Seven employees of Brandix Group in Sri Lanka have earned international certification as Six Sigma Black Belts, the first in the country's apparel sector. They received scores over 90% from the US-based certification body. This achievement will help Brandix continuously enhance processes across its companies. Three of the Black Belts will become Master Black Belts to provide Six Sigma training, while the other four will implement process improvements. The seven projects undertaken by the Black Belts during training saved Brandix over $1.3 million. Six Sigma aims for a defect rate of 3.4 per million opportunities through data-driven process improvement focused on quality and customers.

1. Brandix achieves process improvement milestone with Six Sigma Black Belts
ACCOLADE: Seven Sri Lankans employed by
the Brandix Group have earned international
certification as the country’s first Six Sigma
Black Belts in the apparel sector, notching up
another milestone for Sri Lanka’s biggest
exporter.
Brandix’s ‘magnificent seven’ - six of the
group’s brightest young men and one woman
- have now received the certification in the Six
Sigma process improvement methodology
promoted worldwide by management guru
Jack Welch.
They have all received scores in excess of 90
per cent from BMG; the US headquartered Six Sigma Certification Company.
“This is a tremendous achievement by these seven associates and an important milestone
in the Brandix Group’s efforts to continuously enhance processes across all member
companies,” Vice-President - Process Improvement, Ed Fleischer said.
“Three of the seven Black Belts have been selected to go on to Master Black Belt status,
with official certification to impart Six Sigma training, while the other four have returned
to operational positions in the Group and will drive the implementation of process
improvement methodologies that will continue to lead to significant savings, he said.
The combined savings to Brandix from seven projects undertaken by the Black Belt
aspirants during their 18-month training period alone has exceeded US$ 1.3 million (over
LKR 140 million), Fleischer said.
A disciplined data-driven process improvement tool focused on quality and customer
satisfaction, Six Sigma targets at achieving fault rates of just 3.4 per one million
opportunities.
Tracing its origins to the early 1980s when Motorola commenced a process improvement
project with Total Cycle Time reduction (TCT), a Thomas Group methodology, Six Sigma
has evolved into one of the world’s most exciting process improvement methodologies.
A feature of the Brandix Group’s adoption of Six Sigma methodology was that the first
batch of seven Black Belts received instruction and sat for the examinations via BMG e-
learning, a first for Sri Lanka.
RECOGNITION: Brandix’s Six Sigma Black Belts Tharinda
Atapattu Mudali, Chithalka Navaratna, Dushan Dayaratne,
Zakir Ahamed, Sonali Pathirathne, Tilak Rahulan and
Lasantha Wijeweera with Ed Fleischer (Vice President)
Process Improvement.

2. This was possible only because the Group had a strong foundation of process
improvement methodology that began two years prior with TCT, which complements with
Six Sigma, Fleischer said.
http://archives.dailynews.lk/2007/03/01/fin11.asp