Certified Six Sigma Black Belt [Aug - Dec 2015]

Why CSSBB with SQI

Even though I have been trained in Lean and Six Sigma by my company, I have been seeking a different experience on Six Sigma from a different delivery method. A quick search online will show many private institutions offering courses on Six Sigma in Singapore. Accreditation is important for Six Sigma courses. Globally, the two main bodies accrediting Six Sigma is either the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society of Quality (ASQ) or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt by the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC).

Typically for US companies (including my company), they recognize ASQ certifications more. And in Singapore, the main local chapter is the Singapore Quality Institute (SQI). Back in May 2015 when I tried to get more information Six Sigma courses with SQI, I find the website was not very well updated and the location of the institute was located at West Coast Recreation Center. I had a chance to meet up with the Marketing Manager and the Course Coordinator to understand more about the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) course.

One of the reason why I have decided on the CSSBB course with SQI is:
- The lecturers looked very experienced. Just by simple observation, I can tell they have decades of experience behind them.
- Local context examples which is more applicable in Singapore and Asia context (compared to US)
- Long-running course which is now into its 20th intake
- Strong vigor in learning and application - there's an exams element as well as project mentoring. Throughout the course, we will get to understand many fundamentals which textbooks or companies do not teach us.
- Part-time schedule. I do not have to be away from work to take a 4-weeks full-time course.
- It is the cheapest Six Sigma course. The course fee was around $4,700 in all for members. I am self-sponsoring for the course so this is also taken into consideration.

Class in context

I signed up for the CSSBB 20th intake class as I will be in Singapore between the period of August to November. There were 9 students in the class, and we came from different industry: ranging from finance, logistics, sales and manufacturing.

The classes were held 3 times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7pm - 10pm over 36 lessons. It spanned over a 3 months period. We have to meet at least 70% course attendance. As a student, I will say the schedule is pretty intensive and all of us have to forgo any leisure, family or friends time over the 3 months period. Happy hour on Friday is also gone due to class.

Below is a class in progress with our course coordinator Mr Too. He put in a lot of efforts to explain the complex terms in easy to understand structure. The other course lecturers are Mr Teo, Ms Thia and Timothy. 

Learning about Six Sigma


For those who are new to Six Sigma, I will summarize what is Six Sigma below. It is both an improvement strategy that companies can adopt as well as a structured problem solving method. The structured method is the Define - Measure - Analyze - Improve - Control steps. And in each of the steps, there are many tools and methods that people can use to solve problems systematically. Central to Six Sigma are the many statistical tools that Six Sigma folks use to problem solve. Typically Six Sigma training also cover Lean tools and methods. The SQI CSSBB course also cover that.

The SQI CSSBB course touches and explain on the statistical concepts and applications very deeply. This is critical to understand the core tools of six sigma well. 

Compared to the Six Sigma training I received in my company, I find the delivery method by the local lecturers are amazing. The lecturers frequently challenge our knowledge and ideas, and the lessons are peppered with many interesting examples and stories.

Secondly, as the students come from different industries, there are many things to share and talk about in class. I will say the 3 months intensive period is very well spent learning from the lecturers and fellow students.

We also have several hands on session such as FMEA, playing with Catapult (as seen below) and learning how to use Minitab for Statistical analysis.

Shifting to new premises

Towards early November 2015, SQI started the shift of its premises to Peace Center (picture below). We were one of the first group of students to attend classes at the new SQI center. The location is definitely much better compared to Clementi. The vicinity is more vibrant as it is right smack in the city center.

Preparing for exams

As we have a 3 weeks break in between the relocation, as well as a 2 weeks break after our final class, we were all geared up towards our final exams on the 19 Dec (Saturday). The exams has 2 parts to it: First part is 70 MCQ 1 hr 30mins and second part is 7 long questions 3 hours. It has got to be one of the more vigorous exams I have taken these few years since graduation. The exams will be marked by NUS lecturers and the results will be release to us by post 6 weeks later.

Mr Too constantly reminded us to have group study for our exams. Our batch started quite late, only 1.5 months before the exams as the weekly study really drained our energy. There are several advantages to group studies:
1) Sharing of exams questions and resources - when all 9 of us started coming together, we shared all the six sigma resources we have from ASQ sample exams, to textbooks and so on.
2) Discussion and clarification - the discussion and clarification helps to level our understanding. Someone will raise a topic and everyone will learn from the discussion.
3) Chance to have fast food - it is during the study sessions where we have fast food. Our group of 9 is split into 2 locations: Joo Koon Fairprice Hub and Nanyang Polytechnic. The areas to study at Fairprice Hub are the fast food outlets and Nanyang Poly are the study benches (with McDonalds near by).
4) Fun - it's just plain fun. Everyone chatting about different topics - on different industries, job opportunities, life and so on.

