Six Sigma Generation 3 by Mikel J. Harry Ph.D.
Delivering Six Sigma to Small, Medium Six Sigma programs have delivered billions of
and Large Business via the Internet
6σ
dollars of bottom line profit to large enterprises,
but have done nothing for the small to mid-size
companies that represent the largest number of
firms. According to Mikel Harry, Ph.D., the world’s
leading expert on Six Sigma, the delivery systems
were not designed for small to mid-size businesses.
Recently, Dr. Harry partnered with IdealHire to cre-
3
ate the Six Sigma Global Registry (SSGR), a world
class online resource for Six Sigma. SSGR rigorously
assesses, certifies and/or authenticates Six Sigma
training and experience for students, consultants
and practitioners. This allows managers searching
for employees or consultants trained and/or expe-
rienced in Six Sigma to access SSGR’s talent pool
with a high degree of confidence. An integral com-
ponent of Six Sigma training is a partnership with
One of Six Sigma’s Original Architects Teams with Ari- the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona
zona State University, Six Sigma Management Institute State University (ASU) and the Six Sigma Manage-
and IdealHire, Making Six Sigma Affordable, Available ment Institute for delivering an affordable and
and Credible. credible online Six Sigma Generation 3 curriculum.
Copyright 2004 Mikel J. Harry Ph.D., Ltd., and IdealHire. All Rights Reserved
The SSGR and Six Sigma Generation 3 training are
accessible by Internet, reducing the cost of delivery
for students, consultants and employee practitio-
ners at small to mid-size companies, as well as large
multi-national enterprises. The tests are required
to pass ASU’s online training courses. For others,
SSGR provides an evaluation that determines their
standing in industry and what, if any, additional
training is required to meet their career goals or
company objectives.
What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma is not a quality measurement program,
such as TQM and SPC. Neither is Six Sigma an alter-
native for ISO 9000, which documents processes
and generates reports for maintaining repeatable
processes. Loosely defined, Six Sigma is focused
on minimizing errors in processes and products
and returning the savings to the balance sheet as
increased profitability. A stricter definition of Six
Sigma is maintaining 3.4 errors per million oppor-
tunities for error, and returning the savings to the
bottom line.
Six Sigma Management Institute 1
 The average company in the United States is Four
Sigma, which is equal to 6,210 errors per million
opportunities for error. The airline industry pro-
vides a couple of examples that exemplify what this
means in the real world. Four Sigma is equivalent
to airline baggage handling. Six Sigma is equiva-
lent to the airline fatality rate. In other words, a
person is about 1,800 times more likely to get to
their destination than their luggage. Six Sigma
could be employed to close the value gap be-
tween the expectation of getting luggage on-time
every time and the reality, which is quite a bit less.
Even if a company only moves from Four Sigma to
Five Sigma, the number of errors and defects are
reduced from 6,210 to 233 and the value increases
significantly.
Evolution of Six Sigma from Generation 1 to Generation 3
Generation 1 Focus Generation 2 Focus
Defect Cost
Provider Customer
Large scale industrial organiza- Large scale industrial and com-
tions (hard) mercial businesses (hard and
soft)
Black Belts Green Belts
Copyright 2004 Mikel J. Harry Ph.D., Ltd., and IdealHire. All Rights Reserved
Six Sigma Generation 3
Over the past few decades Six Sigma has evolved
from a focus on defects to cost reduction to value
creation.
In its first iteration, Six Sigma Generation I delivered
defect reduction. Six Sigma Generation II deliv-
ered cost reduction. The latest iteration, Six Sigma
Generation III, delivers higher levels of value for the
customer and provider.
Six Sigma Generation III creates value by focusing
everyone on a simple, but highly effective four-step
strategy, called ICRA. These letters stand for the
progressive flow of activity leading to the creation
of value - Innovation, Configuration, Realization
and Attenuation. In terms of product or service
Generation 3 Focus
Value
Customer and Provider
Small, medium and large scale
industrial and commercial busi-
nesses (hard and soft)
White Belts
value, there are three key determinants. First is
utility (form, fit and function). Second is access
(volume, timing and location). Third, the idea of
Worth (economic, emotional, and intellectual)
must be considered. Put it all together and value
is defined as delivering a quality product or service
to the proper location, at the right time, in the right
volume, at the lowest possible cost. Of course,
value entitlement is a rightful level of expectation.
For every product or service, an enormous num-
ber of expected value requirements exist. These
requirements are referred to as critical-to-value
characteristics, or simply CTV’s. And for every right-
ful level of expectation, the actual condition exists.
This creates a value gap between the value expec-
tation and the value reality. Six Sigma projects are
undertaken to close every one of the value gaps,
whether it is focused on product or process design,
economic value, manufacturing or any other factor.
Six Sigma ROI
In Six Sigma Generation II, the key operational roles
of professionals are referred to as X-Belts, such
as Green or Black Belt. However, the high cost
of training a Black Belt in a brick & mortar class-
Six Sigma Management Institute 2
room and longer ROI makes it cost-prohibitive without Generation 3 Training slides with a talking head reading slides is of uncer-

the deep pockets of a multinational company. Even a Six Sigma Generation 3 cuts the cost of training tain value.

