Mr. Reden Rodriguez‘s comment on my previous entry reads…
“Is there a certification program that measures the effect of six sigma on corporations that have implemented the program?”
I’m sure this is also the question of many of you out there who may be familiar with the ISO certification given to companies. In fact, I toyed with the same idea last Saturday when I was at the WorldBex International at the World Trade Center, Manila. In most, if not all, exhibitor’s booth, I saw the ISO certification. Several times, I was tempted to ask them if they were also deploying Six Sigma, but I thought it was not the proper venue to be asking.
At any rate, when I got the abovementioned comment, I checked out my archives because I was sure I had written about Six Sigma certification before. True enough, I found one: Be a Six Sigma Certified Organization (8/16/05). This entry discusses the trainings one has to undergo to be able to launch a Six Sigma initiative.
Six Sigma certification is not given to the organization itself. The strength of Six Sigma certification is felt only by the organization in terms of benefits and savings it has acquired by implementing Six Sigma. What Six Sigma practitioners give to advocates are certification trainings. Thus, we find members in the Six Sigma project team who are Yellow Belt-, Green Belt-, BlackBelt-, Master Black Belt-, Champion-certified. Each Belt candidate has a corresponding number of hours to comply with, projects to undertake, and tests to undergo, which a company granting the certification requires of him. These certification trainings render a Six Sigma project team credible.
In other words, Six Sigma certification is a confirmation of an individual’s capabilities with respect to specific competencies. Many organizations give out these certification trainings and the quality of the training may differ accordingly. A worthwhile certification involves training, a written proficiency exam, and a hands-on competency display of the methodology to real world problems.
There have been questions floating around as to whether these trainings will be standardized. One Six Sigma author, Charles Waxer says that there’s the possibility but it won’t be happening soon. The rule of thumb I guess is to choose those training companies that have built a good reputation.
Just recently, on March 2, 2006 online edition of PRWeb (featured on isixsigma) to be exact, Dr, Mikel Harry launches MindPro, a Six Sigma computer-based training software. Mikel Harry is considered to be the Father of Six Sigma.
MindPro is a complete Six Sigma training on a three DVD set that costs US$895, a price far lower than other training. Successful users can get certified through Dr. Harry’s Six Sigma Management Institute. Asked why he developed the software, Harry had this to say.
“Large companies have had such great success with Six Sigma, I kept asking myself how do we make it affordable for businesses of all sizes, even individuals who want to enhance their professional credentials. My vision was to see Six Sigma not only used by a very small percentage of a Fortune 100 company’s workforce, but to be made simple and affordable enough to be implemented at all levels of an organization so all employees could benefit from this proven training.”
The press release: Dr. Mikel Harry, Father Of ‘Six Sigma,’ Launches ‘Mindpro’ Computer Based Training Software.
Read more: Six Sigma Certification
