U.S. Army – Headquarters Office of Business Transformation
Major Command:
United States Army, Office of Business Transformation (OBT)
Organization:
Office of Business Transformation Directorate – Lean Six Sigma Program Management Office
Project:
Strategic Engagement Planning for Lean Six Sigma Program Management Office
Assignment:
The Army Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Program initiative was designed to provide self-sustainment of the Program at Major Command levels. By planned schedule, the conversion from a central control of the program at the OBT-LSS level to Command level required that all current OBT-LSS activities be realigned to support via oversight the Command programs. Special projects in support of a broad base of LSS projects resulting from Congressional directives, etc. would be retained at the OBT-LSS Program level given the expansiveness and scope of the projects involved. MainStream was engaged by the Office of Business Transformation Directorate to help prepare the U.S. Army for self-sustainment of Lean Six Sigma Program initiatives by realigning OBT-LSS internal program operations. Specifically, MainStream was responsible for overseeing the program transition related to the training of US Army LSS Master Black Belts, the certification process for Green, Black, and Master Black Belts, the curriculum development and enhancement for all training levels, and special assignments received from Command Level organizations for analysis and assessment of operational efficiencies.
Actions:
MainStream developed and managed a repository of Master Black Belt training final examinations that would allow for no one examination to be repeated within a 64-month period. Examination development included nine (9) final test questions for each examination, a scoring spreadsheet for each examination and answers to each question to include numeric grading to be used by instructors for evaluating the final examination test questions answers received from students. In collaboration with OBT-LSS leadership, MainStream created a ‘current state’ of all submissions received by the OBT-LSS Program Office for Green, Black and Master Black Belt certification. This included working with individual candidates to resolve any conflicts, missing or inconsistencies in their certification submission. Once resolved, authorizing the respective certification of the candidate could occur. In addition, MainStream revised Black Belt training curriculum to include developing a General Officer / Senior Executive on-line Black Belt training course leading to certification of participants as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Results:
The comprehensive Master Black Belt final examination question repository allowed uniformity with specialized scoring spreadsheets for each exam and answer/scoring to be used by instructors in grading each examination. Overall, the total repository contains over 1,350 pages of questions, answers, and scoring forms. In addition, MainStream developed a comprehensive on-line schedule and related training modules for the General Officer / Senior Executive Black Belt training and certification course to include development of case studies, homework and in-class curriculum.
During MainStream’s engagement, numerous special projects were completed including an analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of all operations of the Office of the Inspector General (U.S. Army). The final briefing and findings were presented to the U.S. Army I.G and over 300 certification past and currents Green, Black, and Master Black Belt certification requests were resolved via interaction with the candidates