The Graduate Certificate in Quality and Lean Manufacturing is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of employees in middle- and upper-level management positions in manufacturing and service organizations related to quality practices and lean processes.

The program consists of four, three-credit-hour online courses developed to present the ASQ Six Sigma black belt body of knowledge and lean manufacturing concepts. Although the courses are designed to prepare you to take the ASQ black belt exam, ASQ permission to sit for the exam will depend on your years of related industrial experience and the number of industrial projects completed.

The program can be completed as a stand-alone certificate or in conjunction with Oklahoma State University's (OSU) master's degree in Engineering and Technology Management (MSETM). OSU will accept any three of the four courses in this Certificate in transfer toward its accredited online masters program once this certificate has been completed.

Students who have completed this certificate and who have been accepted into the OSU MSETM program will be allowed to take courses in that program at OSU's in-state tuition rate.

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Undergraduate course work in statistics
• Bachelor's degree
• Three years of related experience
• You must be able to work on an approved Six Sigma project at the firm you're employed with.

Application instructions (PDF format)

Application form (PDF format)

Courses

ETM 5913 - Six Sigma Tools I (3 credit hours): Provides an introduction to the black belt Six Sigma body of knowledge as defined by the American Society of Quality (ASQ). Students will learn the foundations of Six Sigma and the statistical tools used in the initial stages of the DMAIC problem solving methodology. Students will begin a project, reporting on the Define and Measure Phase at the end of the semester. An undergraduate background in statistics is required.

ETM 5923 - Six Sigma Tools II (3 credit hours): Builds upon the initial Six Sigma course and includes the application of tools such as Design of Experiments (DOE) and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) as related to the Analyze, Improve, and Control Phase of the DMAIC cycle. Students complete the project begun in ETM 5913 and do a report.

ETM 5933 - Lean Tools (3 credit hours): Introduces students to basic lean enterprise concepts. Students will learn and be able to use specific tools such as 5S, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), set-up reduction, and Value Stream Mapping (VSM). Students will learn and understand implementation issues and be able to plan, justify, implement and document simple lean Kaizen projects.

ETM 5943 - Lean Sigma Implementation (3 credit hours): Enables students to learn and understand the issues associated with team leadership, team dynamics, and change methodologies through the use of case studies involving firms that have made attempts at implementing lean and Six Sigma.

Schedule of Course Offerings

• Spring 2008: ETM 5913
• Fall 2008: ETM 5923, ETM 5913
• Spring 2009: ETM 5933, ETM 5923
• Fall 2009: ETM 5943, ETM 5933
• Spring 2010: ETM 5913 and ETM 5943