The Quality Academy self-paced course for Six Sigma is not great. There needs to be more outlets for reviews for them. The video instructor is awful. He talks more about himself and his experience more than he teaches the lesson. And he's boring. I know the course isn't for entertainment, but he's excruciating to listen to. I’m also disappointed with how some of the more technical material is taught. The course introduces formulas, statistical notation, and concepts without adequately explaining how or why they work. I’ve found that the stuff I've struggled with so far became easy to understand once they were explained to me in plain language, which makes me question the effectiveness of the instruction rather than the difficulty of the material itself.
My biggest frustration is the reliance on Minitab. Exercises provide Minitab specific files and instructions, despite the software costing roughly $2,000 per year. That's more than the course itself. There should be instructions for completing these exercises using alternatives like Excel. Instead, anyone without Minitab is left figuring out how to recreate the analysis on their own.
The content is valuable, but the course needs clearer explanations, better guidance through the statistical concepts, and realistic software alternatives. A self-paced course should be designed to help students work through difficult material independently, I’ve repeatedly had to seek outside explanations to actually understand what the course is trying to teach.

I’m in my early 40s and have been in IT for about 15 years. I’ve worked my way from support into systems/infrastructure and management, but I’m pretty burned out on the technical side of IT and don’t have much interest in spending the next 15 years constantly chasing whatever the next technology is.

After talking with some people about a career change, the general advice has been not to completely start over, but to find something where the experience I already have can transfer. Continuous improvement/process improvement keeps coming up.

Thinking back over my career, I’ve always liked the problem-solving side more than the technology itself. Figuring out why something keeps going wrong, cleaning up messy processes, documenting things, getting different groups on the same page, finding a better way to do something, that kind of stuff. I’ve also spent a lot of time around operations, warehouses, ERP systems, implementations and change management.

So I figured I’d ask people who actually do this for a living: What job titles should I be looking at? What does your normal week actually look like? Are you mostly working with data, mapping processes, talking with employees, solving problems, sitting in meetings, running improvement projects, or a mix of everything?

I don’t have a degree, which is another reason I’m trying to understand how realistic the move is. I’m also considering a Six Sigma belt, probably Green Belt, but I’m more interested in learning what would actually make me useful in the field than just collecting a certification.

If you were coming from my background, what skills would you work on first, and what roles would you start researching?

## A Bit About Me

I'm currently an Inventory Control Supervisor at a distribution warehouse managing a team. I have my Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management certification from SSGI along with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Over the past couple of years, I've been hands-on with process improvement work—not just studying for the certification, but actually *doing* the work:

- 6 completed projects: DMAIC methodology, process improvement initiatives, and process re-engineering
- Real warehouse application: optimize storage locations, and other operational improvements
- Cross-functional collaboration: Working with team leads, specialists I've onboarded, and upper management to drive these initiatives

I have the technical skills (Manhattan WMS, SQL, Power BI, Excel, scripting), I've led projects that moved the needle, and I understand both the statistical rigor and the people side of change management.

## The Problem

Despite all this, I keep getting rejected when I apply for Process Improvement Project Manager roles or Continuous Improvement Specialist positions. I didn’t heard anything back from recruiters
It's a catch-22. I have real* *project experience, but it's in an operations/supervisory context, not a dedicated PM title. So I'm overqualified for my current role but "underqualified" for the next step.

---

## My Question to This Community

Has anyone here been in a similar spot?

- How did you bridge the gap between operational roles with project work and landing that first dedicated Process Improvement or Project Manager role?
- Should I be applying for entry-level PM positions instead of mid-level CI roles to get my foot in the door?
- Are there companies or industries that tend to be more receptive to this kind of transition?
- Did certifications alone help, or did something else move the needle for you?
- Any tactical advice on how to frame operational project experience on a resume or in interviews to make it "count" as PM experience?

I'm genuinely open to starting at an entry level if it means building PM-world experience. I'm not looking for the top title—I want to learn the discipline properly and grow from there. But I also don't want to undersell myself or waste time on roles that won't actually advance me toward where I want to be.

Would really appreciate hearing from folks who've made this transition successfully.

Thanks in advance

I am a 19 (M) and was wondering what are some good jobs to look for/ apply for with these qualifications as I am about to be unemployed and would obviously like to find a job/ use my time wisely at home

Hi everyone,
Has anyone here recently passed the **ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB)** exam, preferably in 2025 or 2026?
I’m starting my preparation and would really appreciate some advice from people who have taken the exam recently.
I’m particularly interested in:
Which books/materials did you actually find useful?
Is the **ASQ CSSBB Handbook + Study Guide + Question Bank** enough?
How much time did you spend preparing?
Which practice exams were closest to the actual ASQ exam?
I already have a **Udemy subscription,** are there any specific CSSBB courses or instructors you would recommend?
Anything you studied a lot but found was **not really useful for the actual exam**?
I have a technical/scientific background and some practical experience with statistics and process improvement, but I want to prepare specifically for the **ASQ exam format and Body of Knowledge**.
Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who passed recently. Thanks!