Green Belt can be expensive to train in a brick & mortar by a factor of ten or more when compared to
classroom situation. However, not all processes require traditional classroom instruction, regardless of the When online training first appeared in the early

a Black or Green Belt. With the introduction of Six X-Belt role. This is done by utilizing online training 90’s, the Internet technologies were not in place to

Sigma Generation 3, a new belt was created, the White courses, such as those developed by Dr. Harry in allow the depth of training received in the class-

Belt. It requires far less training and ROI is much faster. conjunction with ASU and SSMI. The availability of room. Today however, advanced e-technologies are

For example, a White Belt can complete up to 12 proj- advanced e-technologies has made online training allowing those who take advantage of it to develop

ects per year with the potential of returning $25,000 virtually as effective as classroom training. That’s and present curriculum in many instances, is at

per project to their employer’s bottom line. not to say that all online Six Sigma training is fully least as effective as classroom training, if not more

effective. Online training relying on PowerPoint so. This has substantially cut the cost of training

and is delivering Six Sigma to small, mid-size and

The key operational roles of Six Sigma professionals
Black Belts Generation 1
160 hours training
Large line of sight cuts across
geographic regions, divisional
boundaries and product lines
Relies on mathematical statistics
Understands the theory and
can generalize in many different
situations
Sophisticated tools
$300K savings per Black Belt
project
4 projects per year
Green Belts Generation 2
80 hours training
Typical line of sight would be
within the Green Belt’s division
Utilizes many of the Black Belt
tools but with an industry spe-
cific focus
Understands the theory and can
apply within their “line of sight”
Moderately sophisticated tools
$100K savings per Green Belt
project
8 projects per year
large companies, as well as to individuals working
White Belts - Level 2 Generation 3
to improve their skills and earning potential.
40 hours training
Individual focus and local prob-
lem solving team focus
The cost of classroom or onsite training and materi-
Less reliance on statistics, more als is expensive, but it’s the huge cost of employee’s
reliant on the equivalent graphi-
cal approach
lost production time and travel costs that put Six
Understands how to apply to an
individual and localized process Sigma out of reach for small to mid-size companies.
Small businesses do not have the reserves to take
Less sophisticated tools
employees out of production for four to six weeks
$25K savings per White Belt
project of training.
12 projects per year

$1.2 million savings/year per $800K savings/year per Green $300k savings/year per White
Black Belt Belt Belt Onsite training by a consultant can provide a

The key operational roles of Six Sigma professionals are referred to as X-Belts, including White, Green or Black Belt number of benefits, because the program can be
The tabulated quantities are normative in nature

