Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

SIX SIGMA BLACK BELT

   

I.Organization-Wide Planning and Deployment 
A.Organization-wide Considerations
    1.Fundamentals of Six Sigma and lean methodologies Define and describe the value, foundations, philosophy, history, and goals of these approaches, and describe the integration and complementary relationship between them. (Understand)

    2.Six Sigma, lean, and continuous improvement methodologies Describe when to use Six Sigma instead of other problem-solving approaches, and describe the importance of aligning Six Sigma objectives with organizational goals. Describe screening criteria and how such criteria can be used for the selection of Six Sigma projects, lean initiatives, and other continuous improvement methods. (Apply)

    3.Relationships among business systems and processes Describe the interactive relationships among business systems, processes, and internal and external stakeholders, and the impact those relationships have on business systems. (Understand)

    4.Strategic planning and deployment for initiatives Define the importance of strategic planning for Six Sigma projects and lean initiatives. Demonstrate how hoshin kanri (X-matrix), portfolio analysis, and other tools can be used in support of strategic deployment of these projects. Use feasibility studies, SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), PEST analysis (political, economic, social, and technological) and contingency planning and business continuity planning to enhance strategic planning and deployment. (Apply)

B.Leadership

     Roles and responsibilities Describe the roles and responsibilities of executive leadership, champions, sponsors, process owners, Master BlackBelts, Black Belts, and Green Belts in driving Six Sigma and lean initiatives. Describe how each group influences project deployment in terms of providing or managing resources, enabling changes in organizational structure, and supporting communications about the purpose and deployment of the initiatives. (Understand)

1.Organizational roadblocks and change management
    Describe how an organization’s structure and culture can impact Six Sigma projects. Identify common causes of Six Sigma failures, including lack of management support and lack of resources. Apply change management techniques, including stakeholder analysis, readiness assessments, and communication plans to overcome barriers and drive organization-wide change. (Apply)

AI.Organizational Process Management and Measures 
A.Impact on Stakeholders
    Describe the impact Six Sigma projects can have on customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. (Understand)

B.Benchmarking
    Define and distinguish between various types of benchmarking, e.g., best practices, competitive, collaborative, breakthrough. Select measures and performance goals for projects resulting from benchmarking activities. (Apply)

Business Measures

1.Performance measures
    Define and describe balanced scorecard, key performance indicators (KPIs), customer loyalty metrics, and leading and lagging indicators. Explain how to create a line of sight from performance measures to organizational strategies. (Analyze)

2.Financial measures
    Define and use revenue growth, market share, margin, net present value (NPV), return on investment (ROI), and cost benefit analysis (CBA). Explain the difference between hard cost measures (from profit and loss statements) and soft cost benefits of cost avoidance and reduction. (Apply)

BI.Team Management 
A.Team Formation

1.Team types and constraints
    Define and describe various teams, including virtual, cross-functional, and self-directed. Determine what team type will work best for a given a set of constraints, e.g., geography, technology availability, staff schedules, time zones. (Apply)

2.Team roles and responsibilities
    Define and describe various team roles and responsibilities for leader, facilitator, coach, and individual member. (Understand)

3.Team member selection criteria
    Describe various factors that influence the selection of team members, including the ability to influence, openness to change, required skill sets, subject matter expertise, and availability. (Apply)

4.Team success factors
    Identify and describe the elements necessary for successful teams, e.g., management support, clear goals, ground rules, timelines. (Apply)

B.Team Facilitation

1.Motivational techniques
    Describe and apply techniques to motivate team members. Identify factors that can demotivate team members and describe techniques to overcome them. (Apply)

2.Team stages of development
    Identify and describe the classic stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. (Apply)

3.Team communication
    Describe and explain the elements of an effective communication plan, e.g., audience identification, message type, medium, frequency. (Apply)

4.Team leadership models
    Describe and select appropriate leadership approaches (e.g., direct, coach, support, delegate) to ensure team success. (Apply)

C.Team Dynamics

1.Group behaviors
    Identify and use various conflict resolution techniques (e.g., coaching, mentoring, intervention) to overcome negative group dynamics, including dominant and reluctant participants, groupthink, rushing to finish, and digressions. (Evaluate)

2.Meeting management
    Select and use various meeting management techniques, including using agendas, starting on time, requiring pre-work by attendees, and ensuring that the right people and resources are available. (Apply)

3.Team decision-making methods
    Define, select, and use various tools (e.g., consensus, nominal group technique, multi-voting) for decision making. (Apply)

D.Team Training

1.Needs assessment
    Identify the steps involved to implement an effective training curriculum: identify skills gaps, develop learning objectives, prepare a training plan, and develop training materials. (Understand)

