14 March 2011: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Claus Morgenstern

Six Sigma – regardless of whether “classical“ or lean - has become one of the most important strategies for process improvement. Green Belts and Black Belts bear the brunt of project work. Becoming a Green or Black Belt requires challenging training. Moreover, in order to make the work of Green and Black Belts successful, the entire organization must be geared to the application of these methods, you need to assign the respective roles and responsibilities to specific persons and they have to assume their roles in a qualified way.

The roles and responsibilities in implementing a Six Sigma project are explained in the following. They also apply to Lean Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma.

The Leader is in charge of defining visions, motivating employees to participate in Six Sigma projects, setting the stage for success, implementing the requirements  demanded for success, evaluating the results and effecting the required changes.

Compared to the Leader, the Champion is responsible for one or several Six Sigma projects. Champions are usually experienced executives being well-acquainted with Six Sigma and convinced that this initiative is going to be successful. They ensure the success of this initiative and the corresponding project tasks by checking progress of the project at regular intervals. Moreover, Champions always communicate with the Leader.

Master Black Belts are responsible for the training of Black and Greens Belts and offer them methodological support. They have profound knowledge of the required statistical methods and techniques. All of them must have management experience in a company, organization, etc. The main task of Black Belts is finding solutions immediately and managing development projects...