For Immediate Release
Department of the Navy to Launch
ASQ Lean Six Sigma Certification Process
to Accelerate Performance Improvements
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 27, 2006 – The Department of the Navy (DoN) is taking a deep dive into Lean Six Sigma by teaming with the American Society for Quality (ASQ) on a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification process. Through this development, spearheaded by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Logistics, Nicholas Kunesh, the Navy and Marine Corps Acquisition Enterprise is showing a strong commitment to the resources and expertise needed to effectively implement Lean Six Sigma, deliver cost-effective readiness and capability, and create a culture of continuous process improvement.
ASQ is the world’s leading authority on quality and an expert in certification and standards development. The agreement represents the collaboration of the DoN and ASQ to develop a testing standards program geared to the unique needs of the Navy and Marine Corps team – and administered by ASQ.
ASQ will conduct pilot certification program testing with 50 participants at eight sites around the country April 28. Following the pilot program, ASQ will conduct another certification exam in late September 2006 for an expected 100 participants.
Since the 1990s, commercial businesses have used Lean Six Sigma methodologies and tools to drive efficiency improvements, increase employee morale, and improve customer satisfaction.
The Navy and Marine Corps Acquisition Enterprise – which designs, develops, builds, and supports the U.S. fleet of ships, aircraft, and combat systems – recognized the importance of providing certification through an authoritative third-party source such as ASQ. Multiple Navy commands were involved with development of this process.
Doug Smith, process improvement manager, at NAVSEA’s Lean Six Sigma College in Norfolk, Va., noted, “ASQ has had an internationally recognized Six Sigma certification program in place for years. We wanted to take full advantage of the Society’s program and offer a certification based on the Navy’s Body of Knowledge for Black Belts, which integrates Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints.
“What ASQ brings to the table,” Smith continued, “is an external accreditation and validation of our training programs that is consistent with industry.”
According to Jerry Mairani, ASQ president, “ASQ is very excited about this new program and our role in the Navy and Marine Corps’ drive to improve readiness through Lean Six Sigma and other quality improvement programs.
“We anticipate this experience with the Navy and Marine Corps will lead us to creating programs that will make our fighting forces within these, and all branches of the service more effective in meeting the challenges the United States faces in the coming years.”
The American Society for Quality www.asq.org has been the world's leading authority on quality for 60 years. With more than 90,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools, and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners, and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 60-year-old organization is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.
