Help me choose a Lean Six Sigma Certification

There are two main questions to consider when deciding on which Lean Six Sigma certification to choose. How much training you want, and how much assistance you need from an instructor.

Which level of process improvement tools do you want to learn?

• Beginner – Lean – Ideal for those new to process improvement and working with non-manufacturing processes (office and digital processes, small businesses, nonprofits, etc) especially when trying to speed up processes and better manage inventory while engaging employees in improvement efforts.
  • Content includes: Lean Overview, Deployment Strategy and Belt Roles, Voice of the Customer (VOC), Data Collection and Concepts, Process Mapping, Behavior Change, Project Documentation and Certification, 8 Types of Waste, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Theory of Constraints (TOC), Mistake Proofing (Poka Yoke), Continuous Flow Methods, Setup Reduction (SMED), Standard Work, 5S Workplace Organization, Visual Controls, Pull and Kanban, Daily Management System and Kaizen Events
  • If you don’t know much about Lean or Six Sigma, check out our FREE Lean Six Sigma White Belt course >>>
• Intermediate – Lean Six Sigma Green Belt – Ideal for those wanting to supplement their current role with better problem solving skills. Typically not a full-time consultant role, but one that uses the most common tools and techniques within their existing job (especially if you work in manufacturing or other complex processes). Green Belt requires training on statistical software (Minitab, JMP and SigmaXL) to analyze data sets, where Lean does not require any software training. However, we are now replacing software with AI programs like Copilot and ChatGPT.
• Green Belt includes all the tools covered in the Lean course.
  • Content includes: Lean and Six Sigma Overview, Deployment Strategy and Belt Roles, Voice of the Customer (VOC), Data Collection and Concepts, Process Mapping, Behavior Change and Project Documentation and Certification, Project Charter, Cause and Effect (Prioritization) Matrix, Basic Statistics, Intro to Minitab (or SigmaXL or JMP), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), Capability Analysis (Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Intro to Hypothesis Testing, 2 Proportions and T Tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Correlation and Multiple Regression, Design of Experiments (DOE) and Control Plans, 8 Types of Waste, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Theory of Constraints (TOC), Mistake Proofing (Poka Yoke), Continuous Flow Methods, Setup Reduction (SMED), Standard Work, 5S Workplace Organization, Visual Controls, Pull and Kanban, Daily Management System and Kaizen Events
• Advanced – Lean Six Sigma Black Belt – Ideal for those wanting to be a full-time process improvement consultant (internal to your company or an external consultant) that works on more complex problems, teaches Green Belt classes and coaches people on their improvement projects. All the content from Green Belt (listed above) is covered, but at a deeper level of knowledge, along with the introduction of new tools and concepts.
  • Content includes: Green Belt Course Review, Z-values and Probabilities, Z Transformations and Probability Calculations, Student’s t-distribution, Confidence Intervals for Small Samples and Standard Deviations, • Skewness and Kurtosis, Probability Plots and Distributions, Sample Size Calculation, Skewed and nonnormal distributions, 1 -Sample Sign and Wilcoxon Tests, Mood’s Median and Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman Rank Correlation, • I-MR-R/S charts, Laney P’ and U’ charts, G and T charts, CUSUM and EWMA charts, Confidence Intervals for Cpk/Ppk, Individual Distribution Identification (IDI), Box-Cox and Johnson Transformations, Nonnormal and Nonparametric Capability (Cnp/Cnpk), Nested Gage R&R Study, F-distribution, Unusual Observations (Outliers), • Multicollinearity and Variance Inflation Factor (VIF), Regression Coefficients and Significance, Polynomial, Logistic and Poisson Regression, Lenth’s PSE, Definitive Screening Designs (DSDs), Binary Responses in DOE, Hierarchical Models in DOE, Central Composite Designs, Box-Behnken Designs, Critical to Quality (CTQ), Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and DMADV, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Kano Model, TRIZ, Pugh Matrix and Statistical Tolerancing.

Download a one-page summary of the Green and Black Belt topics included in each course.

We are also offering some of these topics as stand-alone courses at LeanSixSigmaEcosystem.com

How much assistance do you want with learning?

• Limited – Self-paced online course. Ideal for those looking to save money and are self-motivated to complete the training on their own. Start with our FREE White Belt course, or learn more about OpEx Learning for Green and Black Belt certification >>>
• Blended/Guided – Combination of self-paced online course with live instructor coaching sessions. Lower cost than fully live training but still benefitting from instructor support and project coaching. We offer industry-specific programs (manufacturing, healthcare, government, education, etc) to enhance the learning and networking opportunities. Learn more about our Guided Lean and Six Sigma training program >>>
• Live (Virtual/In-person) – Fully in-person or virtual with live instructor. The price is higher for this training, but the completion rate and applicability to your work and industry is also highest due to the accountability and hands-on support on every topic. You can also customize the training to meet your needs, and create a program that aligns to your organization terminology and naming conventions, and works around your team’s schedule.

I don’t need more training, I need coaching

If you don’t need additional training, but need a coach to help you navigate specific problems and process improvement initiatives at your company, consider our virtual coaching program.

If you just need help completing an improvement project or validating a past project to finish your certification, check out our project review for certification option.

Not sure? Let’s talk! Please contact us to learn more or to request a quote.