Dario Esteban @Dario  Reputation - 0 Rank - Aluminum | Hello to all, I’m an experienced BB and Lean implementer and I want to get a Master Black Belt certification from some organization delivering on line training. I know Villanova University and Florida Atlantic University have this certification. My question is about comparing this two universities. Please, some feedback from some of you with certification from this universities will help me to make a decision. Topics to take into account: - Quality of materials
- On line support from trainers.
- Prestige /marketability / recognition of the institution/certification.
- Robust requirements for certification (projects, coaching, previous BB certification, etc.).
- Cost/Benefit of the training. Thanks in advance. Dario |
Jeff Barnhill @EddieBarnhill  Reputation - 62 Rank - Aluminum | Hiya Dario, I am functioning as a Global Director of Quality/Lean/ Six Sigma and had the same questions as you. The online only certifications I have had a bad experience with trying to certify people as green and black belts that way. So I looked for a hybrid and selected More Steam/ Ohio State University. I hope to be certified this spring. You may want to look at that program. |
Larry Goldman @lgoldman Reputation - 229 Rank - Aluminum | Dario, here is a comparison of four major MBB certification programs: http://www.moresteam.com/certification/download/master-black-belt-comparison.pdf. This should answer your list from above, and you can use the same criteria to assess other programs. These programs are all very different, as there is even less consensus on what a MBB should be and know. My suggestion is that for each program, you look at the depth of appropriate training content and the experience requirements. Anyone looking to hire someone at the level of MBB is going to care less about where he has graduated and more about what he knows and has achieved. Good luck! |
Stan Mikel @Stan Reputation - 0 Rank - Aluminum | Larry, You really should mention that you work for Moresteam. Hope are we to assume unbiased info from Moresteam’s salesman? |
Larry Goldman @lgoldman  Reputation - 229 Rank - Aluminum | My apologies – I usually do mention my company. But I also do not “disguise” who I am, so it’s easy to discover. iSixSigma is overly picky about how vendors post on this forum, so my goal was to get the information through to you without a more open sales pitch. I wanted the data to speak for itself. When you look up any of the facts on the comparison sheet, you’ll see that they are entirely true. We spent a lot of time verifying the details so we could publish it to the public, and we justifiably believe we offer a thorough and competitive program. We’d be glad to answer any other questions about our MBB training or the market in general. |
Jeff Euston @dabrewajeff Reputation - 2 Rank - Aluminum | I’m just finishing my MBB certification with Villanova.
My 2 cents:
1) Contrary to the moresteam.pdf, VU didn’t require me to take their BB course. I was certified by another organization at the BB level years ago.
2) Take a course that provides at least some classroom. This is not an option with VU.
3) VU’s materials are about 50% soft skills, 50% technical. Of the tech piece, about 70% of that material was review for me. So access your learning style, your limitations, and what you want out of the materials…that should help point you in the right direction. Good luck! |
Aaron Stransky @SkyBehind Reputation - 0 Rank - Aluminum | I can’t vouch for their programs, but I looked as Arizona State University and Ohio State University. They both have extremely well priced (the cheapest I’ve seen) MBB programs and they are both well known universities. Ohio has a pretty big manufacturing industry and OSU is a pretty good business school, this would lead be to believe the program is a quality one. ASU is well known for supply chain management, and they are a good school as well. I’d think they would also have a good MBB program. I believe it’s even cheaper than OSU |
Jeff Barnhill @EddieBarnhill Reputation - 62 Rank - Aluminum | Ok, here’s an update: Was certified as a LSSMBB from More Steam/ Ohio State University last March (2011). Was a very good experience and it was a tough certification path. Which, in my opinion makes it a little more credible. What was required? 5 years experience as a CERTIFIED black belt, 10 mentored green belt projects with evidence, 5 large black belt projects with evidence, be published or speak at a conference, attend 2 weeks of classes at Fisher Business Center, OSU. Pass a diffacult 4 hour exam (in 2 parts) with an 80 or better, pass an oral exam with OSU/More Steam folks. That’s alot! and it takes commitment. Like I said, it was a good experience. The demand pull module really helped me at work where I led a team that implemented multiple loop kan bans in 4 facilities to control working capital. Good job OSU/ More Steam and thanks! |
MBBinWI @MBBinWI Reputation - 1829 Rank - Silver | @EddieBarnhill – seems like a good & rigorous model. |
January 3, 20110
