In addition to undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates, the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology offers noncredit Lean Six Sigma training to help optimize your company’s efficiency.
Yellow and Green Belt certificates are the first steps in this process, followed by the five-day Black Belt course. More details are provided on our Professional Development page. Recently, we asked a professional who completed the Black Belt course to share what kind of impact it had on his company and his professional journey.
With permission from Michael Glowa, Plant Director of creative werks, LLC, this is what he shared:
“I took NIU’s Lean Six Sigma Black Belt workshop at a pivotal time, as I was taking on additional responsibilities at my company. I was put in charge of a project in our manufacturing department that had been experiencing challenges with defects and waste.
By immediately applying the principles that I learned, I was able to lead a team that reduced materials costs in one scrap commodity by $72,000 over a 12-month span.
And I know that’s just the beginning. Before taking the NIU course, I had been overseeing the sanitation department at three facilities and was supervising 20 people. Now I oversee our Elk Grove Village facility’s operations of about 500 people, including indirect reports, and I’ve committed to a goal of cutting costs by $200,000 this year at the facility where I was promoted to plant manager.
What they teach in the Black Belt course is so true: there’s power in using facts, evidence and data to make educated, risk-based decisions and to make sure you’re getting to the true root cause of problems. In my experience, applying these principles has significantly improved operations and reduced stress across other areas of the company.
Where there’s dysfunction in any type of process or department, there’s usually a lack of clarity about goals and responsibilities. Successfully addressing that becomes contagious in a positive way; I’ve provided training to my colleagues who have been eager to learn and apply the principles that I’ve brought to the organization.
My high expectations of the workshop’s impact have certainly been met. I’ve been strongly recommending this workshop to fellow team members and I would do the same to anyone else considering whether to make the investment in themselves or their organizations.”
Michael Glowa
Plant Manager, creative werks, LLC
More information about our various Lean Six Sigma certificate courses is on our Professional Development page.
