Six Sigma Black Belts
Fight For Quality
Ron Scott
Ross Finnestad
Rodney Kalsow
IE 361 mini-paper
9/22/00
Six Sigma is a breakthrough management strategy that is revolutionizing the world’s top
corporations.
So what is Six Sigma? “It is a business process that allows companies to drastically improve
their bottom line by designing and monitoring everyday business activities in ways that minimize
waste and resources while increasing customer satisfaction” (Harry VII). There are many quality
control systems in the world today that help to monitor defects of business activities, so what sets
Six Sigma apart from other systems? Six Sigma provides ways to re-create the process so that
there are no defects in the first place. By eliminating defects, Six Sigma reduces waste, which
helps organizations to produce products and services better, faster and cheaper.
What does name “Six Sigma” stand for? The origin of the name comes from the Greek letter
sigma. In terms of statistical measurement sigma is associated with the variability of a process.
Many companies use sigma levels to measure the performance of their business processes. (Table
1) Most companies are operating at four sigma that is approximately 6,000 defects per million
(www.asq.org/products/sigma). The goal of Six Sigma is to reduce the number of defects in a
process to less than 3.4 defects per million.
Sigma Level Significance
Table 1
SIGMA LEVEL
DEFECTS PER MILLION OPPORTUNITIES
2
308,537
3
66,807
4
6210
5
233
6
3.4
There are four different roles involved in Six Sigma. The roles are: Champions, Master Black
Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts. “Training individuals as Black Belts gives them the skills
necessary to implement, sustain, and lead a highly focused Six Sigma initiative within a target
business area or unit” (Harry 201). The focus of this paper is on the Black Belts because the
success of Six Sigma is highly dependent upon them.
What do Black Belts do? Six Sigma has come to imply “a whole quality culture of strategies,
statistics, and tools for improving a company’s bottom line.” Black Belts are the people who use
these tools to identify and implement projects that reduce wastes and resources in order to
maximize cost reduction (www.qualitymag.com/articles/1999/aug99/0899f3). According to Dr.
Mikel Harry and Richard Schroeder, the founders of the Six Sigma Academy Inc., “Black Belts
characterize and optimize key processes that exert undue influence in the business landscape.”
Their responsibility is to create, organize, and implement projects that will reduce the amount of
error and/or defects that may be found in any product or service provided by company. The main
focus of a Black Belt is to identify and understand the factors that are at the base of what they
want to accomplish. By applying some basic principles of quality control and quality assurance,
Black Belts may reap many benefits for a company. Reducing inventory, production time,
material or labor costs are just some of the many improvements a Black Belt may create through
his/her work (201). The following table describes some of the main duties a Black Belt performs.
Black Belt Tasks
Table 2
Mentor
Cultivate a network of Six Sigma individuals as the local organization or site.
Teach
Provide formal training of local personnel in new strategies and tools.
Coach
Provide one-on-one support to local personnel.
Transfer
Pass on new strategies and tools in the form of training, workshops, case studies,
and local symposia.
Discover
Find application opportunities for Six Sigma strategies and tools, both internal and
external (e.g., suppliers and customers)
Identify
Highlight / surface business opportunities through partnership with other
organizations.
Influence
Sell the organization on the use of Six Sigma strategies and tools.
(Harry 202)
Where does the term “Black Belt” originate. The term was initially used to designate project
leaders trained in statistical problem solving at Unisys Corporation, by Mikel Harry. That is
where Black Belts were first trained and used according to Harry (202). The term comes form the
sport of karate and the ideas that are at the base of karate. Both karate and the Six Sigma depend
on the importance of mental discipline and systematic, intensive training. “Just as black belts in
Karate depend on power, speed and decisiveness, Six Sigma Black Belts depend on the resources
of their company behind them, and their own ability to juggle multiple projects and complete the
quickly.” Karate black belts must always be ready to move and change. Similarly, Six Sigma
Black Belts must always be ready to change and move within a project and from project to
project (Harry 202).