2.Delivery
    Describe various techniques used to deliver effective training, including adult learning theory, soft skills, and modes of learning. (Understand)

3.Evaluation
    Describe various techniques to evaluate training, including evaluation planning, feedback surveys, pre-training and post-training testing. (Understand)

IV. Define 
A.Voice of the Customer

1.Customer Identification
    Identify and segment customers and show how a project will impact both internal and external customers. (Apply)

2.Customer data collection
    Identify and select appropriate data collection methods (e.g., surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations) to gather voice of the customer data. Ensure the data collection methods used are reviewed for validity and reliability. (Analyze)

3.Customer requirements
    Define, select, and apply appropriate tools to determine customer needs and requirements, including critical-to-X (CTX when “X” can be quality, cost, safety, etc.), CTQ tree, quality function deployment (QFD), supplier, input, process, output, customer (SIPOC), and Kano model. (Analyze)

B.Business Case and Project Charter

1.Business case
    Describe business case justification used to support projects. (Understand)

2.Problem statement
    Develop a project problem statement and evaluate it in relation to baseline performance and improvement goals. (Evaluate)

3.Project scope
    Develop and review project boundaries to ensure that the project has value to the customer. (Analyze)

4.Goals and objectives
    Identify specific, measureable, actionable, relevant, and time bound (SMART) goals and objectives on the basis of the project’s problem statement and scope. (Analyze)

5.Project performance measurements
    Identify and evaluate performance measurements (e.g., cost, revenue, delivery, schedule, customer satisfaction) that connect critical elements of the process to key outputs. (Analyze)

6.Project charter review
    Explain the importance of having periodic project charter reviews with stakeholders. (Understand)

C.Project Management (PM) Tools
    Identify and use the following PM tools to track projects and document their progress. (Evaluate)

1.Gantt charts
2.Toll-gate reviews
3.Work breakdown structure (WBS)
4.RACI model (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed)

D.Analytical Tools
    Identify and use the following analytical tools throughout the DMAIC cycle. (Apply)

1.Affinity diagrams
2.Tree diagrams
3.Matrix diagrams
4.Prioritization matrices
5.Activity network diagrams

V. Measure 
A.Process Characteristics

1.Process flow metrics
    Identify and use process flow metrics (e.g., work in progress (WIP), work in queue (WIQ), touch time, takt time, cycle time, throughput) to determine constraints. Describe the impact that “hidden factories” can have on process flow metrics. (Analyze)

2.Process analysis tools
    Select, use, and evaluate various tools, e.g., value stream maps, process maps, work instructions, flowcharts, spaghetti diagrams, circle diagrams, gemba walk. (Evaluate)

B.Data Collection

1.Types of data
    Define, classify, and distinguish between qualitative and quantitative data, and continuous and discrete data. (Evaluate)

2.Measurement scales
    Define and use nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio measurement scales. (Apply)

3.Sampling
    Define and describe sampling concepts, including representative selection, homogeneity, bias, accuracy, and precision. Determine the appropriate sampling method (e.g., random, stratified, systematic, subgroup, block) to obtain valid representation in various situations. (Evaluate)

4.Data collection plans and methods
    Develop and implement data collection plans that include data capture and processing tools, e.g., check sheets, data coding, data cleaning (imputation techniques). Avoid data collection pitfalls by defining the metrics to be used or collected, ensuring that collectors are trained in the tools and understand how the data will be used, and checking for seasonality effects. (Analyze)

C.Measurement Systems

1.Measurement system analysis (MSA)
    Use gauge repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) studies and other MSA tools (e.g., bias, correlation, linearity, precision to tolerance, percent agreement) to analyze measurement system capability. (Evaluate)

2.Measurement systems across the organization
    Identify how measurement systems can be applied to marketing, sales, engineering, research and development (R&D), supply chain management, and customer satisfaction data. (Understand)

3.Metrology
    Define and describe elements of metrology, including calibration systems, traceability to reference standards, and the control and integrity of measurement devices and standards. (Understand)

D.Basic Statistics

1.Basic statistical terms
    Define and distinguish between population parameters and sample statistics, e.g., proportion, mean, standard deviation. (Apply)

2.Central limit theorem
    Explain the central limit theorem and its significance in the application of inferential statistics for confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, and control charts. (Understand)

3.Descriptive statistics
    Calculate and interpret measures of dispersion and central tendency. (Evaluate)

4.Graphical methods
    Identify various elements of audit closure and any criteria that have not been met and would prevent an audit from being closed. (Evaluate)

