Six Problems I have with Six Sigma, Part IV
by David C. Crosby
February 15, 2010

Source: http://bit.ly/ajbmOi

Problem four, Who Needs a Belt?

Six Sigma requires that you have “belt people” to do the Six Sigma work. There could be Green belts, Black belts, even Master Black belts. I find that is kind of silly. Like all employees, belt people cost money; they add to overhead. In fact, they are overhead. These people are staff—they don’t produce the product. A competent quality engineer knows all the quality techniques such as SPC, gage R&R, calibration control, data analysis, statistical process control and so on. So who needs a black belt? Is it the problem-solving technique? As I said, if you spend your time solving problems, the game is over—you lost.

I might add that in Six Sigma, the people who actually do the work—the workers—seem to be ignored. Workers should be given the opportunity to identify and report problems they have in their workplace. Who knows better than them? I don’t see where Six Sigma provides that opportunity.