How Green Is Your Black Belt?

Abstract

If your company wants to stay or become more competitive it is important to constantly focus on the main elements Time, Quality and Costs. Applying both Lean and Six Sigma is the right approach for achieving this goal.

Lean Six Sigma is a management philosophy. You find this philosophy explained in many books and articles. The top management decision that Lean Six Sigma is the way to go, is key for success. But after this decision you have to deploy it. Then you will realize implementing Lean Six Sigma is more than a philosophy. It is also about applying the enormous number of tools in the right way. Especially Six Sigma contains many sophisticated analytical and statistical tools. On top of that is the Human Factor that, especially in Lean transformation, is also a key element.

Within Six Sigma employees can be trained at various belt levels. Nowadays these levels are also used to appoint how experienced one is in applying Lean methodology. These levels are called Master Black Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt, Orange Belt and Yellow Belt. Although there are several companies worldwide that train in Lean and Six Sigma, there is no common standard in what elements should be applied within a certain belt. As a consequence the Belt-levels can mean many things. You can train your employees or hire people that call themselves Green Belt or Black Belt, but how do you know this person has the skills you are looking for? How ‘Green’ is your Black Belt ?

To meet this problem, the LSSA was established in September 2009. LSSA stands for ‘Lean Six Sigma Academy’. The LSSA main objective is to establish a common European certification standard by developing skill sets, training material and an exam portal. People will be able to apply for a European certificate for the above mentioned levels. Four Skill sets have been derived that exactly describe which of the overall Lean Six Sigma tools are expected to be part at a certain Belt level. The ASQ - Body of knowledge [5], [6] have been taken as a baseline and have been updated according the latest insights.