Quality has become the cornerstone of manufacturing today Wh

Quality has become the cornerstone of manufacturing today.

What is Lean Six Sigma? Describe the difference between Lean Six Sigma Green Belts, Black Belts, and Master Black belts. Using any resource available (internet, textbook, magazine) explain the process of obtaining these certifications. Do you feel these will make you more marketable in your field?

Solution

Lean six sigma is a philosophy to achieve operational excellence. It is a systematic approach to eliminate the different types of waste in an organization to make it lean. These waste are put in to 8 categories that are named as following:

Above waste are eliminated through synergy of Lean and six sigma.

Lean six sigma green belt person uses different types of   lean six sigma tools and help in execution of operation and projects as per the philosophy. It is at the second level above of yellow belt when awareness about lean six sigma is built.

Lean six sigma black belt is the expert with a very good understanding of leans six sigma and the concerned person has already delivered many successful projects. In contrast, Master Black belt is the black belt advanced knowledge and experience. Concerned person further train others green belt and black belt on lean six sigma methodology. Master Black belt leads the organization in change management initiative in their way to excellence.

It can be said that all three levels are gradual implementation of Lean six sigma in an organization that moves towards elimination of waste in progressive and collaborative manner.

Process of obtaining Lean six sigma:

Step 1: organization define the issue / problem faced by them

Step 2: Measure the problem through collection of data as well as the start point

Step 3: Analysis of the problem faced by the organization

Step 4: improve upon the problem through careful implementation of action plan

Step 5: control the situation so that problem is always under control

Also, there are different level of Lean six sigma such as yellow belt, green belt, black belt and master black belt. Each belt is achieved and then organization moves on to the next level.

Any organization implementing lean six sigma in full capacity builds sustainable competitive advantage over the others due to their lean structure and operational excellence. It also gives added advantage in business development and negotiation.