Standardisation of Lean Six Sigma - ISO 18404 is here

In an industry that is all about standardisation and quality, it’s ironic that the Lean Six Sigma world has taken so long to adopt a common standard that finally brings order to a sector that was frankly getting out of hand.

Too many training companies have been delivering sub-standard, out-dated content and meaningless certifications to individuals and businesses for too long and the recently published ISO18404:2015 standard will inevitably put a firm stop to this.

We have the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) to thank for bringing standardisation to our lives, such as common paper sizes, screw sizes and the world renowned ISO9001 quality certification.   We now thank ISO for doing the same for Lean Six Sigma with this ISO 18404:2015 standard.

ISO 18404:2015 described as “Quantitative methods in process improvement - Six Sigma - Competencies for key personnel and their organizations in relation to Six Sigma and Lean implementation” is the international standard that is being recognised as the way forward for anything Lean Six Sigma, including consultancy, training and certification.

Even though it’s early days, it’s expected that in the near future, any Lean Six Sigma delivery or implementation that doesn’t conform to ISO18404 will simply not hold any credibility whatsoever, and rightly so.

In light of this, some of the worlds’ most prominent certification bodies are supporting the quick adoption of ISO 18404.  CEPAS, the people certification arm of the world’s largest and most established certification body Bureau Veritas has partnered with UK based training company e-Careers to support training firms all over the world who now wish to start delivering this standard quickly and effectively.  All training material is being provided, alongside a simple examination process.  

Key highlights include:

• All training material is provided to the training organisation
• Latest content, written in 2019, which fully conforms to ISO18404:2015
• Material focusses more heavily on Lean rather than Six Sigma reflecting modern working practices
• Material covers a wider range of industries not just traditional Lean Six Sigma applications
• Individuals are independently certified by CEPAS, A Bureau Veritas Company
• Certification recognised globally
• Cost effective to adopt and deliver

If you are a consultant or a training organisation interested in adopting ISO18404 certified by CEPAS then please get in touch by clicking HERE.