Which Lean Six Sigma Certification is Best for Me and My Team?

Obtaining a Lean Six Sigma Certification is one of the most valuable things you can do for yourself or your team. First, the principles and tools you learn will help you approach problems using the scientific method and work better as a team. And second, Lean Six Sigma certification stays with you throughout your career no matter where you go or what position you take.

But which certification is right for you and how do you get certified? This article will discuss the different types of Lean Six Sigma certification and how to get certified.

There are several widely accepted types of Lean Six Sigma certifications:

While Green Belt is the best option for most teams, covering 90% of the tools used on a daily basis, there are benefits to each type of Lean Six Sigma certification.

hospital team with lean six sigma certification
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification from Lean Six Sigma Toolbox

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt

Yellow Belt provides students with a solid understanding of the Lean Six Sigma principles and the tools required to participate in process improvement projects. This is your best option for large teams.

What is it? Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt is an introductory Lean Six Sigma course where students learn to identify and eliminate waste and variation to improve throughput, quality, and customer satisfaction. In the Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt class, students learn to solve problems as a team using a structured approach like DMAIC or PDCA. This class is identical to our in-person Introduction to Lean course.

Yellow Belt Certification covers:

  • Introduction to Lean
  • The 8 Wastes
  • 5S – Workplace Organization
  • Kaizen – Continuous Improvement
  • Introduction to Six Sigma
  • DMAIC and PDCA Structured Problem Solving Methods

What others are saying.
Yellow Belt was such a good class we’re going to train our entire organization.” – Ben Gunn, SSR Mining

What does it cost? $299
Companies with 3 or more attendees are eligible for a discount. Just ask! Live in-person Yellow Belt training is also available as a 1 or 2 day class. Contact us for details.

Who should attend? Yellow Belt is designed as an introductory course suitable for all team members and leaders. We recommend sending everyone in your organization to the class, particularly leadership unless they are taking one of our Lean Leadership courses or going for their Green Belt certification.

Do students get a certificate?
Yes! Students will receive a globally recognized Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certificate at the end of the course.

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certificate

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification from Lean Six Sigma Toolbox

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

This is the most popular and effective Lean Six Sigma certification. Green Belt certification covers 100% of what leaders need to create a culture of Continuous Improvement.

What is it? Green Belt is a globally recognized certification used in manufacturing, healthcare, and other industries. Green Belts are project leaders who drive continuous improvement projects or Kaizen within an organization. Green Belt is perfect for anyone looking for a robust and powerful toolset for solving problems and improving their business processes. Lean Six Sigma Green Belt includes Yellow Belt courses.

What others are saying.

“Our team achieved over $1 million in savings during our first wave of Lean Six Sigma training, more than any other site in previous years.”

Frank I. – Nitto

Green Belt Certification covers:

  • Lean Operations
  • The 8 Wastes, Variation, and Overburdening
  • OEE – Optimizing for Overall Effectiveness
  • The Kaizen System
  • Value Stream Mapping
  • Ishikawa and 6Ms Root Causes Analysis Methods
  • Kanban and Line Balancing
  • DMAIC Problem Solving
  • 5 Whys
  • 5S – Workplace Organization
  • SMED – Quick Changeover
  • Statistical Process Control, Correlation, Linear Regression
  • … and much, much more. 

Who should attend? Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification is designed for supervisors, managers, engineers, and leaders responsible for solving problems and improving KPIs like On-Time Delivery, Production Costs, and Quality. Green Belt is the best certification level for most people.  
What does it cost? $1999
Qualifying companies may be eligible for up to 40% of Custom Fit funding.
What is the ROI? Green Belts average over $20,000 in savings for their companies by completing their required Lean Six Sigma project. Many students complete projects that save $100,000 or more!

What is included in Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification?

green belt certificate female student lean six sigma toolbox
  • 46 Self-Paced Modules
  • DMAIC Workbook with 30+ Lean Six Sigma Tools
  • SigmaXL Statistical Analysis Software ($299 Value)
  • 4 – 1 on 1 Coaching Sessions with a Master Black Belt
  • DMAIC Project Report Out Template
  • Green Belt Exam
  • Green Belt Project Review
  • Framed Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Black Belt is a deep dive into statistical process improvement and control. This is the best choice for engineers, quality teams, and full-time Lean Six Sigma leaders.

What is it? Lean Six Sigma Black Belt is a globally recognized certification specifically for individuals whose full-time job is to solve problems and improve processes. In addition to the tools learned in Green Belt training, Black Belts learn advanced statistical tools as well as techniques to manage Lean Six Sigma programs in an organization. If you are a quality, manufacturing, or industrial engineer or if you want to make a career out of leading process improvement efforts in an organization, Black Belt Certification is the right choice. Lean Six Sigma Black Belt includes the Green Belt and Yellow Belt courses.

Black Belt training enabled me to fix some quality problems we’d been having in our process. The course was definitely worth it.

Shane S. – 3Form

Black Belt Certification covers:

  • Design of Experiments
  • Multi-Variate Regression
  • Strategy Deployment – Hoshin Kanri
  • Managing the Kaizen System in an Organization
  • Total Productive Maintenance
  • Developing Process Improvement Teams
  • Statistical Tools for Eliminating Sources of Variation, and Overburdening
  • Change Management
  • Lean Leadership

Who should attend? Lean Six Sigma Black Belt is designed for engineers, and leaders responsible for leading complex projects and managing Continuous Improvement activities in an organization.

What does it cost? $4999

What is the ROI? Black Belt students average over $50,000 in savings for their companies through projects completed during certification.

What is included in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification?

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate from Lean Six Sigma Toolbox
  • Over 60 Self-Paced Modules
  • DMAIC Workbook with 30+ Lean Six Sigma Tools
  • SigmaXL Statistical Analysis Software ($299 Value)
  • 8 – 1 on 1 Coaching Sessions with a Master Black Belt
  • DMAIC Project Report Out Template
  • Black Belt Exam
  • Black Belt Project Review
  • Framed Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate

Lean Six Sigma Toolbox Master Black Belt Certification

Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt

A Master Black Belt is an executive-level leader responsible for all aspects of developing a culture of Continuous Improvement in an organization. Our Master Black Belt course is a year long mentorship program where we coach you through multiple projects and implementation of Lean Six Sigma systems.

What is it? Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt is a globally recognized certification for individuals who train other Lean Six Sigma Belts and lead Lean Six Sigma organizations. Certification requires prior certification as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt plus what is essentially a mini MBA, Masters in Business. Master Black Belts are senior-level leaders who drive strategic planning sessions and policy deployment in an organization. They develop teams of Continuous Improvement leaders who regularly identify and execute process improvement projects that are aligned with strategic objectives. Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification includes Black Belt, Green Belt, and Yellow Belt courses.

Master Black Belt Certification covers:

  • Strategy Deployment – Hoshin Kanri
  • Lean Leadership
  • Developing Teams
  • Leading a Lean Organization
  • Toyota Kata
  • GEAR Model Implementation
  • Train the Trainers
  • Influencing Executives

Who should attend? Master Black Belt is designed for executive-level individuals tasked with creating a culture of Continuous Improvement in an organization.

What does it cost? $12,000

Becoming a Master Black Belt requires multiple years of experience and evidence of success in leading continuous improvement projects in addition to the course work. We certify Master Black Belts through a year-long mentorship program. Contact us to learn more about our Master Black Belt certification program.


For questions about how to train your team in Lean Six Sigma or build a Lean Six Sigma program, just drop us a note. We’ve been helping companies like yours for over 20 years and we’re excited to work with you.

Cedro Toro

Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
President Lean Six Sigma Toolbox


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