Six Sigma quality takes the core principles of quality management into broader and deeper directions that the traditional and historical appoaches to general quality management, instititionalizing the quantitative potential of TQM to implement rigorous and substantial controls. This series of courses builds on the quality management foundation, expanding into a Six Sigma improvement lifecycle or Six Sigma design lifecycle. It also covers organizational and project management capabilities that support those lifecyles.

Fundamentals of Six Sigma

This course provides an introduction to the broad view of Six Sigma, including its origins and core principles. The process improvement DMAIC lifecycle is introduced with example and demonstration project materials used to illustrate the flow and power of the primary Six Sigma approach. A variety of Design for Six Sigma lifecycle models are also demonstrated. This course provides a comprehensive overview as a starting point for subsequent learning. (2 days, $12,000, Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Quality Principles)

Six Sigma Champion & Mentor

This workshop class covers the skills and activities required of Six Sigma champions and mentors. It is intended for managers and senior staff who typically serve as sponsors and advisors to Six Sigma projects without typically being involved in the day-to-day execution of those projects. Project success often comes down to the level of support received from champions and mentors as Green Belt staff attempt to conduct improvement and design projects using Six Sigma tools and techniques. (1 day, $6,500, Prerequisite: Fundamentals of Six Sigma)

Six Sigma Project Management

This workshop class covers the skills and activities required of Six Sigma project managers and project leaders. It is intended for individuals pursuing Six Sigma projects who do not have general project leadership experience. Six Sigma projects require the same level of management and control as any other project, sometime more because of the cross-organizational and cross-functional nature of many quality improvement initiatives. This workshop helps assure that appropriate project management controls can be used in successfully executing projects based on the Six Sigma lifecycles. (1 days, $6,500, Prerequisite: Fundamentals of Six Sigma)

Six Sigma Improvement I

This course provides introductory process improvement training using the DMAIC lifecycle approach. It is intended for anyone who solves problems that require process improvement, or anyone who will be involved as a member of a process improvement team. (Process improvement teams typically attend this course together.) This course emphasizes the basic interaction of Six Sigma tools and techniques across the improvement lifecycle, with particular emphasis on the Define, Analyze, and Improve phases. (3 days, $16,500, Prerequisite: Fundamentals of Six Sigma)

Six Sigma Improvement II

This course emphasizes the more quantitative interactions of Six Sigma tools and techniques across the improvement lifecycle, with particular emphasis on the Measure and Control phases. Without this additional level of quantitative capability, too little control is placed over a project and its resulting process to assure that improvements are both real and sustainable. (This additional quantitative aspect is what largely differentiates Six Sigma from TQM.) This course results in learners reaching the level required of DMAIC Green Belt certification in many organizations. (4 days, $20,000, Prerequisite: Six Sigma Improvement I)

Design for Six Sigma I

This course covers the design of specific solutions that achieve 6-sigma process capability. Designing such process capability into a solution requires an additional set of rigor and control beyond that accomplished on most improvement projects. DFSS covers an integrated deployment of business requirements, functional specifications, system design, and operational implementation that allows critical design variables to be prioritized and optimized across each layer. One view of DFSS is that it applies DMAIC improvement to each level of the DFSS design, optimizing the cross-level integration and interaction. Another view is that DFSS builds in self-correcting mechanisms by emphasizing the gap between 3-sigma control limits and 6-sigma specification limits. (4 days, $20,000, Required prerequisite: Six Sigma Improvement II, Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Software Engineering)

Design for Six Sigma II

The rigor established in DFSS allows the design process to look at details and opportunities otherwise unavailable to solution design teams. This course covers the creative concept generation techniques of Six Sigma, and the detail definitional and experimental techniques needed to define optimal solutions across a variety of design dimensions and concerns that have been mapped to a complete and prioritized voice-of-the-customer. This course results in learners reaching the level required of DFSS Green Belt certification in many organizations. (4 days, $20,000, Prerequisite: Design for Six Sigma I)

Six Sigma with Lean

This course covers the interaction of tools and techniques in the Six Sigma and Lean Enterprise domains that target similar characteristics or features of process and product definition. The result is a synergy that allows each discipline to take advantage of the strengths of the other, while closing gaps that may occur within the discipline. Generally, applying Lean tools to Six Sigma projects improves the incorporation of timing and throughput elements into the Six Sigma design, while also raising the emphasis on removing waste. Six Sigma alone can accomplish these things, but the integration of some of the Lean tools makes the synergy explicit and more effective. (3 days, $16,500, Prerequisite: Six Sigma Improvement II)

Six Sigma Refresher

A set of supplemental learning modules where attendees can reinforce and extend Six Sigma skills acquired in prior training and developed on initial projects. It is intended for Six Sigma practitioners who may be struggling with certain tools or thought processes, and would benefit from a learning session that focuses on their problem areas and concerns. (2+ days)