According to a classmate, the final exams is mirrored closely to the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook by Kubiak. 

Celebrations

After the exams, we went down to Plaza Singapura for celebration lunch. Below is a photo of us celebrating.

 
We are not yet CSSBB certified. Next we will have to work on a Black Belt project and write a report for submission and presentation.

PMP exams in Singapore [Jan 2011 - Jan 2015]

My first formal education on Project Management first started when I took a module on Project Management with the University of Adelaide here:
http://adelaide-mba-in-singapore.blogspot.sg/2011/03/applied-project-management-1-2101-2003.html

4 years since my formal education, I finally took my PMP exams on the 12th Jan 2015 (Mon), just 7.5 weeks after my CSCP exams.

Delays after delays in taking the exams
I have been planning to take my PMP exams since 2010, but it got delayed several times due to my MBA studies (2010-2012), overseas postings (2013) and CSCP (2014). As I had a job transition in 2014, I made an aspiration to sign up for PMP and work towards achieving it. I applied for the eligibility to take the exams in Feb 2014, which allows me up to a year to take the register for the exams. It cost me S$700 for PMI member and PMP exams (it's cheaper to sign up to be PMI member first and apply for the exams). I happen to have a 2 months CSCP course between mid-March till mid-May, and thereafter I decided to be certified in CSCP first since the memory is fresh, before going for the PMP. But the vast knowledge base of CSCP resulted in me delaying my start date of the PMP from end-November 2014. By then, I only have 2 months left to study before I begin my month long business travels.

Preparation for the exams
My first exposure to PMI PMP was in early-2010 when I stumble upon the PMBOK. I printed the entire 4th edition of the PMBOK out and begin studying through it. It was awfully dry and I did not have structured project management experience, which makes learning even more difficult. Next came in early-2011 when I completed an Applied Project Management course with the University of Adelaide. The many assignments involve planning and thinking through on how to do proper project planning. I changed company in mid-2011 and begin to have a bit of exposure of using standard templates for project management. As I'm planning on a career switch in early-2014, I aspire to achieve the PMP to help in my career transition. I consulted a few friends and online on the best way to get started on PMP study. Two options were available to me: Sign up for a 5-day PMP refresher course and pay S$1,500 for it or buy books from Amazon which costs around S$350. Since attending the 5-day PMP refresher course is no guarantee I will pass the exams, and I have received formal education previously, the next best approach is actually self study. Amazon has this promotion which allows free delivery of books above US$125 to Singapore. So I went for this approach.

I ordered the following books:
1) PMBOK by PMI
2) PMP Exams Prep by Scordo Christopher
3) PMP Exam by Andy Crowe
4) PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy

You may ask why do I order PMBOK since I can download for free from PMI. The reason is I like to read printed texts compare to reading from a tablet or computer. Personally I will prefer to borrow books from the library as I do not want the books to be sitting around in my house after I have finished using it. But most of the PMP books in the library covers up to version 4 of the PMBOK. There are very few books that cover until version 5. That is why I decided to order them from Amazon.

In my new company, there is a very structured project management process, which also helps me to understand PMBOK concurrently.

Studying Process
I began sorting through my PMP books on the 21st Nov 2014, immediately after my CSCP exams. The first book I read was Rita PMP Exam Prep. I'm no good in reading 'wordy' books and it took me 3 weeks to complete Rita book. It is compounded by the fact that I was slightly busy with my work. Andy's book is quite straight forward and I completed it in 1 week. Thankfully, there are 2 x 4 days holiday in Singapore during the Christmas and New Year period, where I start to spend substantially more time working through the exercises in Rita's book and Scordo's PMP Exams Prep. I also revised through PMBOK concurrently. I felt the 1,000 questions in Scordo's PMP and Rita+Andy's exercises help a lot in the preparation.

The week before my PMP exams, I have completed all the theory revisions and going all out through the exercises. I completed 2 x 50 questions of Scordo's PMP Exams Prep in the evening of each day. I have to admit it is really very exhausting.

As I just completed my CSCP exams, there's a certain focus and momentum towards certification exams, and I sustain it throughout for my PMP exams. That may explain the shorter time period. 

Exams Day
My official exams time is 8.30am to 12.30pm. I used the same strategy as my CSCP. I will provide an answer which I think best answer the question, but if I'm uncertain on it, I will still leave an answer but put a 'mark' on it so I can revise through it again towards the end. By 11.30pm, I have completed all the questions. After 3 hours, I'm already feeling very exhausted. Next I spent the next 45mins running through the 'mark' questions and thinking through again. And once that's done, I clicked submit and wait for the results...


