{
  "meta": {
    "title": "Lean Six Sigma Library",
    "owner": "Les Breeding",
    "context": "Austin factory / Toyota training",
    "updated": "2026-10-04",
    "note": "Green/Black study-ready. History + TWI/JI + Toyota&TWI foundations. Factory Training Bot will keep growing this library."
  },
  "foundations": [
    {
      "id": "history",
      "name": "History of Six Sigma",
      "file": "history.html",
      "depth": "study-ready",
      "topics": [
        "Motorola origin (Bill Smith) and Six Sigma quality goal",
        "Belt system origin and purpose",
        "GE / Welch enterprise scaling",
        "Lean Six Sigma convergence",
        "ASQ BoK evolution",
        "DMAIC vs DFSS/DMADV",
        "Toyota/TWI training lineage before belts"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "twi",
      "name": "TWI & Job Instruction",
      "file": "twi-ji.html",
      "depth": "study-ready",
      "topics": [
        "TWI origin (1940 War Manpower Commission)",
        "JI / JR / JM",
        "JI four steps",
        "Job Breakdown Sheet",
        "Toyota / TTT connection",
        "Belt Control handoff",
        "Pointer to Toyota & TWI deep page",
        "Origin: Charles R. Allen 1919 four-step method"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "twi-toyota",
      "name": "Toyota & TWI \u2014 What Toyota Learned",
      "file": "twi-toyota.html",
      "depth": "study-ready",
      "topics": [
        "Postwar Japan / GHQ TWI introduction (ESS, Lowell Mellen ~1949\u201351)",
        "JI \u2192 standardized work / operator training (TJI)",
        "JM \u2192 kaizen / process improvement (and P-Course successor)",
        "JR \u2192 respect / leadership people-problem pattern",
        "TWI vs full TPS (Kato nuance)",
        "Train-the-Trainer multiplier culture",
        "Toyota rollout dates (Kato): JI Dec 1951 \u00b7 JM Jun 1952 \u00b7 JR Mar 1953",
        "Standardized work chart vs Job Instruction (document \u2260 teaching)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "belts": [
    {
      "id": "white",
      "name": "White Belt",
      "file": "white-belt.html",
      "role": "Awareness \u2014 understand Lean and Six Sigma language; no project ownership",
      "depth": "study-ready",
      "lean": [
        "Customer value vs. waste",
        "8 wastes (Muda)",
        "5S intro",
        "PDCA awareness",
        "Visual management basics",
        "Andon awareness"
      ],
      "sixSigma": [
        "What Six Sigma is (variation & defects)",
        "DMAIC awareness (phases named)",
        "Y = f(X) idea",
        "Voice of the customer intro"
      ],
      "tools": [
        "8 wastes",
        "5S",
        "PDCA",
        "DMAIC overview",
        "Andon",
        "Standard work awareness"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "yellow",
      "name": "Yellow Belt",
      "file": "yellow-belt.html",
      "role": "Team member \u2014 support Green Belt projects; contribute data and ideas",
      "depth": "study-ready",
      "lean": [
        "Waste walks",
        "Process observation",
        "Basic standard work",
        "Poka-yoke awareness",
        "Pull / kanban awareness",
        "Gemba"
      ],
      "sixSigma": [
        "VOC basics",
        "SIPOC",
        "Process maps intro",
        "Fishbone (Ishikawa)",
        "5 Whys",
        "Basic stats awareness",
        "Data collection sheets"
      ],
      "tools": [
        "SIPOC",
        "Process map",
        "Fishbone",
        "5 Whys",
        "Check sheets",
        "Pareto awareness"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "green",
      "name": "Green Belt",
      "file": "green-belt.html",
      "role": "Project lead \u2014 own a DMAIC project end-to-end with coaching",
      "depth": "study-ready",
      "lean": [
        "Value stream mapping",
        "Kanban / pull",
        "Standard work + JI handoff",
        "A3 problem solving",
        "SMED",
        "JIT basics",
        "Jidoka / andon in practice",
        "Heijunka awareness",
        "TPM awareness"
      ],
      "sixSigma": [
        "Full DMAIC + tollgates",
        "CTQ / operational definitions",
        "MSA / Gage R&R intro",
        "Control charts",
        "Hypothesis tests intro",
        "Regression orientation",
        "FMEA",
        "DOE awareness",
        "Process capability (Cp/Cpk)"
      ],
      "tools": [
        "VSM",
        "A3",
        "FMEA",
        "Control charts",
        "MSA",
        "Capability",
        "Kanban",
        "Standard work",
        "Hypothesis tests",
        "Job Breakdown / JI"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "black",
