The first International Standard of its kind, ISO18404:2015, was officially launched at the beginning of February at a partnership event organised by the British Standards Institute and the Royal Statistical Society.
ISO18404 will be the basis to certify the successful implementation of Lean and/or Six Sigma practices, in place of the current knowledge testing model for practitioners which is commonplace globally. Not only should this deliver immediate results, but it will also stamp out bad practice.
In our blog last week, we hinted that a few UK and global organisations were already taking stock and undergoing gap analysis for the new International Standard. We hope to announce more details of the sector scheme for accreditation, within the next few weeks.
The Minimum Lean & Six Sigma Competencies
As the new International Standard was developed around the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, you’ll be required to have knowledge in either before you can implement ISO18404 in your organisation. This could be achieved using external resource or by upskilling members of your workforce.
Lean Practitioner
The role of the Lean Practitioner is to participate in Lean improvements in the organisation. These improvement activities will usually be within the Lean Practitioner‘s usual field of employment and operation. In so doing, the Lean Practitioner will:
a) work to implement improvements in the local area;
b) use workplace layout techniques to improve process flow;
c) be required to lead improvement activities and quantify benefits delivered;
d) coach team members on process improvement methods and activities; and
e) run training sessions on Lean techniques.
We have recently announced our first ISO18404 focused Lean Practitioner course; the first module of this 10-day course will begin on the 4th of April and will end on the 6th of April. If this interests you, do get in contact with the Services Limited offices to discuss our special discounts.
Six Sigma Green Belt
The Green Belt is expected to deliver the agreed benefits of a Six Sigma project to the organisation. These improvement activities will often be within the Green Belt's usual field of employment and operation. In so doing, the Green Belt will:
• work with the local 'line management' to identify and quantify opportunities for improvement within the local environment;
• be required to– work, possibly under the direction of a Black Belt or Master Black Belt, or as a member of a larger Six Sigma project led for example by a Black Belt; and/or lead a smaller Six Sigma project under the direction of a Black Belt;
• possibly coach process operators (Yellow Belts) on process improvement methods and activities.
Stay tuned for our announcement on our ISO18404 focused Six Sigma courses, we expect to pass on more information regarding this within the next few weeks.