I recently signed on with a big company to work for them now, and then to take a better position when I finish my schooling. I was really grateful that I got on with such an amazing company and when I went to orientation they told me about all the really great benefits that they offer their employees and I was very impressed. One of the things they offer is six sigma certification, which if you are not familiar with this is one of the biggest, best, most cutting edge management programs available today. Six sigma was originally designed by Bill Smith at the Motorola company in 1986 and was inspired by the quality improvement methodologies such as quality control, TQM, and Zero Defects. Bill Smith saw things that he could use in all of these programs and put together a little from here and a little from there to develop the Six Sigma program.
Six sigma not only makes a company run better and more efficiently, but it also helps it keep management over its output, whether it is a service related or a product related business, the goal is to consistently monitor and improve the bottom line of the company.
The Six Sigma Program uses five primary steps in accomplishing these goals:
* It defines the process improvement goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise strategy.
* It measure key aspects of the current process and collects relevant data.
* It helps analyze the data to verify cause-and-effect relationships. It also helps determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered.
* It can improve or optimize the process based upon data analysis using techniques like Design of Experiments.
* It provides control to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability, move on to production, set up control mechanisms and continuously monitor the process.
I know that this may sound a little complicated but basically it helps a company to set goals, monitor progress, and continue to find ways to improve. It is great for all companies and since its inception, it has been used by some really incredible companies like GE and Honeywell, just to name a few.
It is an incredible program and if you can get on with a company that offers this six sigma certification to its employees it is worth it because this is a training of the future, and will be an asset to you both now and in the future. More and more companies will be using this program, so don't be left in the dust.