My results:
And I pass!!
They are:
Initiation: Moderately Proficient
Planning: Proficient
Execution: Proficient
Monitor and Control: Proficient
Close: Proficient

And I'm now PMP-certified.

Will take a break from studying as I will be away for business trip the next one month till the start of the week-long Chinese New Year holidays.

CSCP Exams in Singapore [Mar - Nov 2014]

I passed my Certified Supply Chain Professional exams in Singapore on the 21st November 2014 (Friday).

In my class project group of 7 people (since May 2014), only 3 proceeded to take the exams and pass it (as of Nov 2014). Many people are daunted by the scope of study, the cost (US$1,300 is not cheap), the difficulty of the study. Put all these elements together, you will understand the risk of failing the exams is huge. If you are sponsored by your company, the cost can be offset. For many others like myself, I paid for the course and register for the exams using my personal study fund. So I am giving my best to make sure I pass it.

Here are some tips on how you can minimize the cost, study effectively and master the proficiency to the level where you can pass the exams at one go.

Sign up for the course
Firstly, sign up for the CSCP course. There are two ways you can go about doing that.

One way is via the APICS CSCP website, where you pay US$1275 (SGD$1,650) and you will receive the yellow-pages thick books (consisting of 3 modules, 5 books) and access to online practice quizzes, exams, flashcards.

The second is with the Singapore Manufacturing Federation. The original course fee is SGD$3,723.60. But thanks to government funding, you only pay SGD$1117.08. For this price, you get to attend guided classes twice a week, get to work in project group to familiarize yourself with a module concepts, have group discussions, and finally get all the first option study guides and online practices. But there is a catch to it. You need a minimum 75% attendance, complete the group project work, personal assignment and to pass the final course exams. So getting government funding is not easy as you will need to work hard for it.

For myself, I travel frequently, so I was initially concerned about meeting the 75% attendance. But thankfully, I scheduled no travel during my course period as I was having a career transition. So I managed to get 100% attendance.

I would recommend to go for the class as you will meet fellow students from the supply chain industry. The group work is quite fun. And it is cheaper than buying it from APICS directly.

But do note that SMF only accept payment by cheque, NETS or cash. They do not accept credit card. So you are not able to get cash back or credit card rebates compare to getting from APICS directly.

Please note that charges for exams are separate. It cost US$1050 for APICS member and US$1300 for non-members. International e-membership cost US$125. So if you do the sums, applying for APICS membership and taking the exams will have cost US$1175 (SGD$1530). If you use certain credit card, you can get cash back. So it's more value for money to apply for membership, and pay for the exams.

Total, I spent around SG$2650 for CSCP. My total study hours is more than 100 hours.

In-Class Learning

I will share with you the experiences of attending the class at Singapore Manufacturing Federation. As it eventually both leads to self-study, which is the important part.

The classes are conducted over a span of 2 months, with 16 lessons, twice a week (but need to offset holidays, etc). The final lesson is the exams, so there is no class. There is a class in the middle of the course which is on group presentation. And in the first lesson, half is gone via self-introduction.

Enjoy the process as the lecturer will guide through the course syllabus over the 16 lessons. We have our lecturer Joseph below explaining to us about the group work.

The class is split into 3 groups. Two groups working on a research project, and one small group who will critique. Till now, I still enjoy the group discussion I have with my group. It helps bring us closer. Below is a photo of one of our in-class group discussion.

But attending classes in the evenings can be quite tiring. Some of my classmates do fall asleep in class after a long work day.

The final course assessment covers half of the content covered in the textbook. And the group project will cover a difficult / long topic (e.g. Logistics / Technology). So these hands-on and revision will allow you to be familiar with the content.

I got the top score for the final course assessment. But when it comes to preparing for the CSCP exams, it is a different arena altogether. 

Recommended Approach to Self-Study

You will need to read and understand all the sentences in the 5 books to be proficient in it. Make sure you do not skip any sentence when reading (I have a habit of skipping and just grasp the main content). The quiz and exams will test you in detail on what is mentioned the textbook.

At the end of the in-class learning, I have to admit, my understanding of the concepts are still rudimentary (maybe I have not studied for a while). I did the online Pre-Test and scored only a 50plus. This means a lot of efforts will need to be put into self-study.

 
Our lecturer always advice us to take the exams 2 months after the course. But this requires discipline and time. I finished my course in mid-May. But from mid-May till mid-November (6 months), I was away for 2 months for overseas trip, etc. So I barely have time to study, even though I always bring my study guide along with me in my bags. And during the first few months after my course, I was constantly having social gatherings in the evenings.

