Certification Project Information – Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Systems
DMAIC Certification Project Guidelines
For Certification, participants are required to complete a course project. The intent of this project practicum is to demonstrate the application, of course, problem-solving tools and methodologies to an industry-specific problem. The University of Michigan considers certification an individual accomplishment and therefore prefers all participants complete their own project and written report. In some cases, the University will approve project teams (see below for Teamwork Policy Statement).
Certification projects are due within 180 days of your course start date. If you are unable to meet your due date, participants may request up to a 6-month extension by contacting [email protected].
1. Project Proposals
Participants should submit a project proposal for pre-approval by your course instructors per the Project Proposal Assignment Guidelines (See Assignments Tab along the left navigation bar to access the assignment). Of note, while participants are encouraged to complete a project from their workplace, they may use a University of Michigan Certification Project Case Study (see description below).
Project proposals should be submitted per the Project Proposal Assignment using the Proposal Template below or a Project Charter.
Project Proposal Template (or you may submit a Project Charter)
Company Specific Project Proposal or Project Charter Forms:
If your organization has its own project proposal of charter form, please feel free to use it instead of our template.
2. Certification Project and Report
Once a proposal is accepted, participants should complete their project and report per the DMAIC methodology and meet all minimum requirements identified in the Certification Project Report Guidelines. See below for Sample Certification Project Reports. While we recognize the content, length and emphasis of individual sections within your reports will vary based on your actual findings and writing styles, please use our DMAIC Project Report Template. Main Reports should be approximately 7-15 pages (including tables and figures) with additional information attached in an Appendix. Reports must be text documents viewable in Microsoft Word or as a PDF file. For additional details, see Six Sigma DMAIC Certification Project Report – Quick Reference.
DMAIC Project Report Template (Word Document)
DMAIC PPT Template (May be used to develop internal presentations)
3. Certification Project Submission
Upon completion, participants should submit their report per the Project Report Assignment (See Assignments Tab along the left navigation bar to access the assignment).
EXCEPTION: If your project report involves confidential information which cannot be redacted per the Certification Project Report Guidelines, please contact course instructors for alternative submittal options.
If your report is over one MB in size, we recommend compressing the file (e.g., WinZip or similar utility). Note: Failure to submit your report following the above instructions may lead to a delay in granting certification.
Projects will be graded within 2 weeks. If modifications are needed, you will receive feedback via email. Once your project is approved along with all other requirements, you will receive an email notice that you have completed the certification process. After this notice, the University will send out your actual Certificate to the address provided upon registration (or to your company-sponsor representative if applicable).
Teamwork Policy
The University of Michigan considers certification an individual accomplishment and therefore prefers all participants complete their own project and written report. Still, we recognize that for some projects, participants will work in teams. Here, our preference is for individuals to provide separate reports where each participant works on a unique aspect of the problem and clearly distinguishes their contribution. We do recognize that some information (e.g., from Define or Measure phase) will appear in multiple reports.
In some cases, champions/supervisors may find it more appropriate to have participants work in teams on a particular problem and prepare a single high quality report versus two separate reports. For this situation, we request the following:
1. Teams are limited to two candidates
2. Written acknowledgement (e.g., email) from champion/supervisor that they approve of a team report
3. The project is pre-approved as a team project by the University of Michigan (prior to starting).
4. Of note, each candidate may be asked to provide a short description (e.g., 1-3 paragraphs) detailing their individual contribution to the report.
Project Examples
The following Sample DMAIC Project Reports provide examples of former participant projects. Please note that while all projects must follow the DMAIC approach per the report guidelines, the length, content, and depth of analysis will vary by project.
Project Example 1: Improving Tuition Reimbursement Effectiveness
Certification Project Case Study Options (if industry project is not available)
The University of Michigan highly recommends you complete a green belt project based on a process and data from your organization. Still, if this is not possible, you may select ONE of the projects below to meet the project requirement for Green Belt Certification (provided you also have approval from your employer if you are company sponsored). After selecting one of the case studies below, prepare a DMAIC report using the process and templates described above. (Note: If you use one of these simulated projects, you are not required to complete a project proposal. Still, please send an email to the course instructors indicating you are using a case study for your project requirement.)
Option 1: Paradise Resort – Hotel Transactional Case Study
This project involves the case of a Caribbean resort company which has been experiencing a decline in their performance metrics and Net Operating Income due to low occupancy rates. You are part of a six-sigma team that has been hired to help the hotel management improve their occupancy rates and, ultimately, their performance.
The following files provide a full description of the case and data for analysis.
Hotel Case Study Description
Hotel Data File
Option 2: Reliable Health – Hospital Admittance Time Case Study
This project involves identifying significant factors contributing to delays in admittance time for an Emergency Room and recommending countermeasures to improve performance.
The following files provide a full description of the case and data for analysis.
Reliable Health Case Study Description
Reliable Health Data File
Option 3: Kruger’s Casting – Manufacturing Case Study
This project involves identifying significant factors contributing to high scrap rates and recommending countermeasures to improve performance.
The following files provide a full description of the case and data for analysis.
Kruger Casting Case Study Description
Kruger Casting Data File