From interning at Zimmer, I received a Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification. This wasn’t through ASQ (American Society for Quality), but it was through the company. So an ASQ certification is the official certification given to you by an organization. To get a yellow belt, I took a course on six sigma – learning the ins and outs of the DMAIC process (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and basically what is done in each step. Then I was put on a project where I helped out in the process. After successful completion of the project, I was given a Yellow Belt certification. As an intern, I also tried to get a green belt certification. This involved me taking a course again but this was in much more depth. I also had a project where I was looking into the root cause of a defect affecting parts worth up to $30,000. And so I had to go through the entire process again, use a lot more statistics, and come up with a solution. I had implemented a solution to the issue and it should have solved the problem, but my internship ended before I could do the ‘control’ phase where I monitor the results. I kept in touch with my co-workers who told me they were seeing a tremendous decrease in scraps because of my solution – but I never got my green belt certification.

The certifications are a great thing to have. One, it shows that you’re a problem solver. You are given a complex problem where you have to start from nothing and propose a solution that will save the company a lot of money. Two, it shows that you can handle failure and still overcome obstacles. I can’t tell you how many times I failed in my project and had to come up with another solution. Honestly when you’re working in the industry, there are no drawbacks to getting a Six Sigma certification. A lot of the times the company will pay for your course – you’re just doing a project in conjunction with your other work. The higher your certification the more money you generally get. It goes: Yellow, Green, Black, Master Black