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UA Fort Smith Offers Lean Six Sigma Certification
(Posted: February 4, 2008) (Printable Version)
Registration deadline is Feb. 22 for a new Web-enhanced Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification course to be offered in March through the Center for Business and Professional Development at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith.
Lean Six Sigma combines tools and techniques common to Lean Manufacturing with the measurement of quality indicative of Six Sigma. The Green Belt certification is the first level of a multi-tier certification process. Web-enhanced courses provide a combination of attending traditional class and completing other “class time” on the Web. Fee is $2,195, with discounts for three or more from the same company.
Instructor is Kevin Clay of Fort Smith, instructor and consultant with the Center for Business and Professional Development at UA Fort Smith and a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Clay, who came to UA Fort Smith in February 2004, brings more than 15 years of operational experience to the classroom.
He has a wide range of Lean Six Sigma project experience in industries such as manufacturing, food processing, residential and commercial construction, banking and healthcare. Clay has a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and a master’s degree in manufacturing technology and management from East Carolina University.
Clay said participants in the course will learn the productivity improvements that are becoming a requirement for company survival.
“Six Sigma tools and techniques, in conjunction with methodologies common to Lean practice, have fostered a powerful performance system to enable this productivity growth,” said Clay. “Lean Six Sigma provides the basis for the strong complementary relationship between process, quality, and performance. This leads to sustainable competitive advantages.”
Clay said Lean Six Sigma practitioners are the “ultimate source for rapidly improving enterprise performance in cost-effective and timely ways.”
Using the Web-enhanced delivery format of UA Fort Smith’s Lean Six Sigma course, Clay said, would allow companies of all types and sizes to make the best use of classroom time, reduce training costs and improve student retention of Six Sigma concepts.
“These programs deliver high impact training by increasing the hands-on application of skills and tools,” he said. “Six Sigma concepts are introduced online, and then reinforced through classroom lectures and activities. Blended learning solutions offer the best of both worlds. Students study at their own pace, while classroom work provides the benefit of applying techniques in a shared, group environment.”
Start dates and additional course information is available by calling Clay at 479-788-7765 or by emailing him at kclay@uafortsmith.edu.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations | |
| Photo(s) by: Karen Harmon of the Center for Business and Professional Development |
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