Lean Six Sigma - Black Belt & Green Belt

Two of our colleagues, Cristina Nedelcu and Jorge Montes received the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Green Belt Certifications from the Prysmian Academy.

Cristina carried out a successful project on Materials Efficiency, like for the GB but with a higher span. She and her team were targeting to reduce the main driver of the Scrap in Loose tube manufacturing area and bring it to 50%, then the previous half year.

“The certification it’s an acknowledgement of the results that I brought by applying the right methods in processes with unknown problems but also of the teamwork and leadership qualities I demonstrated.”

Cristina’s journey from Green Belt to Black Belt came as a logical consequence of the desire for continuous improvement:

“I have a continuous ambition to improve processes but right in the beginning I had no prior experience in this methodology, so both the training and the projects have helped me improve my analytical skills and really turn the gears toward the targets I was aiming. Going for the BB was very dynamic, but I had to put all the effort into making a significant impact on the company's productivity.

The Lean Six Sigma methodology has shaped my approach to identifying better the errors from a process, eliminating them and finding the best opportunities for improvement. Secondly, I had the opportunity to meet great people who supported me all the way through and I mention here my Master Black Belt Michal Kucera and the Global Lean Six Sigma Program Manager Frank Leenders. I was also lucky to visit other countries and plants of the Group, where the training was organized so well by Frank, back then we were able to travel more.”

For Jorge, this was his first Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project in Prysmian Group.

“My first Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Project inside Prysmian has been a really nice learning experience; when I was presented with the opportunity to join the Hybrid training I was super excited since usually these types of projects are assigned to more senior engineers; however I took it as nice challenge and opportunity to have a big impact project in Slatina’s TLC factory.”

His project consisted of reducing the Fiber Scrap related to Non-Conformities (NCR) in the entire factory (a big scope; which later was reduced to only the Jacketing Area for the LSS project purposes).

“The start was not easy as the existing data available was incomplete and the process for NCR management lacked several key functions and areas. The support received from both Plant and Mid-level management and Frank Leenders, as my LSS mentor, was exceptional since day one. We formed a multi-disciplinary team with Production, Process, Quality and Maintenance Engineers of 12 people to implement the 4DX Methodology to Analyze and Prioritize problems based on data, Root-Cause analysis of the priorities, and follow a clear and structured action plan. In this team, the participation of Continuous Improvement Manager Cristina Nedelcu and Internal Consultant Laurent Comello were valuable as they brought their expertise on Root-cause analysis tools.

The team actions and meetings are ongoing to this day, and the plan is to keep them for an indefinite period. Overall, I’m truly humbled by the lessons learned with this project and I would like to thank my team and everyone who supported us in one way or another.

I also look forward to coaching somebody else with a similar project and transmitting the know-how to other factories in the group.”

Congratulations to our colleagues and a big thank you to all the team members, also to Daniele Cannarella and Federico Cianciosi for support during their LSS journey!