      "name": "Black Belt",
      "file": "black-belt.html",
      "role": "Advanced coach \u2014 lead complex projects, coach Green Belts, link to strategy",
      "depth": "study-ready",
      "lean": [
        "Complex / extended VSM",
        "Heijunka design",
        "SMED leadership",
        "TPM systems",
        "Jidoka system design",
        "Hoshin / strategy link",
        "Lean leadership",
        "JI cascade / TTT"
      ],
      "sixSigma": [
        "Advanced DOE",
        "Regression / multivariate",
        "Advanced MSA",
        "Design for Six Sigma awareness",
        "Multi-project portfolio",
        "Coaching Green Belts",
        "Change management",
        "Statistical leadership"
      ],
      "tools": [
        "DOE",
        "Regression",
        "MSA advanced",
        "Hoshin Kanri",
        "DFSS awareness",
        "Portfolio mgmt",
        "Coaching frameworks",
        "Tollgate reviews"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "externalResources": {
    "shared": [
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 What is Six Sigma?",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/six-sigma",
        "why": "Authoritative overview of Six Sigma from the American Society for Quality.",
        "belts": [
          "white",
          "yellow",
          "green",
          "black",
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 History of Quality",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/history-of-quality",
        "why": "Places Six Sigma in the longer quality timeline.",
        "belts": [
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 Six Sigma certification catalog",
        "url": "https://www.asq.org/cert/catalog/six-sigma",
        "why": "Professional belt ladder and BoK orientation.",
        "belts": [
          "history",
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 What is Lean?",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/lean",
        "why": "Clear Lean Manufacturing primer aligned with quality professional standards.",
        "belts": [
          "white",
          "yellow",
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 DMAIC Tools",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/dmaic",
        "why": "Tool map by DMAIC phase from ASQ.",
        "belts": [
          "yellow",
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 Gage R&R",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/gage-repeatability",
        "why": "MSA primer for Measure-phase trust in data.",
        "belts": [
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 Process capability",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/process-capability",
        "why": "Cp/Cpk concepts and study caveats.",
        "belts": [
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 Design of Experiments",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/design-of-experiments",
        "why": "DOE for Green awareness and Black leadership.",
        "belts": [
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 Statistics overview",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/statistics",
        "why": "Hypothesis testing, regression, SPC, DOE map.",
        "belts": [
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ASQ \u2014 Value stream mapping",
        "url": "https://asq.org/quality-resources/value-stream-mapping",
        "why": "Lean VSM for Green/Black flow work.",
        "belts": [
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "NIST MEP \u2014 Lean and Process Improvement",
        "url": "https://www.nist.gov/mep/lean-and-process-improvement",
        "why": "U.S. MEP Lean/CI + Six Sigma for manufacturers (replaces old lean-manufacturing path).",
        "belts": [
          "white",
          "yellow",
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "NIST MEP \u2014 Training Within Industry (TWI)",
        "url": "https://www.nist.gov/mep/training-within-industry-twi",
        "why": "Public TWI overview: JI four steps, JR, JM.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "green",
          "black",
          "yellow",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "NIST \u2014 Baldrige Excellence Framework",
        "url": "https://www.nist.gov/baldrige",
        "why": "Systems view of organizational excellence for Black Belt strategy link.",
        "belts": [
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "NIST \u2014 Lean, ISO, and Six Sigma",
        "url": "https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/lean-iso-and-six-sigma",
        "why": "Clear public definitions of Lean vs Six Sigma.",
        "belts": [