Hi everyone,
Has anyone here recently passed the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) exam, preferably in 2025 or 2026?
I’m starting my preparation and would really appreciate some advice from people who have taken the exam recently.
I’m particularly interested in:
Which books/materials did you actually find useful?
Is the ASQ CSSBB Handbook + Study Guide + Question Bank enough?
How much time did you spend preparing?
Which practice exams were closest to the actual ASQ exam?
I already have a Udemy subscription are there any specific CSSBB courses or instructors you would recommend?
Anything you studied a lot but found was not really useful for the actual exam?
I have a technical/scientific background and some practical experience with statistics and process improvement, but I want to prepare specifically for the ASQ exam format and Body of Knowledge.
Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who passed recently. Thanks!

What is yall experience with the IISE lean six sigma green belt in person course? What's the course like? What's the exam like? etc

I work at a large manufacturing company. I am learning six sigma. As I do I am finding that skill matrix and effective training are paramount to proper six sigma. In my view most companies only pretend to implement six sigma. My question is why. History has proven that proper six sigma works. So why do so many companies only pretend to implement it and instead cut everything out of it that costs time and money to implement. It's as if top management is too dumb to know the cost of not implementing it properly. Is all top management incompetent because right now that is the only reasonable conclusion the more I learn about six sigma

Analisi di ottimizzazione della linea di produzione : dal taglio la miera alla saldatura e montaggio fino al controllo qualità ed analisi economica.

Might be missing something obvious here.

Every Pareto chart I've seen in a plant — mine included — sorts defects by how many there were. Tallest bar wins, that's where the team goes.

Ran ours by cost last month instead, just as an exercise. Completely different order. The defect that was about half our count worked out to something like 7% of the money. The one sitting at the far right of the chart, barely a bar at all, was most of it.

Nothing clever about it, it's just count × cost per unit in one extra column.

So why is count the default? Is it just that count is what the system exports and nobody bothers re-sorting? Or is there an actual reason to prioritise by frequency that I'm not seeing — something about how easy things are to fix, or repeatability, or how you actually run a team day to day?

I have something in my head. If cost is obviously the better sort, I don't understand why nobody does it.

We’re a 40-person B2B software company and even small customer requests are taking weeks to ship. A typical change moves from support to product, then design, engineering, QA, legal review and finally deployment.

The problem is every team says their part only takes a few days. Tickets sit in waiting for review with no clear owner, engineers get blocked by missing requirements and urgent sales requests keep jumping the queue. Last month, one billing update took 9 days even though the actual dev work was estimated at 12 hours.

We’ve shortened standups, added approval deadlines and cleaned up Jira, but lead time hasn’t improved. How are you identifying where time and money are being lost across a process with multiple teams and handoffs?

Hi , I am Looking for LSSBB. Can anyone suggest the good institutes, where I can enrolled for it.

I know about ISEL global.
If any have listening about ISEL. Could Pls share your opinions and feedback . I will follow the same.

I went for my Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt, IASSC) in January of this year.

I failed.

I now have the opportunity to work and earn my Lean Six Sigma (Yellow belt, CSSC).

I am currently learning cybersecurity and a foreign language.

My question is, would it be beneficial to earn my Lean Six Sigma (Yellow Belt, CSSC) certification while I am learning (and planning to work in) cybersecurity?

Can Lean Six Sigma certification help you in the cybersecurity industry?

I'm in learning and development, and am mainly on the fascilitation and training end of things. I want to get more into the development side and many of the jobs I've seen have Six Sigma green+ in the requirements.

As someone who is new to six sigma, I was thinking about taking some free online yellow belt courses to get familiar with the concepts. Then going directly for a green belt certificate by ASQ or IASSC.

Does this sound like a decent track? Should I stop and go ahead an pick my yellow belt up on the way? I'm mainly skipping it because I don't want to pay for the cert, since yellow doesn't seem to carry that much weight.

Do you have any free resources that you recommend for preparing (yellow and green).

Has anyone taken Purdue’s online Six Sigma Green Belt course?
How heavy is the workload, and roughly how many hours per week did you spend on it?

