Even after decades of success, Crown Equipment Corp, the Ohio-based manufacturer of electric lift trucks, has recently found ways to use Six Sigma strategies to improve processes, reduce scrap and gas usage and fine-tune operations. The company now has 18 certified Six Sigma Green Belts and 15 Black Belts in its North American manufacturing facilities striving to lead the corporation toward even further improvement.

To date, Crown’s Green Belt efforts have resulted in hard savings of $1.2 million for the company. The company’s Black Belt efforts have brought $285,000 in hard savings so far, with more expected as the projects proceed further. While the time requirement for the first 12 Green Belts to undertake training was a whopping 2,400 hours (total for all 12), the company has calculated that it has saved a little over $500 per hour for each hour spent in training.

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