LCS | Lean Accreditation | Lean Certification

For Organisations

Are you an organisation looking to accredit your improvement learning programme?

LCS accreditation provides an independent endorsement of an organisation’s improvement learning programme, enabling them to award Certificates of Lean Competency to those it trains.

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For Organisations

Are you an organisation looking for a ready-made improvement learning programme & accreditation?

If you don't have your own improvement training programme is place, we have ‘LCS Academy in a Box’. We can provide you with access to the materials, tools, templates and online learning, allowing you to achieve instant accreditation.

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For Individuals

Are you an experienced Lean practitioner looking for formal qualifications?

You can gain LCS qualifications through our Approved Prior Learning & Experience (APLE) route. This is designed for practitioners with few or no formal Lean qualifications but with significant experience.

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The LCS Qualifications Framework

The LCS qualifications framework has seven levels of competency covering the spectrum of improvement knowledge and application. An organisation can start the accreditation at any level depending on how advanced their improvement programme is. While the framework requires that a number of subject areas are covered at each level, there is flexibility for the organisation to choose the tools, techniques and language to fit with their culture.

Level 1: Fundamental

Level 1a: Awareness
Level 1b: Diagnosis & Analysis
Level 1c: Improvement & Implementation

Level 2: Technical

Level 2a: Implementation & Design
Level 2b: Implementation & Leadership

Level 3: Strategic

Level 3a: Strategic Enterprise
Level 3b: Strategic Supply Chain

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What our clients say about us

"I would recommend the LCS to other organisations thinking about it because it gets you to think about your training system in a consistent way. It enables you to standardise what you're doing and it also ensures the quality of what you're doing. We're seeing that through the quality of some of our problem solvers, we really know that we're starting to change the mindset within our organisation to problem solving capability."

Ian Munday

Head of CI Technical Delivery, RS Group plc

“I really enjoyed my LCS Level 3 experience. It was incredibly fun and it helped me to realise my own growth in the area of Lean Thinking. Combining theory, my own thoughts and my experiences into an assignment gave me insight in implementing Lean Thinking in my current work environment. Icing on the cake were the regular meetings with John Homewood, who was my mentor and guide during the LCS Level 3 experience.”.

André te Linde

Business Consultant Preventie & Handhaving

"Reinvigoration has been LCS accredited for 10 years and it is a fundamental part of our offering. Being able to offer our clients certification from an internationally recognised framework developed at Cardiff University has significant credibility and strengthens the training we provide. We have certified over 5,000 people in LCS and look forward to certifying thousands more."

Ryan King

Managing Partner, Reinvigoration

"The Level 3 Programme has really opened my eyes to what Lean is. It has built our skills and understanding and the ability to implement Lean at that strategic level. We have included other team members in the LCS 3 programme as it will help us all then to understand the same level of strategic thinking across the organisation and it gives us a framework in which the senior members of my team can actually apply Lean thinking and really make a difference for RS."

Keith Gautrey-Prue

Director, Group Continuous Improvement, RS Group plc

LCS by the numbers:

Accreditation supported in over

500

organisations across the world

Certificates issued to over

750,000

improvement practitioners

Courses delivered in more than

languages

Supported skills development in over

countries

We have over 160 organisations accredited by the LCS across the world (and growing!)

Resources and Events

Event

LCS Community

8th April 2025 | Leicester

This community event will be hosted by HM Land Registry at their offices in Leicester.

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Blog

Guide to Developing an Effective Lean Training Programme

In this blog, we explore the key steps to creating an effective Lean training programme that equips your team for success.

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Webinar Recording

How to become LCS Accredited

A webinar on the steps required to LCS accredit your continuous improvement training programme.

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Gain credibility and recognition for your improvement training programme

Accreditation, training programme enhancement, and community membership from the world's foremost improvement qualification framework, developed by experts at Cardiff University and leading practitioners

Are you an organisation looking to accredit your improvement learning programme?

Are you an organisation looking for a ready-made improvement learning programme & accreditation?

Are you an experienced Lean practitioner looking for formal qualifications?