White Belt, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt:
Agile Lean Sigma (ALSS) courses build robust skills in opportunity analysis and project delivery for measurable impact. Students learn how to uncover hidden potentials and systematically improve performance levels. By doing so, champions not only build new capabilities, but also create real benefits for their team and company. Over the past 10 years, we have trained over 4,700 champions in 34 countries who delivered over $85 million impact with their first Lean Six Sigma improvement projects. Start applying proven tools and techniques to “move the needle” of key performance indicators (KPIs).
How It Works
- Kick-start your professional improvement journey
- Get certified as a White, Yellow, Green, Black Belt
- Eliminate wastes and boost efficiency with Lean
- Reduce variability to boost quality with Six Sigma
- Translate opportunities into formal project charters
- Take quizzes to check your knowledge, get feedback
- Apply learning to create measurable improvements
- Standardize processes and create work instructions
- Deliver real benefits by reducing effort, time, cost
- Benefits are $1k to $50k for White to Black Belt at ROI=10
- Download the Lean Six Sigma toolkit with ready-to-use templates
Why You Want It
Build skills that boost your career by simultaneously improving quality, speed, productivity, and cost. Your will learn how to apply problem-solving and performance-improvement techniques to create breakthrough results for your team, process, and company.
Reducing the eight wastes and tackling the three losses makes your target-area more lean and efficient, while addressing the root-causes of delays and defects with Six Sigma boosts quality and customer satisfaction.
This Lean Six Sigma course is for anyone who wants to reduce lead-times, rework, returns, and effort by up to 90% – measurably increasing productivity, capacity, and profitability with a return on investment of 10x with the first project. Nothing to lose, but much to gain. Boost skills and results, start now!
Lean Six Sigma | White Belt
Taking this beginner course allows you to systematically organize workplaces, identify efficiency improvements, and formally solve simple problems.
Lean Six Sigma | Yellow Belt
Taking this intermediate course allows you to identify issues, develop project charters, apply spot-Kaizen, measure impact, and create work instructions.
Lean Six Sigma | Green Belt
Taking this advanced course allows you to develop business cases, analyze value streams, implement cross-functional projects, standardize processes.
Lean Six Sigma | Black Belt
Taking this expert course allows you to translate strategy into roadmaps, design and execute transformation programs, and devise business standards.
Course Preview
Lean Six Sigma - Program Brief
How it works:
The program consists of three parts: training, application, certification. During the training, participants learn about principles, tools, and techniques. Right after the training, they apply learnings in practical improvement projects to build real skills and create measurable benefits.
How long it takes:
The time to become a White Belt takes 2 days effort over a 1-month period, a Yellow Belt takes 5 days effort over 2 months, a Green Belt requires 10 days effort during 2 months, and a Black Belt is certified after implementing a transformation program, requiring at least 30 days effort over a 6-month period.
Who is involved:
The four key roles are sponsor, student, trainer, and controller. The sponsor initiates the program, provides context and allocates resources. The student invests time to read the material, complete the exercises, develop a project, and implement improvements. The trainer reviews progress and provides coaching feedback. For Yellow Belt and above, the project controller validates financial benefits created.
What you can expect:
Certified Lean Six Sigma champions are able to see and act on opportunities that were not known or not addressed before. By improving quality, efficiency, and flexibility, those champions generate real benefits from reduced defect rates, faster delivery, lower cost, and higher customer satisfaction.
How much it costs:
Courses generate a positive return as skills are applied and improvements implemented. Most projects achieve full payback within the implementation period, delivering a financial benefit 10x over tuition fees (ROI), making it a worthwhile investment!
White Belt Topics
- 8 Wastes Identification
- 5S Method and Audit
- Fishbone 6M Categories
- 5 Why, simple Problems
- PDCA Process, Template
Quotes from course participants:
- “I can see things clearly now!”
- “This is totally common sense!”
- “Everyone should learn this!”
- “A new way of working.”
- “This was practical and fun!”
- “Why haven’t we thought about this before?”
