IISE, UL team up for innovative online training

26 Aug 2019

ISE Magazine August 2019 Volume: 51 Number: 8

By Keith Albertson

https://www.iise.org/iemagazine/2019-08/html/albertson/albertson.html

Lean Six Sigma training became a little more convenient and comprehensive this summer thanks to a new collaboration between IISE and UL that offers quality, flexibility and a return on investment to participants.

The launch of “IISE-UL: The New Generation of Lean Six Sigma 4.0” offers web-based, customizable courses in 22 modules designed to allow professionals seeking to learn better processes and quality to earn six lean and Six Sigma belts and five certificates in the privacy of their home or office.

A preview of the courses was introduced at the IISE membership booth during the Annual Conference & Expo 2019 in Orlando, Florida.

“This partnership will enable IISE to deliver the next generation of online training,” said IISE CEO Don Greene. “It will be completely modular and customizable. Six belts and five certificates will allow you to align training with your workforce needs.

”The collaboration brought IISE Director of Continuing Education Larry Aft and UL designers together to create the modules, which offer interactive visual displays of the same lean and Six Sigma certification instruction provided by IISE. It is open to members and nonmembers, with prices starting below $1,000 and discounts for IISE members and for corporate partners whose employees sign up for the courses.

The training offers companies a handy training tool for their employees and give professionals a convenient and affordable way to improve their skills and knowledge and enhance their careers.

“It’s professionally done, high-quality programs online that could free up companies from having to pay in-house instructors or outside consultants,” Aft said.

The courses offer a total of six certifications that include separate modules each in the following disciplines and number recommended for each

  • Lean Yellow Belt in five modules
  • Six Sigma Yellow Belt in six modules
  • Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt in seven modules
  • Lean Green Belt in 15 modules
  • Six Sigma Green Belt in 13 modules
  • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt in all 22 modules

Also offered are five certificate courses, each valid for three years, including:

  • Control Charts and Capability Certificate in six modules
  • Value Stream Mapping in four modules
  • Waste in four modules
  • Lean Tools for Standard Workplace in five modules
  • Root Cause Analysis Certificate in three modules

The modular design allows trained employees to grow as their careers do. For example, line workers could start with a Waste Certificate, adding more certificates as they earn promotions on their way to earning yellow or green belts.

“We are excited to partner with IISE to offer this suite of first-class lean and Six Sigma training courses,” said Scott Barnard, managing director of UL PURE Learning. “These suites offer organizations continuing improvement programs that can energize employees and transform organizations from the bottom up.

”The courses offer the benefits of both convenience and top-quality content. The convenience comes in the ease and portability of online courses that attendees can take anywhere, at work or at home, even on a lunch break.

“By breaking it up into modules, you offer it to those who can’t sit through a three-day course,” Greene said in introducing the project during the State of the Institute session at the Annual Conference. “They may only need training in a few areas and they can get precisely what they need through a microburst of training.

”In addition to the convenience of web-based training, IISE and UL worked extensively to ensure that the quality of the modules was the same as instruction offered in other IISE courses.

“It has to come up to our standards,” Aft said. “Anything that goes out of here with our name has to meet our standards. The technology is a step up, and we were interested that the quality be there as well.

”The training can help ISEs in manufacturing, aero-space, healthcare, financial, supply chain/logistics/transportation, web development, semiconductor, IT, facility planning, warehouse management and other enterprises improve processes and boost quality.

Those who already have earned their lean and Six Sig-ma belts can pick and choose individual areas on which to brush up and refresh their knowledge.

“We tried to decide what specific skills could stand alone, such as an organization just wants to look at 5S or VSM (value stream mapping), to have modules that would tell them what’s involved,” Aft said. “We created several modules for expertise on all the green tools without having to sit for a green belt certificate exam.”

Here is how registration works:

  1. Visit iise.org/UL for more information on the courses offered, pricing and a link to the registration page.
  2. Once on the UL-IISE landing page, click on the registration button, pick your course and provide the necessary information.
  3. Attendees can log on to the module and take the course on their schedule at their convenience.
  4. Once they complete a course, students seeking green or yellow belts will receive an email link to take an online exam. Once they have taken and passed the exam, they will receive a digital badge by email acknowledging the course completion.
  5. Those completing a certificate course will receive a digital certificate once their status has been verified.

Each session is conducted in a user-friendly style with colorful graphics and images and straightforward instructive narration to walk attendees through each section. The modules are easy to follow and include numerous examples and instruction by virtual instructors who walk you through each lesson.

Attendees can listen to the narration or click on a link to read the full transcript. They can be paused and resumed as desired and finished later on their schedule. Included are short quizzes along the way to test your knowledge.

“It’s a more modernized presentation that appeals to a younger generation,” Aft said. “They have less time avail-able in big blocks and are looking for smaller chunks instead of spending five days at a class listening to all the presentations, which can add up to some 20 odd hours. That’s a lot of time to dedicate. We thought it would be good to create smaller modules what would be logical divisions of the five-day class.”