ISO 9001 Compliance

We have heard how working with the Six Sigma strategy can help organizations go places and increase their profit margins and customer satisfaction by drastic amounts. So, if Six Sigma is capable of doing such amazing things, there must definitely be a process or people who would be trained to help fulfill the goals that it lays down. Yes, there are. Generically they are known as Six Sigma certified professionals although as we delve deeper into the realms of Six Sigma, we will see that they have specific names and a hierarchy for themselves based on which they can be differentiated.

This classification is done in categories or layers. In this lies the different ‘belts’ of Six Sigma. You must have heard of Black belt, Green Belt etc. in Six Sigma, that’s what this is:

White Belts: These are the people on the local teams that help with the problem solving techniques. They have an understanding of Six Sigma from the awareness point of view and may not necessarily be on the team of Six Sigma per say.

Yellow Belts: Yellow belts although may not be involved with the higher echelons of the project but have a strong understanding of the Six Sigma methodology. Their role is to understand the relationship that exists between quality and profit and how Six Sigma professionals work to maintain both of them.

Green Belts: These are the guys who are directly responsible for the working aspect of Six Sigma projects. Most of the data collection, execution and other legwork are usually done by them. Their number is normally large and it even tends to exceed that of the black belts. They also lead small projects on improvement within their respective work areas and make sure that the Six Sigma techniques are followed with necessary precision.

Black Belts: Black belts in Six Sigma are the people who are responsible for the everything of the project, from working around to execution. They have the duty to take care that the project is executed on time and the standards are followed and met. Apart form this, it is their job to train, advice, coach and help the executives in the company in the required processes.

Master Black Belts: The Master Black Belts are at the top most layers in the hierarchy of the belts topology in Six Sigma. These are the people who are not only highly trained Black Belts but also have additional skill set and knowledge that are used when they supervise the projects. There role is to analyze and see what Six Sigma techniques need to be applied and this they have to do keeping in mind that they would be doing this for the entire organization.

As can be seen, the hierarchy of the professionals who are trained in Six Sigma is such that all of the layers or belts integrate with each other without any big issues. This helps them work around with each other on an easier level, thus improving the efficiency. Nowadays, a lot of consulting firms are providing the services of these professionals to the companies so that they do not have to go searching for them.