Six sigma training courses - What things to look for and Recommendations

E

erica 2005

#1
HELP with 6-sigma training courses - What things to look for and Recommendations

Hi

I work for a small company and they want to send me for six sigma training. I am the only engineer here and I do not have anybody in-house that can be a six sigma mentor. I am looking for help with 2 things -

1- what things to look for in a six sigma course
2- if anyone has any reccomendations for a course in Montreal or Toronto (Canada).


If anybody has any suggestions for me - I would definitely appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Erica
 
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R

Rachel

#2
erica said:
I am looking for help with 2 things -
1- what things to look for in a six sigma course
2- if anyone has any reccomendations for a course in Montreal or Toronto (Canada).
Hi Erica,

I haven't taken courses as yet, but my boss is bringing this up with me as well. There is a company that we have gone through in the past - GRT - that is offering a five-day green belt course. I can't vouch for their quality in 6S specifically, but I have taken other courses with them (i.e., APQP/PPAP) and they weren't bad.

Try their site - their homepage - it's a place to start, at least. I think they're in the North York area, but I might be wrong.

Cheers,
-R.
 
Q

qualitygoddess - 2010

#3
Based on what I know, I would recommend a company that is either 'accredited' by Six Sigma Academy, or the Six Sigma Academy itself. I know ASQ in the US is 'accredited' by SS Academy. There are plenty of programs out there. SS Academy curriculum was developed by Mikel Harry, formerly of Motorola.

You can also 'do it yourself' if you want to get an introduction. I can recommend two books from my university teaching of this very stuff -- Six Sigma for Managers by Greg Brue or Six Sigma (with a subtitle) by Evans and Lindsay. Both are available from your favorite on-line bookstore. They are written in a practical style. Brue's book doesn't spend much time on the stats, and spends more time on the management, hence the title. Evans book does focus more on the stats, but will not scare away an engineer.

If you want to shop around for another training provider, then I suggest (1) waiting for more posts to your question here and (2) going to www.isixsigma.com. Lots of resources there. You can also post questions and get answers, just like here, but this site is pretty much only watched by only six sigma folks The Cove harbors more well-rounded quality management types...... :agree1:
 
#4
The important thing to think about is why you want the training?

Take a look at the body of knowledge (BOK). Beyond the DMAIC, what tools and techniques are taught? There is no established BOK, and no established requirements for the different levels. So, look carefully at what you are getting.

What about the price? You can get a good class for under $10,000, or a useless class at over $30,000. More expensive, does not necessarily mean better. It just may mean that someone is making more royalties.

The company I work for (www.mmtc.org) offers both green and black belt training. we based our BOK on what would have the greatest impact in the field, not on what looks best on a sales brochure.
 
E

erica 2005

#5
:thanks:
Thanks for helping me out. :D

My company's plan for me is to implement six sigma way of thinking and approaching problems into the company. They want to send me on a course in order to get the right skills. I would get alot more out of a course then trying to read a book about six sigma.

My current difficulties are that 1- I need to make sure that I will get the skills I need from the course I choose and 2-I am basically on my own with no master black belts or senior engineer to guide me.

Thanks for your help, I am continueing to explore my options.

Signed
Erica
 

Steve Prevette

Deming Disciple
Staff member
Super Moderator
#6
erica said:
Thanks for your help, I am continueing to explore my options.
Thinking outside the six sigma box - you may want to see if any statistical courses are available at a local evening school, or even consider pursuing a degree in statistics.
 
Q

qualitygoddess - 2010

#7
erica said:
:thanks:

My company's plan for me is to implement six sigma way of thinking and approaching problems into the company. They want to send me on a course in order to get the right skills. I would get alot more out of a course then trying to read a book about six sigma. QUOTE]


We all learn differently, so you do what works for you. If you are not sure what to expect from a six sigma course, you might like to review what you'll learn from the Goal/QPC "jogger" series. They have one for six sigma. www.goalqpc.com. Then you could compare that little refresher book with the course description from some provider.

