From time to time I am asked by a prospective student to compare The Pyzdek Institute to a competitor. Below is a typical response from me to one of these inquiries.

Dear Mr. X,

Thank you for your inquiry. Regarding a comparison of our products to those of [Competitor], I make it a policy not to comment directly on any particular competitor. However, regarding the criteria you may wish to use  when making a choice between us and any competitor, might I suggest the following:

  1. Did they write The Six Sigma Handbook? The prestige and value of your certification depends on the reputation of the service provider. If you choose The Pyzdek Institute then the author of your training will be the person who wrote the book that has been the standard textbook in the field for 13 years. His name and signature appears on your certificate. Your certification will be recognized and respected without question.
  2. Is the Certification exam included, or is it an extra charge? The fee for Pyzdek Institute training includes the certification exam.
  3. Is the certification project assessment included? The fee for Pyzdek Institute training includes this at no additional cost.
  4. Are they accredited as a training provider? We are.
  5. Do they have provision for ongoing, low cost site access after completing the course? Our Lifetime Learning subscription provides access to our training site to students for a price that is a fraction of our full subscription price.
  6. Do they include a full one-year license to Minitab statistical software? Minitab is the de facto standard software package for Six Sigma. Our price includes a one year license and our training has numerous videos showing how to use it for performing various Six Sigma analyses.
  7. Do they include a full one-year license to Minitab’s Companion by Minitab project management software? We do.
  8. Is their student forum (assuming they have one) monitored by and responded to by Thomas Pyzdek, well known author and consultant with over 50 years of hands on experience in Operational Excellence?
  9. Do they offer homework assignments which are graded by Master Black Belts? We do.
  10. Do they have hundreds of self-scoring quiz questions covering the entire body of knowledge to help you learn and prepare for certification exams? We do.

These are just a few of the areas where we differ from the typical competitor. Complete details for all our courses are available in our online store. I look forward to seeing you in one of our courses soon.


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