Among the top news in the Six Sigma community are two leading manufacturing companies that have appointed certified Six Sigma Black Belts to deliver the goods so to speak.
Accuride Corporation, one of the largest and most diversified manufacturers and suppliers of commercial vehicle components in North America, appointed Ben Laaper to Vice President / Global Sourcing.
As VP, Laaper will be responsible for procurement and logistics at all Accuride business units. Part of his expanded role is the taking on the role of driving Accuride’s continual improvement processes surrounding procurement reengineering. Many believe that Laaper is highly qualified for the job. Laaper has more than 30 years of procurement and sourcing experience and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt of MoreSteam University. Read the complete press release here.
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc., leading automotive supplier, appointed Fred Bentley to the new position of Chief Operating Officer and President of the Global Wheel Group. The appointment comes in time for the company’s strategic realignment of its wheel businesses to strengthen coordination and synergies worldwide. The realignment brings together the company’s North American and International Wheel Groups, forming the Global Wheel Group.
Like Laaper, many also believe that Bentley can do justice to his new post. Bentley has been part of Lemmerz’s growth overseas and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, and one of his expertise is lean manufacturing. Read the complete press release here.
Just what is it about Six Sigma Black Belts that people rely on them to take on serious roles such as driving companies to succeeding further? Two of my previoius posts (Naming the Six Sigma Masters and Doing Six Sigma Right) have discussed Black Belts trainings. A Black Belt training is serious training. Before you get certified, you need to complete certain number of hours and complete a project. So that when you come out of the training you are ready for process improvement projects.
Thomas Pyzdek, author of the Six Sigma Handbook, listed down the 101 Things A Six Sigma Black Belt Should Know. Among them are…
1. In general, a Six Sigma Black Belt should be quantitatively oriented.
2. With minimal guidance, the Six Sigma Black Belt should be able to use data to convert broad generalizations into actionable goals.
3. The Six Sigma Black Belt should be able to make the business case for attempting to accomplish these goals.
4. The Six Sigma Black Belt should be able to develop detailed plans for achieving these goals.
5. The Six Sigma Black Belt should be able to measure progress towards the goals in terms meaningful to customers and leaders.
6. The Six Sigma Black Belt should know how to establish control systems for maintaining the gains achieved through Six Sigma.
7. The Six Sigma Black Belt should understand and be able to communicate the rationale for continuous improvement, even after initial goals have been accomplished.
8. The Six Sigma Black Belt should be familiar with research that quantifies the benefits firms have obtained from Six Sigma.
9. The Six Sigma Black Belt should know or be able to find the PPM rates associated with different sigma levels (e.g., Six Sigma = 3.4 PPM)
10. The Six Sigma Black Belt should know the approximate relative cost of poor quality associated with various sigma levels (e.g., three sigma firms report 25% COPQ). Continue reading.
This sure sounds like a tough job to do. But the training will equip the person to do it and do it well. For companies who believe that process improvement can only happen through Six Sigma should seriously consider a Black Belt training for their highly capable employees.
