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Materials

How do the Open Source Six Sigma Training Materials align to the ASQ and IASSC®*; bodies of knowledge?
A customer of OSSS worked with OSSS to prepare a point by point analysis of OSSS course content to ASQ testing requirement topic areas for the Black Belt curriculum. That analysis showed the OSSS Black Belt course to contain subject content matched to over 93% of the ASQ Black Belt test requirements. OSSS is an IASSC Accredited Curriculum Provider which is an official accreditation that guarantees alignment between the OSSS curriculum and IASSC BoK.

Can I customize the Open Source Six Sigma training materials? What format are they in?
Yes, the OSSS license allows you the right to do an unlimited amount of customization to the source material. All Training Material products are in Microsoft Power Point files while Data Sets and Templates are in other Microsoft Office products.

What is the difference between the Black Belt Training Materials, the Green Belt Training Materials and the Yellow Belt Training Materials?
The difference between these three courses is, of course, the level of sophistication of the tools used to analyze data, conduct experiments and run projects. Please consult the Tables of Content shown in the Course Descriptions to see the subject matter addressed in each course.

What are the Course Manuals?
OSSS has taken the Training Materials content for each course and organized it into a hard copy manual of 8 ½ X 11 format, printed in black & white, double sided and spiral bound. It contains everything the Training Materials contain including slides and instructor comments.

Can I get the Course Manuals in a Soft Copy format?
Course Manuals in soft copy are not offered as a standard retail product. It is possible to acquire the license rights to this feature through an Enterprise License. As an alternative you may purchase OSSS Ebooks which are a PDF of the Course Manuals.

I’m interested in learning Lean Six Sigma at the Black Belt level, should I purchase the eBook or the Training Materials?
You can learn the Black Belt skill sets through either product. The eBook format was designed specifically for self-instruction, being a pdf’d Power Point file arranged in 8 ½ X 11 format as is the Course Manual. The OSSS license grants the right to print one copy of the eBook. Both products have the identical content so it is format only that varies. Choose whichever is more comfortable for you.

What are the Open Source Six Sigma Quick Reference Guides?
The Lean Six Sigma methodology contains a number of tools for use in conducting a project. Some tools are used for some projects and other for other projects. It is difficult to stay fluent in all tools. Therefore OSSS developed tool specific Quick Reference Guides. They represent a handy means of refreshing one’s memory relative to the various tools available. They are pdf’d in 8 ½ X 11 format. Electronic Copies are available online, Hard copies are available upon request.

I’m a Master Black Belt Lean Six Sigma Instructor and want to use the Open Source Six Sigma training materials to teach 20 people in my next class, what do I need?
As the instructor, you will need to purchase the Black Belt Training Materials. If you’re the only one teaching the class you’ll only need one license. You may use the Training Materials as many times as you wish for as long as you wish. For participants in the class you have a few options. You may purchase a Course Manual, training material package or eBook for each participant or you may purchase 20 Print Rights and print a hard copy of your Training Materials.

I want to develop Green Belt competencies for myself. What is the best way to go about that?
Click on the “Green Belt” tab. The Green Belt eBook is a pdf’d Power Point file in 8 ½ X 11 format in color. It is the full content of the Green Belt course structured such that you can proceed through he five phases of DMAIC. At the end of each phase is a brief quiz to help you determine the extent of your learning. This eBook also contains all Data Sets for the course exercises and Templates applicable to Green Belt.

I would like to make some changes to the exercises in the OSSS material so it is more applicable to our company. How do I do that?
All course Training Materials are provided to you in an open Power Point file format. The OSSS license allows you to make unlimited modifications to the course content. Please note you may not remove the OSSS copyright notice however. Should you wish to use these modified materials to conduct training within your firm then you simply need to purchase Print Rights to that material for each class participant.