Copyright 2004 Mikel J. Harry Ph.D., Ltd., and IdealHire. All Rights Reserved Six Sigma Management Institute 3
 tailored somewhat to a company’s specific needs.
However, that assumes the consultant has actual
hands-on Six Sigma project experience. Without
it, training will focus on Six Sigma theory and not
its application and the student may have a difficult
time applying what was learned.
The unique online Six Sigma training developed by
Dr. Harry and offered by ASU has a very strict cur-
riculum and takes advantage of the latest Internet
technologies, including what ASU and SSMI call
“over-the-expert’s-shoulder” video training, or OTES
for short. Also utilized are action capture video
software and a discussion board with instructor.
The over-the-expert’s-shoulder video is dynamic,
allowing students to see the concepts, ideas,
graphs and equations being built as Dr. Harry ex-
plains just as if in a classroom. If a student doesn’t
understand something, there is instant replay. The
software action capture allows students to see how
software is used dynamically with instant replay,
instead of with static screen captures and voice
over, which are typical of outdated online learning
approaches.
Copyright 2004 Mikel J. Harry Ph.D., Ltd., and IdealHire. All Rights Reserved
A real-time interactive online discussion board
allows students to instantly move from online class
to online dialog with a professor. In addition, the
students can have several applications, such as
Word and Excel open and active while the over-
the-experts-shoulder videos are playing. Many
of the videos show how the analytical software
(Minitab) is exercised to analyze data. Online ses-
sions are followed by online research assignments
and online exams. Because the courses are taught
online, the cost is reduced by a factor of ten and
even more when lost productivity and travel are
considered.
Because the curriculum is modular, within a 48
hour time period a custom curriculum can be
designed and readied for a company’s specific
needs. The process is surprisingly simple. Managers
articulate their company’s knowledge needs. ASU
translates those needs into a curriculum - virtually
overnight, owing to curriculum modularity and
proprietary software.
The quality of this particular Six Sigma training has
been rated extremely high by the ASU students,
because they do not receive a certificate of comple-
tion for sitting in a chair and nodding their head. All
students must be profiled, assessed and tested fol-
lowed by the execution of an application project. In
this manner, the students become qualified before
they are certified as a practicing Six Sigma Black,
Green or White Belt.
World Class Six Sigma Global Registry
Hiring pre-qualified Six Sigma practitioners is one
of the greatest hurdles facing a company. There
are many horror stories about companies hiring
ten Black Belts from here and there. Eight of them
won’t work out because they do not even know the
basics. During the interview process, the interview-
er sometimes knows more than the practitioner
claims to know because of watered-down curricu-
lum, which is poorly delivered by self-professed
experts.
The Six Sigma Global Registry (SSGR) is a world-
class repository of authenticated industrial and
commercial Six Sigma practitioners. Developed by
Dr. Harry, using IdealHire’s patented PowerMatch™
profiling technology, the SSGR enables profession-
als to declare their training and experience, deter-
Six Sigma Management Institute 4
 mine what additional training is required to move
to the next belt level (to advance their career) and
take certification tests in order to determine which
level they qualify for. The employers benefit by hir-
ing Six Sigma professionals with declared skills and
validated credentials. The process of certification is
fully endorsed and employed by the Ira A. Fulton
School of Engineering at Arizona State University.
Professionals taking advantage of SSGR have iden-
tified and documented their professional back-
ground, past experiences, Six Sigma knowledge
and on-the-job applications (projects) within the
field of Six Sigma. Their credentials are earned in
the workplace and in the classroom - with docu-
mented hands-on application that validates their
accomplishments and professional competency.
The SSGR membership provides four levels of au-
thentication (ratings), including declared, assessed,
qualified and certified for each X-Belt; White Belt,
Green Belt or Black Belt.
Copyright 2004 Mikel J. Harry Ph.D., Ltd., and IdealHire. All Rights Reserved
These ratings are defined as:
Declared: provides a personal declaration of a
current Six Sigma practitioner level, or no level yet
achieved for professionals aspiring to one of the Six
Sigma levels.
Assessed: provides an extensive Six Sigma skills
inventory and Six Sigma practitioner assessment.
Qualified: provides an extensive Six Sigma skills in-
ventory, Six Sigma practitioner assessment and an
X-Belt certification exam that tests a practitioner’s
knowledge.
Certified: based on an extensive skills inventory,
Six Sigma practitioner assessment, an X-Belt certifi-
cation exam that tests a practitioner’s knowledge
and at least one project evaluation. This member
must have executed at least one significant applica-
tion project employing the concepts, tools, meth-
ods and procedures commonly associated with Six
Sigma. This project would be authenticated from
a Subject Matter Expert (SME). This SME must be a
higher-level practitioner, such as a Master Black
Belt authenticating a Black Belt’s project.
Another benefit for companies and individuals is
SSGR’s talent pool. Individual members have the
ability to make their profile available to employ-
ers seeking experienced Six Sigma practitioners.
(This feature can be blocked for company-spon-
sored memberships). During registration or any
time after, members may select a preference for
which companies have access to their profile. If a
member elects to participate in this service, their
skills, education and industry experience are auto-
matically matched (using PowerMatch™ profiling
technology) with all current job openings placed
in the registry by employers. When a job matches a
member’s experience, an email notification is sent
to the member. A personal web site address is pro-
vided for members for posting an online resume of
their experience. The link can be made available to
individuals of their choice.
Creating Value with Six Sigma
Generation 3
Six Sigma Generation 3 delivers additional value by
reducing the gap between the customer’s expecta-
tions and what the provider delivers. It does this by
uncovering hidden sources of loss - in processes,
products and services. Because of low cost delivery
systems, including introduction of the White Belt
and online training of Black, Green and White
Six Sigma Management Institute 5
 Belts, Six Sigma Generation 3 is affordable for small
Credits
to mid size companies, as well as large companies Mikel J. Harry, Ph.D.
making Six Sigma more widely available through- President and COB, Six Sigma Management Institute, Scottsdale, Arizona.
out its operations. http://www.ss-mi.com
The drivers of Six Sigma Generation 3 include small

to mid size companies that must improve perfor-

mance and profitability to continue operating. The

advanced e-technologies of the Internet now al-

lows classroom-like training online, reducing train-

ing and related expenses, such as online courses at

ASU. The Six Sigma Global Registry (SSGR) provides

a stringent and certifiable resource for Six Sigma

professionals to determine strengths and devel-

opment opportunities. The SSGR also provides a

global archive and talent pool of Six Sigma profes-

sionals that employers can hire with confidence.

Ultimately, it will be the need of all companies

small or big to improve profitability and Six Sigma

professionals to improve career opportunities that

will drive the new generation of Six Sigma.

Copyright 2004 Mikel J. Harry Ph.D., Ltd., and IdealHire. All Rights Reserved Six Sigma Management Institute 6