The intensive study only start 3 months before the exams. And to have mastery over the content, you will need to read through your books at least 3 times. I consider the in-class training to be first round. I took comprehensive summary notes (15 +39 +19 = 73) pages) of the entire 5 textbooks in my second round. And when I'm going through my third round, and did the module quizzes, I began to see a trend to them. The 3 modules can actually be grouped into a few main knowledge areas: Supply Chain Strategy, Technology, Market-Focused, SRM, Inventory, Demand Mgmt, Logistics, Governance and Continuous Improvement.

While studying through the 3 modules, I noticed there are duplication of certain knowledge area across the module and sections. By grouping them into knowledge areas, it make the study to be easier and allows us to relate easier to them. This is a mind-mapping process. After I have grouped them, I started to revise through the knowledge area groups and did the quizzes respectively. It became much easier and I am able to gain mastery of the topics faster.

I also started taking notes of the mistakes I get when doing the quizzes. In each module/section, for question which I am uncertain and for question where I got wrong, I will write it down and will revise through them at a later stage.

By the time I revise through the textbooks in my fourth round, I begin to grasp the core essence that CSCP is trying to inculcate to us. At this time, it started to shape how I approach towards collaboration and perception of the supply chain. This is the correct supply chain perception that APICS Supply Chain Council is trying to inculcate into all of us. If you can grasp the core essence, there should be no problem in passing the exams. I share a few core principles here:
- In modern supply chain, specialization and economies of scale is the way to go. Collaborate with partners to tap on mutual expertize. We cannot look at suppliers in adversary way. There is a need to achieve win-win for all parties in Supply Chain. Only this way, will the supply chain be successful.
- Our approach to customers will also be different as learnt from CRM. All customers are important and we need to channel our supply chain to meet their requirements. So it is important for us to constantly listen and interact with customers.
- Supply chain is constantly evolving. It relates to relationships with suppliers, with the way we do work. So everyone in the chain needs to play a part in continuous improvement.
- The importance of strategy alignment, differentiating between strategy-tactical is emphasized, reaching consensus via S&OP and many more. 

Many of us come from different area of Supply Chain. It is very rare for someone to have experience in all aspects of the Supply Chain as covered by CSCP. For myself, I come from a Technology, Logistics, Demand Planning and Continuous Improvement background. So when I study these topics, it is much easier for me as I understand how it works (e.g. different tools in Continuous Improvement, different systems in Technology, different material handling systems in Logistics, planning processes in Demand Planning). Use your experience to the fullest to relate to these knowledge areas.
 
Exams

I initially booked my exams in July, but I postponed the time period twice. First time to September (as I was in business trip July/August), and the final time to November (business trip in October). When I applied for the ATT in May, I can take my exams anytime within a one year period. But since July 2014, it become 6 months. So book and pay for your exams when you are close to completing your studies and is confident to pass when you take it.

I took my post-test and got around 84 marks for it. I took my mock exams and got 76 marks. I got high end of 80 plus in real exams.

The real exams use a scale system. So the questions do not have equal weight of marks.

Please be familiar with the exams style below:

Unlike quizzes which give you answers and explanation immediately. In the real exams, you will indicate your answers and click next (or you can click back). For each question, you can flag for review at the end of the exams. The final CSCP exams use the same concept but the look and feel is slightly different. The flag button is much bigger.

This is the first time I'm taking certification exams. So I'm an absolute newbie. I hope to share the procedure with other people who are also taking certification exams for the first time. 

I arrived at the exams center 30mins before the start time as advised. Just produce your IC / driving license and your credit card. The staff will guide you to your seat and tell you to turn your phone to silent mode (I just turn it off) and put the bags in the lockers. There can be nothing in your pockets. You can start immediately if you want or can wait till the official start time. Anyway, I start immediately. The first 5mins is a short survey. And thereafter the official exams will start. If you need to go to the washroom, you can go (but better make it quick as the time continues to tick)

This is how I approach my exams. For questions which I am confident on. I will indicate my answers and proceed ahead. For questions I am not confident, I will give a closest answer and flag it for review at the end of it.

In all, I spent 2hr 45mins going through the 175 questions. And The remaining 30mins are spent going through the flagged questions. I completed in 3hr 15mins, 45mins ahead of the exams duration. Truth to tell, by the second hour, I am getting a bit exhausted. The exams is indeed long. So please develop your energy and concentration before hand. Have a good rest before exams. Some say do not drink that much water as it will mean you will need to go washroom more often. It is good to have some windbreaker in hand in case the room gets a bit cold. There is a digital calculator which you can use on-screen. But it is good to have a manual calculator in hand just in case.