IN looking over job descriptions and requirements in online job boards or in the print media, we all have
seen the requirement for certification
Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, Auditor, Quality Engineer, Purchasing,
Etc... Companies and their hiring
managers have the mindset that certification is the guarantee of the ability
that they are looking for. If you are not
certified in the area of their need, you
are not even considered for the position that they are trying to fill.
Especially in the quest for improving quality and efficiency, reducing
manufacturing costs and waste, the
quality and manufacturing technics
such as six sigma, lean manufacturing,
and other problem solving methodologies, certification seems to be mandatory. But what do you really get when
a piece of paper (certification) is your
benchmark for evaluating a prospective employee.
Unfortunately, experience and per-
formance in past jobs does not seem
to mean much anymore. Certification,
like a college degree, is your learner’s
permit that must be tempered and built
upon with experience. Without practical “hands-on” experience, certification
in a methodology does not necessarily
produce substantial positive results.
At a company that I was employed
as a quality engineer at, a corporate lev-
el quality manager that had obtained
his six sigma “green belt” came to my
plant to do a six sigma project to earn
his “black belt”. Although I am not
certified in six sigma, I was put on his
six sigma team. The task of his six sig-
ma project was to cut the cost of quality
(scrap & rework). He focused on weld-
ing. The six sigma green belt manag-
er would come out from his corporate
office to the plant ever couple of weeks
to lead the team in solving the prob-
lem of scrap and rework due to weld-
ing. He went over past nonconformity
reports (NCRs) by part number, prod-
uct line and type of welding trying to
derive the cause for the NCRs. He was
told early on that the welding problems
were systemic. That if the reason for
MICHAEL POWELL - Graduate of the University of Houston’s School of Technology and
Stephen F Austin’s School of Business, has been employed by various oil tool manufacturing
companies in Houston, Texas as a manufacturing engineer and a quality engineer over the
past 30+ years.
Certification – Do You Get
What You Pay For???
By Michael Powell