          "white",
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "EPA \u2014 Lean Manufacturing and Environment",
        "url": "https://www.epa.gov/sustainability/lean-manufacturing-and-environment",
        "why": "Government guide linking Lean waste reduction to environmental outcomes.",
        "belts": [
          "yellow",
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "iSixSigma \u2014 History of Six Sigma",
        "url": "https://www.isixsigma.com/history/history-six-sigma/",
        "why": "Motorola \u2192 GE narrative and belt culture.",
        "belts": [
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Wikipedia \u2014 International Organization for Standardization (ISO)",
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization",
        "why": "Context for ISO; in 2011 ISO published ISO 13053:2011, the first standard defining a Six Sigma process.",
        "belts": [
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "ISO \u2014 ISO 13053-1:2011 (Quantitative methods in process improvement \u2014 Six Sigma)",
        "url": "https://www.iso.org/standard/52901.html",
        "why": "Official catalog entry for the 2011 Six Sigma process standard (Part 1: DMAIC methodology).",
        "belts": [
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "iSixSigma \u2014 DMAIC Overview",
        "url": "https://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/dmaic/",
        "why": "Practical DMAIC phase definitions used widely in industry training.",
        "belts": [
          "white",
          "yellow",
          "green"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "MIT OpenCourseWare \u2014 Introduction to Lean Six Sigma Methods",
        "url": "https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/16-660j-introduction-to-lean-six-sigma-methods-january-iap-2012/",
        "why": "Free university course materials covering Lean and Six Sigma methods.",
        "belts": [
          "green",
          "black",
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Art of Lean \u2014 TWI introduction",
        "url": "https://artoflean.com/learning/training-within-industry/introduction/",
        "why": "Deep historical intro to TWI and the three J programs.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Art of Lean \u2014 Job Instruction",
        "url": "https://artoflean.com/reference/job-instruction/",
        "why": "JI definition + Toyota/TPS connection.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "green",
          "black",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Art of Lean \u2014 JI Four-Step Method",
        "url": "https://artoflean.com/learning/job-instruction/four-step-method/",
        "why": "Prepare / Present / Try out / Follow up in detail.",
        "belts": [
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "TWI Institute",
        "url": "https://www.twi-institute.com/",
        "why": "Contemporary TWI training network.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI Lexicon \u2014 Training Within Industry",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/lexicon-terms/training-within-industry/",
        "why": "Lean Enterprise Institute TWI definition.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI Lexicon \u2014 Hoshin Kanri",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/lexicon-terms/hoshin-kanri/",
        "why": "Strategy deployment for Black Belt portfolio work.",
        "belts": [
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "CSSC \u2014 Free Six Sigma training manuals",
        "url": "https://www.sixsigmacouncil.org/six-sigma-training-material/",
        "why": "Free self-study belt manuals.",
        "belts": [
          "white",
          "yellow",
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "UMaine \u2014 Six Sigma certification at university level (PDF)",
        "url": "https://umaine.edu/sixsigma/wp-content/uploads/sites/252/2017/05/Elis-Walton-CIEC-2017-Six-Sigma-certification-at-univerisity-level.pdf",
        "why": ".edu timeline of belts and Lean+Six Sigma merge.",
        "belts": [
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI \u2014 The Roots of Lean (PDF)",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/downloads/105.pdf",
        "why": "Huntzinger: TWI \u2192 occupation Japan; kaizen lineage; Toyota/TTWI.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota",
          "history"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI / Art of Lean \u2014 Isao Kato interview notes (PDF)",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/downloads/380.pdf",
        "why": "Toyota training insider on TWI influence and limits vs full TPS.",
