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Self-study hub organized by belt level — Lean Manufacturing + Six Sigma / DMAIC for the shop floor and project work.
Lean reduces waste and improves flow. Six Sigma reduces variation and defects. Together they give a shared language for Toyota-style continuous improvement and data-driven problem solving on an Austin factory floor.
Belts are roles and depth, not status badges. Start where your work needs you — awareness (White), team contribution (Yellow), project leadership (Green), or coaching / advanced stats (Black).
Value, flow, pull, perfection. Tools: 5S, VSM, kanban, standard work, SMED, TPM, jidoka, andon, heijunka, poka-yoke, JIT — introduced progressively by belt.
Define → Measure → Analyze → Improve → Control. From vocabulary (White) through team tools (Yellow), full project ownership (Green), to advanced DOE / coaching (Black).
Motorola (Bill Smith), belt system, GE/Welch scale-up, Lean Six Sigma merge, ASQ BoK ladder — training lineage.
WWII Training Within Industry; JI four steps; Toyota/TTT DNA; Control-phase handoff for belt projects.
What Toyota learned: postwar GHQ TWI introduction; JI / JM / JR → standardized work, kaizen, respect; TPS & train-the-trainer culture.
What Lean and Six Sigma are, the 8 wastes, customer value, basic PDCA/DMAIC, and 5S — no project ownership yet.
Support projects with VOC, SIPOC, process maps, fishbone, 5 Whys, basic stats awareness, and waste walks.
Lead DMAIC with tollgates: MSA, capability, hypothesis/regression orientation, FMEA, VSM, Control + JI handoff.
DOE, regression, advanced MSA, Hoshin/portfolio, Lean system design, coaching Greens, DFSS awareness.