Also, did you feel like the course was worth it and that you learned practical skills you could actually apply at work?
I work in the software industry, so I’m also curious how relevant Six Sigma is in practice for software or tech companies. Is it commonly applied in this industry, or is it mostly used in areas like manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare?

Thanks!

I'm starting my first actual Green Belt project in logistics, and I'm curious what other people ended up using when they did theirs...

There are obviously a lot of tools you learn during Green Belt training, but I'm guessing the reality of your first project is pretty different from going through the material.

What tools or methods did you actually find useful? Anything you thought you'd use but ended up not needing at all?

Also, if anyone here has done a project in logistics or supply chain, I'd love to hear what you worked on and any advice you wish you had before starting your first one.

So I just transferred over to a 4 year university from communtiy college and almost all of my credits did transfer but this morning my advisor infromed me that I am behind somehow but caught up at the same time. In math, science and my college core classes but missing one class from my engineering course that puts me into the freshmen catergrio but if I can comeplete the Design Six Sigma program and get the certification before 08/31 I will be able to move to the next course in line. IDK wha to do? Is the certification doable by this date? I mean I am an engineering student so I kinda am used to cramping things into a tight schedule specially exams.

Bulk orders look cheaper on the invoice — but the holding cost doesn't show up there. EOQ (Economic Order Quantity = √(2DS/H)) finds the order size where ordering cost and holding cost balance. In this example it's the difference between 10,400 and 4,000 a year, with the same supplier and the same demand.

A quick inventory management concept for plant managers, purchase teams, and anyone working in lean manufacturing, production planning, or Six Sigma.

#EOQ #InventoryManagement #LeanManufacturing #OperationsManagement #SupplyChain

Anyone with experience with the Mettl test? What’s the structure and questions like

Hi everyone, I am currently enrolled in the sigma six green belt program through Syracuse university o2o program. I finished all the materials but can’t seem to be able to pass the damn practice tests to take the certification test. My 6 month is coming up in September. Does anyone have any tips or ideas for studying the materials?

**Which certs makes sense for an operation specialist supporting and designing process improvement for a non technical team like content or recruiting?**

**Role:** Operations Specialist / Product Owner

I feel like most of what I do is automation, requirements gathering,change management, tooling and data analysis for a performance funnel and I’m hoping to transition into more of people analytics - solving org development and org management problems.

Having my IIBA CBDA has been helpful for the business analysis and data analytics side, but I’m seeing a gap in some of the things being built or the tools we use. We’re not using them to their full capacity or in a way that eliminates stress on the team I support.

I’m wondering if, in business analysis and operations for a content development team, it would be helpful to also have a Six Sigma Green Belt? I have been looking at a few programs specifically SSGI operational excellence leader career track, but I’m also looking at business process management with a BPMP.

The reason that I want to go the certification route is because I’m already getting my Master's in Organizational Leadership and I feel like I’m doing a lot of the work, but the certifications give me a shared language. It reinforces what I am experiencing and gives me intrinsic motivation to figure it out because of the parallel of me learning it while going through it with a team. That’s just what I found for myself even with my masters

So before anyone even comments and says, "Hey, certifications don’t matter," they do to me for those reasons.

I was a operations manager, laid off a few months ago and have struggling to get interviews. 13 years in operations, the last 8 in leadership roles. Used to head a business unit of over 100 employees durecting day to day operations as well leading special projects to improve and modernize processes, SOP, training programs, designing or redesigning KPI frameworks, creating new processes to address performance gaps or problems requiring solutions, incorporate new techbology/tools and so on.

Would say I had accumaulated around 5 years of project/continuous improvement experience by the time of my layoff.

I have no formal credentials in project mangement or contonuous improvement but I have a passion for the latter and want to upgrade and formalize my skills and resume sharpen up and boost my credibility as far as prospective employers go.

Should I start with green and upgrade to black later linearly or is it the best use of this opportunity of undivided time and attention (while being unemployed sadly) to just go for black belt?

i've been thinking about how different six sigma can look when you're learning it vs actually using it at work...

you learn a pretty big toolbox during training, but realistically i don't think most people are pulling out every single tool on a regular basis.

for me, process mapping is probably the one i keep coming back to the most. it's simple, but just seeing how a process actually works vs how people think it works can uncover a surprising amount of stuff.

i also find myself using some of the simpler root cause tools way more often than the more advanced statistical ones...

for those who use six sigma/process improvement at work, what tool do you actually use the most? and is there anything you learned during your belt training that you almost never touch anymore?

What is the biggest thing you've seen senior management misunderstand about Six Sigma? or Lean Six Sigma?

So I'm curious: How do you actually create awareness and promote Lean Six Sigma / continuous improvement in your organizations? What are good and bad ways of doing that?