Yellow Belt Topics
- 5S as a System
- 8W “DOWNTIME”
- Abnormality Signals
- Batch and Queue
- Cellular Concept
- Continuous Flow
- Cycle Time Basics
- Downtime and Efficiency
- Error-Proofing, Poka-Yoke
- First-In First-Out FIFO
- Fishbone Ishikawa 6M
- Kaizen Principles, Project
- OPL One Point Lesson
- Overproduction
- Problem Solving PDCA
Green Belt Topics
- Cycle, Takt, Tact, Pitch
- Inventory Optimization
- Just-in-Time JIT
- Lean Manufacturing
- Lean Admin & Service
- Load-Leveling, Heijunka
- Management Boards
- Product and Service Matrix
- Pull Systems: A and B
- Setup Reduction SMED, RTS
- Skill-Matrix
- Spaghetti Chart
- Standard Operating Procedure
- Total Productive Maintenance
- Value Stream Mapping VSM
Black Belt Topics
- Control Charts
- Cost of Poor Quality COPQ
- Profit Per Hour PPH
- Zero-Based Budgeting ZBB
- Flexibilizing, Balancing
- Flow Production, Service
- Non-Performance Cost NPC
- Process Capability Cp, Cpk
- Pull Systems: A, B, C
- Risk Analysis FMEA
- Strategic Planning, Roadmap
- Strategy Deployment, X-Matrix
- Cycle Time, Takt, Pitch
- Yield FPY, FTY, RTY
- Variability Reduction Methods
Lean Six Sigma Champions: How to Leverage Skills and Build an Effective Support Structure
Skill-Building Pyramid
- The training program establishes a Skill Pyramid to cascade knowledge from expert down to the frontline, involving people at all levels of the organization, including senior management; like one CEO puts it: “we are taking our own medicine”.
- Employing a train-the-trainer model means that certified Yellow Belts, Green Belts, Black Belts develop and certify people below them.
- Each Black Belt supports at least 5 Green Belts, of which each Green Belt supports at least 5×5 = 25 Yellow Belts, of which each Yellow Belt supports at least 5x5x5 = 125 White Belts.
- At 5x-leverage, one Black Belt supports an organization of 200 people, of which 160 or 80% participate and attain Lean Six Sigma certification.
Support Structure
- The Skill Pyramid is a professional support structure that allows people to connect with each other, exchange experiences, develop new ways of working, and provide expert knowledge and coaching support.
- For example, a customer service agent who is working on a Yellow Belt project receives support from an accountant, who is a certified Green Belt and worked on a similar project before.
- Leanmap helps clients to design and implement such professional support structures to build and leverage expert-skills across functions, divisions, and sites.
- As Master Black Belt (MBB) or Project Management Officer (PMO) we ensure that the program delivers the desired change and impact.
White Belt
«Beginner»-
Purpose: build certified capability at the «Beginner» level; an introductory course for everyone, from janitor to executive.
-
Schedule: 2 days effort within a 1-month period to learn the theory, organize a workplace, solve a problem, and attain certification.
-
Exit competencies: organize workplace with 5S, identify and reduce the 8 deadly wastes to improve quality and efficiency, solve simple problems with PDCA.
-
Benefit: spot-improvement to create a visible or even measurable benefit, worth $1,000 (self-certified).
Yellow Belt
«Intermediate»-
Purpose: build certified capability at the «Intermediate» level for anyone working with a computer, machine, or process.
-
Schedule: 5 days effort within a 2-month period to learn the theory, implement a small improvement project, and attain certification.
-
Exit competencies: improve process quality and efficiency by reducing wastes, develop project charters, solve basic problems, train and certify White Belts.
-
Benefit: functional improvement to deliver at least 10% performance gain or $5,000 financial benefit.
Green Belt
«Advanced»-
Purpose: build certified capability at the «Advanced» level for managers and specialists, responsible for teams or assets.
-
Schedule: 10 days effort within a 3-month period to learn the theory, implement a cross-functional improvement, and attain certification.
-
Exit competencies: map value streams, implement flow and pull, apply statistical analysis and controls, solve advanced problems, train and certify White and Yellow Belts.
-
Benefit: cross-functional project to deliver at least 20% performance gain and $20,000 financial benefit.
Black Belt
«Expert»-
Purpose: build certified capability at the «Expert» level for program leaders and organizational change agents.
-
Schedule: 30 days effort within a 6-month period to learn the theory, implement a transformation project, and attain certification.
-
Exit competencies: lead cross-site transformation programs, apply statistical methods to analyze and solve complex problems, train and certify White, Yellow, Green Belts.
-
Benefit: transformation project to deliver at least 30% performance gain and $50,000 financial benefit.
Course Examples: 4000+ Graduates from 20+ Countries
Automotive Problem Solving Program: Training Trainers
Building problem-solving skills to systematically identify cause-effect relationships
Training Wrist’s Staff in Pursuit of Lean Ship Service
With focus on warehouse and back-office operations, 614
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification in Mexico
After a one-year project implementation phase champions from
Lean Leadership Training at Wrist: “We’re taking our own medicine”
Performance Improvement Program (PIP) was kicked-off by Wrist
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification in Brazil
Lean champions who attained Black Belt level are
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification Singapore
Trainees at all levels of the organization learned
PDCA Problem Solving Certification for Givaudan Singapore
Removing causes to prevent repeat problems is a
Executive Sponsor Training in Change Management
Executive Sponsor Training (EST) for senior managers to