        "belts": [
          "twi-toyota",
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI \u2014 Isao Kato on Shingo / P-Course",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/isao-kato-interview-on-shigeo-shingos-influence-on-tps/",
        "why": "How Toyota used JI/JR/JM then strengthened improvement beyond JM.",
        "belts": [
          "twi-toyota",
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI \u2014 Art of Lean: Ohno & TWI Job Instruction",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/art-of-lean-on-situational-leadership-part-2-toyota-taiichi-and-twi-job-instruction/",
        "why": "JI teaching pattern in Toyota leadership context.",
        "belts": [
          "twi-toyota",
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "MIT Sloan \u2014 America\u2019s Most Successful Export to Japan",
        "url": "https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/americas-most-successful-export-to-japan-continuous-improvement-programs/",
        "why": "Academic: occupation-era TWI export, multiplier, CI/suggestion systems.",
        "belts": [
          "twi-toyota",
          "history",
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "USC CEO \u2014 Adler et al. on Toyota work organization (PDF)",
        "url": "https://ceo.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/1998/11/1998-29-g98_29-Toyota.pdf",
        "why": ".edu research: TWI-rooted supervisor methods and JI OJT at Toyota.",
        "belts": [
          "twi-toyota",
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI \u2014 TWI for the 21st Century",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/training-within-industry-for-the-21st-century/",
        "why": "Occupation Authority introduction; Japan kept developing TWI upward.",
        "belts": [
          "twi-toyota",
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Art of Lean \u2014 Standardized Work and Job Instruction",
        "url": "https://artoflean.com/articles/standardized-work-and-job-instruction/",
        "why": "SW chart does not teach the job; JI method + 1951 Toyota timing.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota",
          "green",
          "black"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "LEI Lexicon \u2014 Training Within Industry (TWI canonical)",
        "url": "https://www.lean.org/lexicon-terms/training-within-industry-twi/",
        "why": "Canonical lexicon URL; JI still used by Toyota team leaders worldwide.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Internet Archive \u2014 Charles R. Allen, The Instructor, the Man and the Job (1919)",
        "url": "https://archive.org/details/instructormanjob00alleuoft",
        "why": "Primary source: Allen\u2019s four-step lesson (Preparation, Presentation, Application, Testing/Inspection) \u2014 basis of TWI Job Instruction. Approved by Les 2026-10-04.",
        "belts": [
          "history",
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "TWI Service / War Manpower Commission \u2014 Job Instruction: Sessions Outline and Reference Material (1944, PDF via AllAboutLean)",
        "url": "https://www.allaboutlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TWI_Job_Instruction_Manual.pdf",
        "why": "Original WWII JI trainer manual: 10-hour plan, four basic steps, How to Get Ready / job breakdown & key points, \u201cIf the worker hasn\u2019t learned, the instructor hasn\u2019t taught.\u201d Approved by Les 2026-10-04.",
        "belts": [
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Wikipedia \u2014 Training Within Industry",
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_Within_Industry",
        "why": "WWII TWI: draft + war orders, ~1.6M certifications / ~16,500 plants, JI/JM/JR.",
        "belts": [
          "history",
          "twi",
          "twi-toyota"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Library of Congress \u2014 Rosie the Riveter research guide",
        "url": "https://guides.loc.gov/rosie-the-riveter/introduction",
        "why": "Women in WWII war industries and the Rosie symbol.",
        "belts": [
          "history",
          "twi"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "GovInfo \u2014 The Training Within Industry Program (wartime bulletin)",
        "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-a94917ea13507ca047e900ed8de896a1/html/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-a94917ea13507ca047e900ed8de896a1.htm",
        "why": "Contemporary TWI framing for war-production training and upgrading plant talent.",
        "belts": [
          "history",
          "twi"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}