Polycon now offers Lean Six Sigma Yellow, Green and Black Belt training built around live projects. Why project-based learning works better than classroom theory, and how each level fits into an improvement program.
A manufacturer once sent eight engineers to a well-known Green Belt course. They came back with binders full of statistics and enthusiasm that lasted about a month. A year later, not one of them had completed a project. The training had been good. The problem was that it was disconnected from the work: no live project, no coaching and no expectation from management that anything would change.
That experience shaped how we designed our Lean Six Sigma training, now available at Yellow, Green and Black Belt level.
Learning on a live project
Every Green and Black Belt participant works on a real improvement project from their own operation while they learn. Each training block is followed by time to apply the tools on that project, with coaching from experienced practitioners. By the end of the program, participants have learned the method and delivered results, usually more than enough to pay for the training.
The three levels
- Yellow Belt: a short introduction for team members and supervisors. Covers the basics of Lean thinking, the eight wastes, DMAIC and simple problem-solving tools. Yellow Belts support projects and solve smaller problems in their own areas.
- Green Belt: for engineers, team leaders and managers who will lead improvement projects part-time. Covers the full DMAIC method in depth, including measurement system analysis, process capability, root cause analysis, hypothesis testing, basic designed experiments and control plans, plus core Lean tools such as value stream mapping, standard work and SMED.
- Black Belt: for people who will lead complex, cross-functional projects and coach Green Belts. Covers advanced statistics, designed experiments, regression, change leadership and project portfolio management.
Tailored to your operation
Programs can run on-site, so examples and exercises use your own products and processes, or as open courses. We tailor content to the industry, whether moulding, assembly, processing or engineering services, so participants see the tools applied to problems they recognise.
How training fits into a program
Training on its own rarely changes an organisation. The most successful programs combine it with:
- Leadership alignment on goals and the projects that matter.
- A pipeline of well-chosen projects linked to business priorities.
- Regular project reviews with sponsors.
- Validation of results, ideally signed off by finance.
- Recognition for people who deliver.
We help design that structure as well as delivering the training.
Choosing the right people
The best candidates are respected in their teams, curious about why things go wrong, comfortable with data and given real time to work on their projects. Sending people because they "need development" without project time or support is the most common reason belt programs disappoint.
A note on what training should deliver
The measure of a good belt program is not the number of people trained. It is the number of problems solved, the savings validated and the capability that stays in the business. If you are planning a program, start with the problems you want to solve and work back to the training needed, using the same logic as DMAIC itself.
