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) mortgage initiatives. Work affiliations included the Toronto Dominion-Canada Trust Bank (TD) as a Master Black Belt and Project Manager; Boston Scientific in Galway, Ireland as a course designer (for the ASQ), instructor and mentor; and Alberta Treasury Branches (ATB) as a course designer, facilitator and MBB coach. These roles included one-on-one mentoring of 50 Black Belts and approximately 100 Green Belt and Lean students. The realized savings in the form of reduction in the cost of poor quality was in the tens of millions of dollars.
In all, George has supported hundreds of Green Belts, Black Belts and Master Black Belts from 2000 onward with project management and coaching. Project savings were in the millions of dollars in cost reductions and ROI (Return on Investment). The most recent initiatives wee with Alberta Treasury Branches (ATB) to the tune of $10,567,000 and TD-Digital Services, with savings of over $8 million; a result of eight (8) Lean and Six Sigma projects.
George has dealt with identifying projects from project hoppers, identifying the right type of project methodology using a Project Selection Matrix, and getting the projects successfully launched with the chartering process. Project management is continually being done as a Master Black Belt and was done throughout his Lean Six Sigma career (2002 onward).
George is a graduate from the University of Guelph (cum laude), Guelph, Ontario, Canada, with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Statistics and completed one year in a Masters Statistics program. George’s apprenticeship was with Ford Motor Company and Motorola. He is fluent in English, French and Hungarian. He is also a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the Ohio Academy of Science (OAS).
Who Should Attend: The course is open to anyone who has already completed his/her Green Belt training and it is desirable that the individual has completed at least one Green Belt project.
Prerequisite: The prerequisite for this level of training is the successful completion of the Green Belt classes and has preferably had the opportunity to complete at least one Green Belt project. The individual can come from any transactional or manufacturing environment and should have a good understanding of what it is the customer is concerned about and a desire to solve problems in all facets of the company. It would be implied that the individual is relatively comfortable with statistics and mathematics, as well as owns a copy of Minitab© 17.
Please note that this is a two part course running for one course week, three weeks break, and one more course week.
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