When running a business of course you want it to be perfect. The Six Sigma philosophy is to pursue business nirvana by removing business process flaws that create variation in an attempt to achieve perfect efficiency. Six Sigma means achieving only 3.4 defects per 1,000,000 pieces. Most U.S. organizations operate at 3 to 4 Sigma quality levels, losing up to 25% of total revenue from waste or repair of too many defects. And the lean philosophy is a process-improvement business tool to decrease costs by eliminating waste.
There are three levels of Lean Six Sigma mastery; Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black Belt. Green Belts are the workers who accomplish particular tasks within Black Belt projects and lead on basic projects within their field. The typical requirements to become a Green Belt are to complete eight weeks of online training, 8 online exams with minimum scores of 70% and to focus on basic improvement projects. Average Green Belt’s salary is 23% higher than the average for national job postings. Black Belts are team leaders who assign roles and responsibilities to complicated projects. The typical requirements for a Black Belt are sixteen weeks of online training, 8 online exams with minimum scores of 70% and to focus on project execution. Black Belts with 15+ years experience earn 41% more than Black Belts with 3-5 years experience. Lastly, we have the Master Black Belts who train and mentor Black and Green Belts, solving any exceptional problems within Black Belt projects. Master Black Belts have to complete the Black Belt program with a minimum score of 70% and submission of an in-class Master Black Belt project.
And now it’s time to focus on putting Sigma into action. There are 48 million surgeries that occur in the United States each year nationally and hospitals that are operating on a Six Sigma only see 163.2 mistakes made during surgery compared to a Three Sigma who encounters 3,206,736 mistakes during surgery per year. Globally in 2011 there were 487,700,000 smartphone producers operating on Six Sigma and only saw 1,658.18 defective phones compared to 32,581,773.9 defects in phones with Three Sigma. Six Sigma has a 99.9% success rate and becoming a Master Black Belt will enable yourself and your career!
Check out the infographic below presented by Villanova University to learn more about Six Sigma.
