2016

International Lean certification is growing strongly not only in Italy, but also in + 10 countries and 3 continents. Let us see why. In the last 8 years our school has trained more than 300 professionals in the 3 levels of Lean certification, Belt, Black Belt e Champion by the IIBLC®, the International Independent Board for Lean Certification.

It is useful to know that the IIBLC® (www.iiblc.org) is a international independent association formed in 2009. Its mission is to create value for companies and professionals through the spread of International LEAN Best Practice (called LEAN BOK). The association has a scientific committee made up of the major experts in Lean from both multinational companies and the world of Universities and Business Schools and is occupied in continuously updating the BOK with developments in Best Practice. Today, only in Europe, there are more than 1,600 people certified IIBLC® . In particular, over the last three years the requests for Lean exams has exploded in all the countries. In Holland for example, in only the last session (as a rule there are 4 each year) more than 150 professionals sat for the exam!

Why is there this strong and growing interest by both companies and professionals? The reasons are as follows:

a) Up to date BOK– Those who follow the Lean IIBLC® courses have the certainty of learning the latest up to date international Best Practice in Lean. Sadly, this is not always the case since some courses supplied by other entities continue to use slides and have contents that go back to 10-15 years! The company wants to be the leader in the sector and the professional who wants to bring value and to be sought out by the market must keep pace with the times and draw upon up to date information.

b) Increased ROI from IIBLC®training –In addition to a written multiple choice test, the plan for the Black Belt and Champions level exams includes an application with an implemented plan to be sent to the evaluating committee. Therefore the professional must have led a project in his/her company to achieve certification and this implies a very fast return on the training investment which often becomes pay back in a few short months. For this reason many companies in recent years have made major investments in Lean IIBLC® programmes with excellent and rapid improvement in the bottom line.

c) Independent Evaluation of the Exams–The exam for certification is not corrected by the school that supplies the course, but centrally in Belgium by the evaluation committee which 4 times a year receives the exam forms from around the world which have been completed by the professionals who sit for the exam in the authorized centres. This guarantees independence in the evaluation of the exam and is of great value to those who are IIBLC® certified. If they have passed the exam, it means that they truly knew the subject! Unfortunately in recent years we have seen too many certifications issued too easily by a number of bodies.

d) International and recognized BOK- Having in its staff an IIBCL® certified person is a plus for a company because the skills are in line with international Best Practice. This factor is as a strong advantage when a company interacts with suppliers and Clients, for example in improvement projects. This factor is an advantage also for the professional because he/she is more spendable on the labour market compared to a local certification issued by an unknown body.

As can be seen from the above, the reasons that demand for the certification has increased in recent years are very much in line with those for which APICS Supply Chain certification, which Advance School, APICS Premier Channel Partner, has offered in the country for the last 12 years, continues to grow exponentially. Hence, the Business Schools which propose Lean courses have also decided to include IIBLC® exams in their own offers.

To take the courses:  If you wish to take Advance courses, they are available as both In-house and intercompany in the classroom. In the last two years we also offer them in the Webinar  mode.

For company training projects: Our consultants are available to support companies to implement Lean projects with high ROI. To contact us: Ms. Anne Simone Pfister: a.pfister@advanceschool.ch