Six Sigma is implemented through a carefully selected and managed project selection and management procedure. Leaders typically turn to analysts, Six Sigma professionals, and subject-matter experts for cost-benefit evaluations once identified areas of concern. Six Sigma teams determine how bad a process is (by calculating sigma levels, defect costs, downtime, and other metrics) and how much it will cost to fix it. The severity of the problem and the organization’s capabilities to handle it are then prioritized. Teams continue working through the priority list, periodically revisiting the analysis to check that the list has not been altered. But then, we still have a lot of questions on the six sigma belting system and the examination. This article will discuss the curriculum guide for Six Sigma.
A Six Sigma certification validates that a person has demonstrated real Six Sigma knowledge and applications. Some businesses provide in-house certification programs. Most people obtain certification by enrolling in a Six Sigma training course, either online or on-site. Most firms that provide Six Sigma training also offer a certification path. Courses for certification at various levels are available; Six Sigma levels are distinguished by belt level.
White Belt
Though they aren’t often regular participants of process improvement teams, a trained Six Sigma White belt is aware of the basic ideas of the Six Sigma technique. White belt training is a great way to introduce auxiliary staff members to Six Sigma and can provide the information needed to comprehend why project teams do what they do. The main expectations from the training are that the employees will be able to assess project procedures, grasp material presented at milestone meetings, and participate more effectively in project selection processes. White belt training can be employed at all levels when aiming to build a Six Sigma culture. White Belt training typically only provides a basic introduction and review of Six Sigma. As a result, not all Six Sigma specialists consider it a legitimate Six Sigma certification.
Yellow Belt
A yellow belt certification is a step up from a white belt: it’s still considered a basic introduction to Six Sigma concepts. A yellow belt also learns the basics of the DMAIC approach, which is frequently used to improve processes. Six Sigma yellow belt training often includes the following concepts:
- Six Sigma Team Roles and Responsibility
- Team development and management Basic quality tools such as Pareto charts, run charts, scatter diagrams and histograms
- Common Six Sigma metrics Data collection
- Basic Measurement system analysis
- Root cause analysis
- Waste analysis (for Lean Six Sigma)
- Value Stream Mapping (for Lean Six Sigma)
- Fundamentals of Process Control using Statistical Process Control
Yellow belt training is frequently focused on comprehending the overarching approach and fundamental data collecting. Yellow belts do not need to know how to do hypothesis testing, but they must be familiar with the terminology and findings from such studies. Employees who need to know about the overall process and its execution are generally designated as yellow belts.
Green Belt
Green belts operate in Six Sigma teams and are typically supervised by a black belt or master black belt. Green belts may lead or manage small projects independently in some situations. Green belts typically have intermediate statistical analysis skills; they may deal with data and analysis issues, assist Black Belts in applying Six Sigma tools to a project, or teach people inside an organization about the overall Six Sigma process.
Green Belts can be middle managers, business analysts, project managers, and others who need to regularly be involved with process improvement activities but aren’t full-time Six Sigma experts. Green Belts are sometimes referred to as the “worker bees” of the Six Sigma approach since they collect and analyze statistical data under the supervision of qualified Black Belts.
Green Belt training frequently includes the following concepts:
- All of the information listed for yellow belt certification
- Failure mode and effects analysis
- Project and team management
- Data types
- Statistical distributions
- Descriptive statistics
- Process Capability for Continuous Data
- Basic hypothesis testing for continuous data
- Correlation study
- Regression study to identify the vital few
- Response optimizer for process modelling
- Basic Design of Experiment (DoE) concept
- DoE 2k full factorial
- Waste elimination and Kaizen (for Lean Six Sigma)
- Control Charts for continuous data
- Use the software (e.g Minitab, SigmaXL etc) to perform the analysis
Black Belt
A certified Six Sigma Black Belt typically serves as the project leader on process improvement projects. They could also work in a company’s management, analysis, or planning departments. Everything specified for yellow and green belts, as well as the following, are common minimum qualifications for black belt certification:
- Advanced team and project management skills.
- Knowledge of the expansive list of Six Sigma brainstorming and project tools
- Intermediate to advanced statistics (cover for continuous and discrete data)
- To understand other process improvement and quality methodology, such as Lean and Total Quality Management.
- An ability to design processes using Design for Six Sigma
- Advanced capabilities for diagraming processes, including flow charts and value stream maps
- Advanced Design of Experiment
- Advanced Control Chart
- Change Management
Master Black Belt
A Master Black Belt is the highest degree of Six Sigma certification available. Within a company, Master Black Belts typically supervise Black Belts and Green Belts, counsel on particularly tough project issues, provide guidance and education on complex statistical topics, and train people in the Six Sigma technique.
Certification Exams
Most certification programs need passing an exam; however, some green and black belt applicants must also demonstrate their expertise through Six Sigma project experience. If a test is required for white or yellow belt certification, it is typically brief and covers the fundamentals of the approach. Green belt exams are more in-depth than the yellow belt and may include questions concerning statistics and basic math. Exams may include challenging statistical issues or questions about how a project leader would respond to specific scenarios. Black belt exams can last up to four hours and are used to assess understanding and application.
Check out our Six Sigma courses to learn how to conduct the improvement project effectively by utilizing the six sigma tools.