Keep in mind that '1 course will not a six sigma geek make'. I think Steve P makes a good point about a stats course. What's your background with stats? I know you said you were an engineer. If you understand the underlying principles of the process analysis tools, you are one step ahead of many others who will attend a six sigma class. If you think you need a refresher in basic statistics, then the local college offering will help you be more successful when you get to the six sigma course.
 
V

vasilist

#8
Very nice topic!

i just want to share my experience in this.
I was trying to find some seminars about 6σ. Here in Greece there are not so many companies that can give you such a seminar. However i found one seminar from an X councelling company and i went. The seminar was 2 days (8 hours each) and it had the title : "SPC & 6σ".
By reading the programe it was obvious that the second day the trainers would talk only for 6σ. By the ending of day I i realised that the trainer had not the capability to TRANSFER his knowledge. More over he was insufficient (excuse me for that but i already knew things about SPC and the reason i attained was 6σ only). The second day the trainer talked about SPC again and he used 1 hour for 6σ The first half of the hour he was trying to explain us what is 6σ and the other half he tried to show us some applications. After all, we received a certification for watching the course a little book (20 pages) with all that the trainer talked and a CD containing some xls files (excercises). All that for about 500 euro!!! It was one of my biggest mistakes!! I cried for that money no matter if my company paid! I should search more around but unfortunatelly the terms "black belt" and "green belt" are not know in Greece.

Anyway i would like to know ericca your impression from the seminar you went please!

Vasilist
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#9
Mentors available right here!

For all prospective, current, and even past master six sigma folk, I'd like to emphasize that we here in the Cove are always ready to act as mentors, advisors, sounding boards, and even crying towels when necessary.

Even though many of us are trained in all the same techniques used in many Six Sigma programs, we often come across as being prejudiced against Six Sigma.

The truth is most of us who SEEM prejudiced against Six Sigma are merely appalled at the number of charlatans who purport to teach Six Sigma and give fancy certificates for a high price, but who don't know S--T from Sigma and cannot possibly transfer knowledge to students when they don't have any themselves.

Let me suggest that a "fair" starting point for a Six Sigma Body of Knowledge is the one freely available at ASQ (start here http://www.asq.org/certification/six-sigma/index.html and follow links)

Let me stress this BOK is not universally accepted, but it is well-organized and freely accessible to use as a start.

Some of our Cove members are VERY well-versed in Six Sigma and hold important positions with large companies as Master Black Belts (not a universally agreed designation, either, I might add) and will frequently help struggling newbies with a kind word or a push in the right direction.

There is a possibility your company management is simply enamored with the term "Six Sigma" and may not realize that a good Quality practitioner who holds a Certified Quality Engineer certificate from ASQ uses exactly the same tools as Six Sigma, PLUS a few more not in the Six Sigma tool kit. A good ASQ CQE who has the faith and confidence of management can accomplish great things!

Advice about statistics learning is helpful if your organization deals in tens of thousands to millions of components, parts, and products. Many smaller organizations find the tools of common sense and mistake proofing much more valuable than trying to run SPC calculations on a production run of 100 pieces.

In summary, the best way to deal with a Mentor is to say, "I have this problem" rather than "Teach me Six Sigma" when what you really need is the problem solved which may not entail Six Sigma tools at all!

Mentors work best in advising folks on what they need, not necessarily what they want, because often those are two different items!

So try us out. What does your company really need? What are the problems it faces? Perhaps there are other solutions. We can't tell if we don't know the problems.
 
V

vasilist

#10
Dear Wes,

thank you. I agree with your words but let me say that unfortunatelly here in Greece things are not so good concerning sooo special seminars/trainingcourses like the one you propose. Anyway thank you for the link , it is a nice chance to send it to some friends of mine to make comparissons with the local system!!!

Happy New Year

Vasilist
 
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