What is Certification and how do I get it?
Certification has come to mean someone is “certified” as to being able to apply the Lean Six Sigma disciplines in an effective manner. Black Belt Certification and Green Belt Certification are the most common certifications. Over time there have come about reasonably consistent standards that consultants and training institutions use to issue certification. However, when seeking certification we recommend, “doing your homework” because there are many organizations that offer certification programs that are less than standard or not recognized by the general industry. The mostly widely accepted and recognized certification body within the Lean Six Sigma industry is the International Association for Six Sigma Certification* (IASSC®) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Does Open Source Six Sigma Offer Certification?
The Open Source Six Sigma Materials and Products are used by 1000’s of training companies, consultancies and organization with Lean Six Sigma Programs who do offer various types of certification. Open Source Six Sigma does not directly offer or provide any type of certification. For individuals seeking certification we recommend the International Association for Six Sigma Certification iassc.org
Licensing

What are some of the things I can and cannot do under the standard Training Material licensing?
This Can Do, Cannot Do description is provided as an attempt to describe the inLine Solutions, Inc. / Open Source Six Sigma License Agreement in layman’s terms. This description is provided to assist you in understanding the uses to which you CAN and CANNOT use the products licensed from Open Source Six Sigma. This description is provided solely to assist in the understanding of the OSSS License Agreement and is in no way legally binding. The OSSS License Agreement is the ruling document in all regards relative to the rights granted for use of OSSS’s Installers and Covered Materials. In the event of a conflict between this description and the License Agreement, the terms and conditions of the OSSS License Agreement shall prevail. You Can, use the "Materials" as a presentation to train a class or group. You Can, print the "Materials" for "Your" personal use. You Can, install or transfer the "Materials" to any of "Your" computers for "Your" use. You Can, use the included Templates as often as you wish for any projects you conduct. You Can, modify, edit, change, add to or amend the "Materials" to your liking so long as the term "© OpenSourceSixSigma.com" remains in the same font size located on the left hand or right hand footer of each slide. You Cannot, distribute or transfer (electronic or printed copy) the "Materials" to another person by any means unless they purchase (or one is purchased on their behalf) a license to the "Materials". You Cannot, install, load or store the "Materials" on an intranet or file-sharing server where people without an OSSS License can access the "Materials". You Cannot, relicense or resell the "Materials" to any other party regardless of the level of modification. You Cannot, print copies of the "Materials" to distribute to any other person(s) or party. You can get permission / licensing from Open Source Six Sigma to do many of the things we say you cannot do under this license, simply contact us to talk about it and we can usually figure it out. Download the OSSS License 2.0 (pdf)

What is the license for the Manuals, eBooks, Assessments and Quick Reference Guides?
These copyrighted OSSS publications are similar (from a licensing and copyright perspective) to any other publication available at a local bookstore. These are Individuals Copies. Download Publication Copyright (pdf)

I have purchased Training Materials, can I electronically distribute them to my colleagues or students?
No. Per the OSSS License Agreement any product purchase is for the sole use by you; you have acquired no rights for resale or redistribution. You must obtain another license to distribute a copy electronically.

I want to give my students handout of the materials, how does that work?
OSSS offers a Print Rights option whereby you may purchase the right to print a copy of your Training Materials to distribute in hard copy form. A Print Right fee must be paid for each hard copy you wish to print.

Our company does a lot of training and we don’t want to mess with licensing individual copies, does Open Source Six Sigma offer an unlimited license?
Well kinda. Unlimited is a strong word. OSSS does offer a variety of Enterprise License programs whereby you can acquire the right to distribute and unlimited number of electronic or hard copies of the OSSS course to your firm’s employees. While other restrictions apply in brief the limitations are the OSSS copyright must remain on the courseware and you may not relicense or sell the Intellectual Property to any third party.

What is the Self Print Licenses and when do I need one?
This License allows you to print a hard copy of any Training Material you have licensed. The Self Print License fee is charged per hard copy you wish to make. Therefore if you are training eight people I the LSS Awareness course, you would have had to purchase the Training materials for this course then you must pay the stated Self print License fee for each of the eight participants. You can then print eight copies of the Training Materials.

