The Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Training that is provided either in-house or through a third party consultant equips participants with advance skills in solving problems where a great emphasis is given on the DMAIC methodology which is characterized by the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control phases. The Green Belt certification assists the employees participating in the training act as well trained team members operating within their scope in the company or organization. This kind of focus enables the Green Belt to handle small, well defined Six Sigma projects, warranting less than the full time commitment to Six Sigma of a Black Belt within the company.
There are two primary roles and functions defined for a Six Sigma Green Belt: primarily, to help in the successful deployment of Six Sigma techniques and secondarily, to lead and manage small scale improvement assignments within their own areas. Considered as part of the support group, Green Belts can do much of the tasks in data gathering and implementation and execution of experiments.
The Six Sigma Green Belts are the professional practitioners who spend around twenty five percent of their time on projects in support of Black Belt assignments or projects of their own. In the duration of the training, participants will be trained to utilize many Six Sigma methods for problem-solving, as well as statistical tools that will aid in the success of the organization they work for.
In any type of product or service based industry, the students of Six Sigma Green Belt certification will have a deeper understanding of how to effectively apply statistical methods for process improvements such as:
- Communication of business strategy across all departments of an organization
- Integration with Lean Manufacturing, Theory of Constraints or TOC and other methods of process improvement
- Application of the DMAIC methodology
- Successful selection of Six Sigma teams and projects
- Successful planning and execution of projects
- Significantly improve and augment profitability through Six Sigma projects
- Select the appropriate statistical tools
In summary, the Green Belts can be considered as the ‘worker bees’ in Six Sigma projects. Green belts are capable of doing much of the work starting from data gathering through execution of experiments as support to projects of Black Belts. They usually have two important responsibilities: help in making sure the Six Sigma techniques are carried out successfully and spearhead projects for improvements in a smaller scale within their own respective areas. The number of Green Belts in any given project will typically be more than the number of Black Belts.
Requirements for Six Sigma Green Belt Certification
The Green Belt Certification in Six Sigma requires at least three years of experience working in one or more aspects of the Green Belt Body of Knowledge. Interestingly though, Green Belt certification in most companies is not necessarily a prerequisite for someone to move to Black Belt.
A Six Sigma Green Belt certification candidate is expected to function under the supervision or in support of a Six Sigma Black Belt. He or she is expected to be able to analyze and solve quality problems. A Six Sigma Green Belt candidate is expected to be involved in projects aimed at improving quality within the organization. A candidate must have participated in a project but not necessarily led any. Anyone aspiring for a Green Belt in Six Sigma must have worked for at least three years and has the capability of demonstrating his or her knowledge of the different Six Sigma tools and processes.
Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Curriculum
When going through the training for certification, expect to discuss the following topics:
- Overview of Six Sigma and the Organization – in this part of the training the participants will be given a wide view of what Six Sigma is and how it impacts the organization they will be supporting. It discusses the general concepts and theories of Six Sigma, its roots and as well as current world applications. Participants undergoing the training are expected to have a good grasp of the Six Sigma basics after undergoing this section of the curriculum.
- Define Phase – in this section of the curriculum, the entire define phase is discussed in detail. Students are taught on the basics of project management and its elements. Several tools and concepts critical to the define phase such as CTQ, different diagrams, COPQ, team tools, etc. are introduced and are also given thorough discussion.
- Measure Phase – in this section of the training module, the students are introduced to documentation and process analysis where process mapping, flowcharts, SIPOC, documentation of cause and effect relationships between input and output variables, and relational matrices are discussed. This section also includes discussions on probability, how to draw conclusions based on statistics, central limit theory, and other fundamental probability concepts are made. Students are also taught the different kinds of data and scales of measurement, probability distributions, measurement system analysis, and process capability.
- Analyze Phase – in this section students are taught the concepts of exploratory data analysis. Under exploratory data analysis they are given a thorough discussion on multi-vari studies and basic linear correlation and regression analysis. In the analyze phase students are also equipped with the capability of conducting hypothesis testing. Test for means and variances, paired-comparison tests, single factor analysis of variance, and chi square tests are the major topics taught during this phase of the training.
- Improve and Control Phases – the last two phases of the DMAIC methodology are usually combined in the interest of time. Both phases are relatively shorter compared to the first three. The students are expected to understand basics of design of experiments such as dependent and independent variables, levels and factors, responses, treatment, errors, repetition as well as replication of the experiment methods.
Aside from this, students are also expected to be equipped with the skill of interpretation of main effects as well as interaction plots. The statistical process control, also known as SPC, concepts and principles are introduced and are tackled thoroughly. Students will be taught how to design and use control charts in this section of the course. Different methods of improvement are also to students. They are given discussions on brainstorming, FMEA, main effects analysis, etc. and solutions presented will be validated through the use of the tools such as F-test and t-test. As a final point of discussion, students are also given assistance in the development of control plans and implementation of controls and monitoring systems.