I am going to teach Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) in the training for Green Belt certification in the next week. That will be two times of a week long of training. So I need to spend this week for the preparation of the training. I have to make it a success because I will spend totally three weeks in DFSS alone.
Our group provides the DFSS Green Belt training for all younger engineers. The purpose of the DFSS Green Belt training is that:
- Understanding the DFSS methodology as a scientific design and thinking method
- Applying the DFSS for product developments to meet the customer requirements with higher quality and lower cost
Another goal of the DFSS training is to increase the number of certified engineers because we want to create the DFSS culture in our organization.
The process steps for the certification is like below:
- Managers recommend their engineers to pursue the DFSS certification
- The candidate participates the DFSS GB training and complete the training
- The candidate applies the DFSS to actual project and complete the project
- The candidate creates a presentation slide deck
- The candidate presents the DFSS project in front of the Master Black Belts, the mentor, and the manager. They evaluate candidate’s competency in DFSS knowledge and experience
Then if the candidate’s competency in DFSS is beyond the DFSS Green Belt level, the candidate will be certified.
As a Master Black Belt, I use a checklist of the DFSS competency requirements when evaluating the candidate’s presentation. And I count the number of tools used in the project, quantify the quality of tool usage, and quantify the business impact of the project.
If the quantified project score reaches a certain level, the candidate passes the certification. If not, the candidate can save the score points for the next project. The candidate can try the certification project many times until the accumulated score points reaches the certification points. Sometime a candidate is certified the DFSS Green Belt with a single project, and sometime a candidate tries a couple of projects for the certification.
Not only the DFSS but Lean Six Sigma certification is given by companies and educational institute. The requirements and the curriculum of the certification training differ in every organizations. Therefore the level of actual knowledge and experience of the certification is depend on the certification provider (i.e., organization).
As long as I know, the belts who certified by GE (General Electric) have high level of competency in the DFSS and the Lean Six Sigma. It’s because the GE has higher level of certification requirements and better education system than other organization. The GE also many case studies which can be shared in the organization. Such rich Lean Six Sigma culture could be able to provide the high level certified belts.
Lean Six Sigma and DFSS certification training provided by an educational institute is pretty expensive, and they mainly teach knowledge only. So the belt certified by the educational institute may lack of experience, and may not ready to work for an actual project right away.
The most cost effective way to implement Lean Six Sigma could be to develop the education system in the organization. A Master Black Belt teaches Lean Six Sigma to a Black Belt, and a Black Belt teaches Lean Six Sigma to a Green Belt. Such education system could creates the Lean Six Sigma culture in the organization. The most important thing to create the Lean Six Sigma culture is the strong support by the top management. Without the support, the Lean Six Sigma never be success.