I want to be able to study the OSSS course both at work and at home. How can I do this and comply with the OSSS license?
The OSSS License Agreement allows you to install the materials on two computers of your computers. You may put the course and its associated materials on both your work and home computer. Please realize this does not allow you to transfer the materials to anyone else’s computer. The OSSS license allows for the materials to be used solely by the licensee. id
Purchasing & Returns

What types of payment do you accept?
We accept all major credit cards Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. In certain cases we may accept payment by check or wire transfer.

How do I know my purchases with Open Source Six Sigma are safe and secure?
Open Source Six Sigma’s ecommerce is secured by a Volusion 128 bit Secured Socket Layer (SSL) in order to provide our customers with the best in Internet Security. Merchant services are provided by Volusion. Open Source Six Sigma does not directly receive or retain your payment details.

What is your return Policy?
Digital Products such as Training Materials, Ebooks and Assessments are eligible for a return, exchange or refund within five (5) days from the date of purchase. In order to request a return, exchange or refund for a digital product you will need to download and complete this return certificate and send it to us along with your original receipt.

Physical Products such as Course Manuals and Books are not eligible for a return, exchange or refund. Shipping fees associated with delivering physical products are also not eligible for return, exchange or refund. This is because we take your specific order into production within 24 hours of receiving it and we incur a cost in producing your course manual order. We have an On-demand production system and do not inventory course manuals. Our on-demand production system is what enables us to produce high quantities of high quality manuals in a very quick manner which we fulfill all over the world each day.

White Label Licenses such as Enterprise Licenses, Partner Initiation Fees and Elearning Setup Fees are non-refundable.

We have established our policies for very specific reasons. However we know that not all situations are black & white and we are not here to hold you to fine print technicalities. Bad refund policies are no good and we do not want anyone to ever feel ripped off by OSSS. So if you have questions about our Refund policy or would like to request a refund, send us an email and we will do our absolute best to accommodate your request in a reasonable and fair manner.

Miscellaneous


In creating and managing a Lean Six Sigma deployment in our company how should we go about training the various disciplines?
OSSS is not a training nor a consulting company. We have chosen to not be that since there are distinct skills associated with that capability that we do not choose to maintain. Therefore we do not prescribe how one should go about adapting these disciplines within their company. We have however developed courseware to cover the full spectrum of those who would be trained in a company-wide deployment from the executive suite through non-supervisory personnel. Please seek advice from professionals in this arena if you do not feel comfortable with your knowledge of the subject.

I am a Black Belt in a mid-sized company and would like to create and run a Lean Six Sigma deployment in my company training a number of our employees. How do I go about that?
This can be accomplished in a similar fashion to the question posed about training one class. For whatever courses you wish to teach, you must purchase one set of the Training Materials. For each course participant you can then either purchase a hard copy manual, a set of Training Materials for them, an eBook of the course for them or you may purchase a Print Right for each participant and print a copy of your Training Materials. Alternatively you may wish to discuss with us the viability of our Enterprise Licensing Program.

I want to teach a Process Management course to fellow workers. What is the best way to go about that?
As the instructor you must license the Training Materials for this course. This package includes a Power Point file to be projected during training. It also includes all Data Sets for class exercises and the Templates applicable to this course. You then have a few options as to what materials are used by the class participants. 1) They may each purchase a hard copy course manual. This comes in B&W, double-sided printing, with the Data Sets and Templates in electronic form, 2) you may have each purchase the Training Version that you have as the instructor, or 3) you may purchase Print Rights for each participant and print a hard copy of your Training Materials.

How long has OSSS been licensing Lean Six Sigma courseware?
OSSS first began licensing Black Belt, Green Belt and Yellow Belt course in May of 2007. Since that initial offering, OSSS has expanded it offerings to nine distinct courses offered in various formats as well as ancillary support products.