FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

CONTACT: Steve Dolan
(619) 594-5664
sdolan@mail.sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO, Thursday, September 27, 2007 - Securing a long-term competitive advantage for your company is an important goal for all businesses. Focusing your organization on achieving measurable, bottom line results and learning to produce better, faster, and lower cost products and services than your competition are just two of the many outcomes of The Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification program offered through San Diego State University's College of Extended Studies.

Industry surveys show that companies with Six Sigma programs hire and reward those employees who have a Six Sigma certification. The average Green Belt salary is around $70,000. The median expected salary for a typical Six Sigma Black Belt in the United States is around $86,000.

Just what are Lean and Six Sigma?

The Lean approach to continuous improvement reduces the time from your customer request to the delivery of your product or service by eliminating non-value added steps in any work process. Six Sigma uses statistical analysis to identify areas of potential weakness in your processes.

Six Sigma is a target for successful operations. A "sigma rating" identifies the number of defects-per-million in any transactional, service, or manufacturing procedure. Most transactional businesses operate at 2 or 3 sigma, creating serious negative consequences for the business. For example, an organization operating at 2.5 Sigma would generate 158,655 miscalculated pay stubs for every million processed while a business operating at 4 Sigma would drop 6,210 calls for every million calls to a call center. On the other hand, an insurance company operating at Six Sigma would allow only 3.4 errors for every million insurance claims processed.

Although both Lean and Six Sigma can be taught in independent programs, Lean Six Sigma combines the best practices of each approach, combining the practical tools of Lean with the science of Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma's goal is to eliminate defects and costs associated with poor quality. Lean makes sure we are working on the right activities, and Six Sigma makes sure we are doing the right things the very first time.

SDSU's College of Extended Studies offers a wide variety of lifelong learning classes, seminars, and certificate programs. Career advancement courses are offered in many areas of management, leadership, and quality improvement while self-enrichment courses range from astronomy to web design. Additionally, the College offers over 35 certificate programs, online courses, and many other learning opportunities. For more information on the cutting-edge opportunities offered in manufacturing and other industries, or other programs, visit the College's Web site at www.NeverStopLearning.net.