CLT10 study guide
CLT10 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Lean Leader (CLT10) credential is designed for professionals who lead Lean transformations-team leaders, continuous improvement managers, operations supervisors, and change agents-and want to demonstrate a practical command of Lean thinking beyond the tools. The exam samples eight domains weighted toward fundamentals, value stream mapping, waste elimination and kaizen, flow and pull, and quality at source, with smaller shares for standard work and 5S, leadership and culture, and metrics, A3 thinking, and hoshin planning. The CLT10 study guide has 8 sections and about 3,159 words.
01Lean fundamentals and the Toyota Production System
Lean fundamentals and the Toyota Production System (TPS) asks whether you can explain why lean tools work together, not just name them. CLT10-style questions test the TPS house, the two pillars, respect for people, and the difference between value, waste, and unevenness.
433 words, about 2 min02Value stream mapping and process analysis
Value stream mapping and process analysis examines whether you can see material and information flow end to end, quantify delay, and design a future state with a plan. Questions often ask you to calculate lead time, takt, and value-added ratio, or to select the next kaizen.
391 words, about 2 min03Waste elimination and continuous improvement (kaizen)
Waste elimination and continuous improvement (kaizen) tests whether you can identify waste with evidence, choose a countermeasure, and improve the standard rather than run a one-off cleanup. The classic seven wastes are transport, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, overprocessing, and defects; unused human potential is often added as an eighth.
386 words, about 2 min04Flow, pull systems, and just-in-time
Flow, pull systems, and just-in-time (JIT) tests whether you can design material flow that responds to actual consumption, size buffers with logic, and avoid turning pull into a disguised push schedule. Continuous flow means one-piece flow where possible; when processes cannot be linked, use pull systems such as supermarkets and kanban, FIFO lanes, or CONWIP to cap WIP.
406 words, about 2 min05Quality at source, jidoka, and problem solving
Quality at source, jidoka, and problem solving tests whether you can stop defects at the point they occur, contain the effect, and remove the cause rather than inspect quality in at the end. Jidoka gives machines and people the ability to detect an abnormality and stop.
385 words, about 2 min06Standard work, 5S, and visual management
Standard work, 5S, and visual management tests whether you can establish a stable baseline, make abnormal conditions obvious, and sustain the gains through audits and leader routines. Standard work specifies takt time, work sequence, and standard WIP.
403 words, about 2 min07Lean leadership, culture, and change management
Lean leadership, culture, and change management tests whether you can create the conditions for daily improvement: go to the gemba, develop people, align systems, and respond to problems without blame. Respect for people and continuous improvement are interdependent.
368 words, about 2 min08Lean metrics, A3 thinking, and hoshin planning
Lean metrics, A3 thinking, and hoshin planning tests whether you can connect measures to purpose, tell a coherent PDCA story on one page, and deploy strategy through aligned experiments rather than slogan lists. Use leading and lagging measures.
387 words, about 2 min