INSIDE ESTIEM
TAKING THE ESTIEM LEAN SIX SIGMA COURSE TO AFRICA ESTIEM Summer Academy Professor and honorary member Gregory H. Watson has been developing a training program for Quality Champions, who will be training and coaching Small and Medium
The Gambia
Enterprises (SMEs) to be competitive in the interLean Six
national markets. This course is part of a new pro-
Sigma
fessional qualification scheme being rolled out by
team
the International Trade Centre (ITC) in cooperation
Uganda Burundi
with the World Alliance for Quality (WAQ). Interna-
Rwanda
tional Trade Center (ITC) is the joint agency of the
Tanzania
United Nations and the World Trade Organization with a mandate to enhance the competitiveness in developing countries.
Overview of the Quality Champions Education Pro-
“Comparing the development of this course to pre-
gramme
vious ones, I must say the cultures are very different. I learnt the importance of discussions where
These activities are part of the Global Platform for
personal opinions and experiences and how these
Quality, a collaborative initiative between ITC and
form a critical part of the learning. How to facilitate
partners committed to quality in the developing
that discussion has been something I have needed
world. Teams of Quality Champions are currently
to consider more. Additionally, facilities have their
being educated in the context of two European
own limitations.
Union-funded projects in the Gambia and in the East African Community (EAC).
For example, you cannot count on the internet working, which means that the simpler the mate-
Jukka-Matti (‘Jukkis’) Turtiainen
rial distribution, the better. In the previous cour-
Lean-Six-Sigma Master Black Belt and Co-Cre-
ses analytics has been done with Minitab, but in
ator of the ESTIEM Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
these courses we use Excel.
Course After building the ESTIEM Lean Six Sigma course, Jukkis joined the first mission in August 2018 in The Gambia. Since then he traveled nine times to Africa to deliver training and coaching students
about the implementation
“I learnt the importance of discussions where personal opinions and experiences and how these form a critical part of the learning.”
of quality enhancement projects in enterprises.
=Last winter I ended up spending more time in Africa than in Europe, and when thinking about
50 ESTIEM Magazine | 57th issue - Information Security: Surviving in a digital world