Certified Lean Expert

With our comprehensive program, you'll gain hands-on experience applying an enhanced version of the A3 Problem Solving methodology. You will run a problem solving project, which will immediately benefit your organization. You will learn how to lead a project to find and eliminate the root cause of a problem and demonstrate how the principles of Lean can be applied anywhere. As you broaden your skill set and knowledge, you'll set yourself up for higher pay and exciting career opportunities.

Certified Lean Experts have the skills to address complex problems by articulating the situation, identifying the root cause, crafting countermeasures, and leading the implementation of improvements. Our Lean certification program ensures you're up to speed with international standards, keeping your organization ahead of the curve in the global market.

The Certified Lean Expert credential validates your expertise in Lean principles and methodologies, providing employers with a trusted assurance of your knowledge. We are members of the Credential Registry, an organization dedicated to providing up-to-date information about all credentials.

Through our Lean Expert certification, you gain valuable skills and become part of a thriving community of Lean professionals. As Thom Mandl emphasizes, engaging with this community offers invaluable networking opportunities and access to industry events, allowing you to stay current with best practices and emerging trends.

Self-improvement is essential for thriving in today's world. Investing in personal development not only enhances individual capabilities, but also contributes to organizational success. People who continuously seek opportunities for growth, bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to their teams. This fosters increased collaboration, successful problem solving, and overall team effectiveness.

Lean Apprentice is the introductory certification and is designed for everyone at an organization which is pursuing a Lean Transformation.

Lean Practitioner gives you hands-on experience leading a value stream mapping project.

Lean Expert, this certification, gives you hands-on experience leading a problem solving project.

Lean Master walks you through an assessment of your organization’s Lean Transformation program and helps you build an improvement roadmap.

You can learn more at Lean Education Standards.

Historically, belts have been used for Six Sigma certifications, a methodology focused on reducing variation. Some companies have applied the belts to Lean training. The black belt would be a close match to expert, but it can be confusing as an expert practices Lean problem solving and a black belt is focused on Six Sigma.

Collaborating with our customers and others, we have gone with Expert as it’s a clear connection to a role required at organizations pursuing a Lean Transformation.

You can learn more at Lean Education Standards.

For most people, your time investment will be about 4 to 6 hours per week for 14 weeks. Since the course is self-paced, you can go faster or slower.

The scope of your problem solving project will have the most influence on the time it takes you to complete the class.

The Problem Solving project, in this course, is an enhanced version of the technique known as “A3 Problem Solving”. You will address a complex problem by articulating the situation, identifying the root cause, crafting countermeasures, and leading the implementation of improvements.

You can learn more at Why A3 Problem Solving Efforts Fail

Previous students have completed projects from all types of functional areas. Common themes for projects include reducing cycle time, increasing flexibility, improving quality, or eliminating wasteful activities.

A sampling of projects includes project closure errors, raw material defects, construction project delays, failure to maintain workplace organization, poor training, customer feedback errors, and poor production capacity planning.

Your assigned coach, will be available based on your preferences. You can connect with your coach via email, telephone, Zoom meetings, or through the learning management system. This customized approach allows you to get the most out of the course.

We are passionate about developing Lean leaders through education, application, and coaching. You will not be alone on this journey of discovery.

Yes. It is very common for an organization to send waves of people through training. A Lean Transformation program is more energized and successful when everyone is on the same page.

One common approach is having 8 to 12 people take the class together and work on 4 to 6 projects. You can imagine the impact 4 to 6 projects can have on your organization!

Contact us to learn more.

Our Lean certifications need to be renewed every 5 years.

Our certification maintenance program is focused on keeping your skills refreshed through continuing education, improvement projects, and giving back.

Find more at Certification Maintenance.

Research into Lean Six Sigma reveals it is much more about Six Sigma and tends to have very little about the rich features of a Lean Transformation. Lean Six Sigma will often treat Lean as a collection of tools, you can sometime use when you work on a Six Sigma project.

Descriptions of Lean Six Sigma will often place a strong emphasis on using the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) methodology. This methodology is big for Six Sigma projects and not very common for Lean projects.

You can learn more at What is Lean Six Sigma?

Yes. Lean certifications can easily fit into other management systems.

Lean is more than a set of tools, it’s a mindset of empowerment and improvement. This transformational mindset can support many successful management systems.