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Lean & Lean Sigma Belt Certification

The Leading Edge Group’s globally recognized Lean certification programs can be found in healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, government institutions and financial services sectors worldwide.

Offering certifications at white, yellow, green and black belt levels, the Leading Edge Group’s programs are recognized by major academic institutions, professional institutes and supported by leading Lean experts.  These include the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business; Irish and American Institutes of Industrial Engineers; Canadian Professional Logistics Institute; The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA); National Institute of Transport and Logistics; Ontario Hospitals Association (OHA) and University College Cork.

The Leading Edge Group’s online and onsite programs have been used by some of the world’s best known companies and associations including PepsiCo; Stryker; Wyeth; NHS; Canadian Tire; Tim Horton’s; Dell; Wesco; Honeywell; Kraft; Johnson & Johnson; Bayer etc.  Our client organizations have benefited substantially from having their leaders, managers and front line employees enrolled in our programs.

An integral part of the Leading Edge Group Learn Model, the Lean certification programs provide an understanding of the theory tools, practices and concepts necessary to implement Lean effectively.

Lean was introduced by Toyota in the 1960s as a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste or non-value-add activities in an organization through continuous improvement with the goal of creating value. The essence of Lean Thinking is to eliminate waste through understanding the value to the customer, how to deliver that value, how to create an efficient, waste-free continuous flow built on a pull vs. batch and queue approach, and continual pursuit of a perfect system.

Lean Thinking has existed for over 40 years within major multinational operations worldwide. It started in the 1960s in Japan with the development of the Toyota Production System (TPS), and was quickly established as a method for highly effective production of automobiles and related engineered components. Lean has subsequently spread to pharmaceutical, aerospace, medical parts, electronics, and a host of related industries. It is now an established fundamental approach for world-class manufacture, distribution, and service sectors.

All types of organizations are discovering the advantages of educating their people on Lean and applying its principles within their own organization. Some of these organizations are trying to function effectively in the face of mounting challenges such as a high cost base relative to their competition; declining market share due to process or cost problems, and limited capacity. In all of these cases, Lean can have an immediate, positive impact on business.

Through the process of implementing Lean, the organization can find ways to achieve a number of goals such as:

  • More operational flexibility
  • Increased throughput
  • Consistent service delivery
  • Reduced lead times
  • Reduced space
  • Improvement in quality

The Leading Edge Group provide on-site Lean Sigma training at a Yellow and Green Belt level. Combining the analytical skills used in Six Sigma, particularly DMAIC and the user friendly visual skills of Lean, these programs offer participants wider knowledge of continuous improvement and its implementation.

Lean Six Sigma certification demonstrates an individual's knowledge, skills and dedication to achieving a high level of competency in Lean Six Sigma process. The Lean Six Sigma certification standards require an individual to pass rigorous training and testing hurdles to gain a six-sigma certification.

Six Sigma is a continuous improvement methodology developed by Motorola in the early and mid-1980s. With Chairman Bob Galvin at the helm, Motorola engineers decided that the traditional quality levels, measuring defects in thousands of opportunities, didn't provide enough granularity. Instead, they wanted to measure the defects per million opportunities. Motorola developed this new standard and created the methodology and needed cultural change associated with it. Six Sigma helped Motorola realize powerful bottom-line results in their organization - in fact, they documented more than $16 Billion in savings as a result of their Six Sigma efforts. Since then, hundreds of thousands of companies around the world have adopted Six Sigma as a way of doing business.

The Leading Edge Group, in conjunction with academic institutions, is currently offering these programs at a reduced rate for organizations operating in the Life Science, Medical Device, Pharmaceutical or Food Industry.  Funding is available on all Lean Sigma Courses booked in Q4 2010.

The Leading Edge Group provides accredited Lean and Lean Sigma online and classroom-based education programs at White, Yellow, Green, and Black Belt levels. The programs are certified by the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Canadian Professional Logistics Institute, and University College Cork, Ireland.

Industry specific courses are currently available in the following areas:

For information on these or general Lean and Lean Sigma courses please contact us.