What does it take to be a Black Belt? Black Belt candidates are the doers – the technical leaders
and change agents in an organization, the ones who implement the principles, practices and
techniques of Six Stigma. Not everyone has the mind, patience, or work ethic it takes to be a
Black Belt. The Champions look for some general traits when they are selecting Black Belts for
their team. There are some common characteristics between successful Black Belts. Most seem
to possess individuality, but still know how to work very well with in team. They need to be very
well respected by everyone in the company and give respect as well. If the Black Belts are
respected by their coworkers, it is more likely that their ideas will be given a fair chance. Most
have between two and three years experience, but it could also be positive to have a newcomer be
selected because he/she will bring a new perspective to help make positive changes. A Black
Belt needs to be someone that anticipates problems and act on them immediately while being able
to keep their cool under extreme pressure. Black Belts needs to be very well informed of the Six
Sigma tools, and be able to distribute them on to Green Belts and other team members. A Black
Belt needs to inspire others and look at criticism as a step in the direction of success. Black Belts
need to know the limitations of member of the team, and have a genuine concern for others needs
and wants. One commonality between many elite Black Belts is being frustrated with past
management strategies and solutions, and having the drive to try to implement change. Once
people meeting these criteria are found, they are placed in Black Belt certification training.
(Harry 208).
The typical Six Sigma Black Belt certification process is one full week of training each month for
four consecutive months. Each week focuses on one of the four phases of Six Sigma problem
solving M-A-I-C and the twelve M-A-I-C objectives. (Table 3)
Black Belt’s Course of Study
Table 3
M-A-I-C Phases
M-A-I-C Objectives
MEASURE the frequency of defects
*Select critical-to-quality characteristics (CTQ)
*Define performance standards
*Validate measurement systems
ANALYZE when and where defects occur
*Establish product capability
*Define performance objectives
*Identify variation sources
IMPROVE the process
*Screen potential causes
*Discover variable relationships
*Establish operating tolerances
CONTROL the process so that it stays fixed
*Validate measurement system
*Determine process capability
*Implement process controls
(Harry 207)
During the time between training sessions, each Black Belt candidate works on a real life project
solving a real life problem in his/her company. This is done not only to demonstrate that the
prospective Black Belt has mastered the techniques taught to them by the training given but also
to actually improve his company’s bottom line. Projects are usually worth between $150,000 and
$175,00. These projects involve reducing defects and improving customer satisfaction
(www.qualitymag.com/articles/1999/aug99). The programs typically follow the “Six Sigma
P-T-A-R” cycle, which is a continuous cycle of planning, training, applying, and reviewing
(Harry 206). To become a certified Black Belt, one must not only demonstrate their ability to use
the tools of the Six Sigma, but also reap benefits of the project in terms of saving money and
satisfying customers (www.asq.org/products/sigma/).
What does a well-trained Black Belt contribute to his company? The number of projects that a
Black Belt can tackle in a year depends on many variables such has the complexity of the project
and the amount of money that is allocated for the project. On average though, a fully trained
Black Belt will have the capacity to complete four to six projects per year. In the hands of an
adept Black Belt each project should yield the company at least $150,00 to $175,000 per project
(Harry 204). This means that a skilled Black Belt can save a company around $500,000 to
$1,000,000 per year which makes the $30,000 cost of training seem miniscule
(www.qualitymag.com/articles/1999/aug99/0899f3.html).
Does this mean that every company should train Black Belts and implement Six Sigma? Having
a Six Sigma Black Belt in your company doesn’t mean that all of your problems will be solved.
For example, having a good home run hitter on your baseball team is not going to be what wins
the team games. In order for the team to win games, it takes a well-balanced team that is capable
of working together.
Works Cited
Harry, Mikel and Richard Schroeder. Six Sigma The Breakthrough Management Strategy
Revolutionizing the World’s Top Organizations. Doubleday. New York. 2000.
“Black Belt Training Course”. Yahoo. Sept. 2, 2000.
<http://www.omnex.com/Training?Sixsigma/Instructor.html>
“Six Sigma…Black Belt Training”. Yahoo. Aug. 19, 2000.
<http://www.juran.com/consulting.html>
“Stamp Out Tough Quality”. Quality Online. Yahoo. Aug. 1999.
<http://www.qualitymag.com/articles/1999/aug99/0899f3.html>
“Program Background – Six Sigma Breakthrough Strategy Training”. Yahoo. Sept. 5 2000.
<http://www.asg.org/products/sigma/>