5.Valid statistical conclusions
    Distinguish between descriptive and inferential statistical studies. Evaluate how the results of statistical studies are used to draw valid conclusions. (Evaluate

E.Probability

1.Basic concepts
    Describe and apply probability concepts, e.g., independence, mutually exclusive events, addition and multiplication rules, conditional probability, complementary probability, joint occurrence of events. (Apply)

2.Distributions
    Describe, interpret, and use various distributions, e.g., normal, Poisson, binomial, chi square, Student’s t, F, hypergeometric, bivariate, exponential, lognormal, Weibull. (Evaluate)

F.Process Capability

1.Process capability indices
    Define, select, and calculate Cp and Cpk. (Evaluate)

2.Process performance indices
    Define, select, and calculate Pp, Ppk, Cpm, and process sigma. (Evaluate)

3.General process capability studies
    Describe and apply elements of designing and conducting process capability studies relative to characteristics, specifications, sampling plans, stability, and normality. (Evaluate)

4.Process capability for attributes data
    Calculate the process capability and process sigma level for attributes data. (Apply)

5.Process capability for non-normal data
    Identify non-normal data and determine when it is appropriate to use Box-Cox or other transformation techniques. (Apply)

6.Process performance vs. specification
    Distinguish between natural process limits and specification limits. Calculate process performance metrics, e.g., percent defective, parts per million (PPM), defects per million opportunities (DPMO), defects per unit (DPU), throughput yield, rolled throughput yield (RTY). (Evaluate)

7.Short-term and long-term capability
    Describe and use appropriate assumptions and conventions when only short-term data or only long-term data are available. Interpret the relationship between short-term and long-term capability. (Evaluate)

VI. Analyze 
A.Measuring and Modeling Relationships Between Variables

1.Correlation coefficient
    Calculate and interpret the correlation coefficient and its confidence interval, and describe the difference between correlation and causation. (Evaluate)

2.Linear regression
    Calculate and interpret regression analysis, and apply and interpret hypothesis tests for regression statistics. Use the regression model for estimation and prediction, analyze the uncertainty in the estimate, and perform a residuals analysis to validate the model. (Evaluate)

3.Multivariate tools
    Use and interpret multivariate tools (e.g., factor analysis, discriminant analysis, multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA)) to investigate sources of variation. (Evaluate)

B.Hypothesis Testing

1.Terminology
    Define and interpret the significance level, power, type I, and type II errors of statistical tests. (Evaluate)

2.Statistical vs. practical significance
    Define, compare, and interpret statistical and practical significance. (Evaluate)

3.Sample size
    Calculate sample size for common hypothesis tests: equality of means and equality of proportions. (Apply)

4.Point and interval estimates
    Define and distinguish between confidence and prediction intervals. Define and interpret the efficiency and bias of estimators. Calculate tolerance and confidence intervals. (Evaluate)

5.Tests for means, variances, and proportions
    Use and interpret the results of hypothesis tests for means, variances, and proportions. (Evaluate)

6.Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
    Select, calculate, and interpret the results of ANOVAs. (Evaluate)

7.Goodness-of-fit (chi square) tests
    Define, select, and interpret the results of these tests. (Evaluate)

8.Contingency tables
    Select, develop, and use contingency tables to determine statistical significance. (Evaluate)

9.Nonparametric tests
    Understand the importance of the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests and when they should be used. (Understand)

C.Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
    * Describe the purpose and elements of FMEA, including risk priority number (RPN), and evaluate FMEA results for processes,

products, and services.
    * Distinguish between design FMEA (DFMEA) and process FMEA (PFMEA), and interpret their results. (Evaluate)

D.Additional Analysis Methods

1.Gap analysis
    Analyze scenarios to identify performance gaps, and compare current and future states using predefined metrics. (Analyze)

2.Root cause analysis
    Define and describe the purpose of root cause analysis, recognize the issues involved in identifying a root cause, and use various tools (e.g., 5 whys, Pareto charts, fault tree analysis, cause and effect diagrams) to resolve chronic problems. (Analyze)

3.Waste analysis
    Identify and interpret the seven classic wastes (overproduction, inventory, defects, over-processing, waiting, motion, transportation) and resource under-utilization. (Analyze)

VII. Improve 
A.Design of Experiments (DOE)

1.Terminology
    Define basic DOE terms, e.g., independent and dependent variables, factors and levels, response, treatment, error, nested. (Understand)

2.Design principles
    Define and apply DOE principles, e.g., power, sample size, balance, repetition, replication, order, efficiency, randomization, blocking, interaction, confounding, resolution. (Apply)

3.Planning experiments
    Plan and evaluate DOEs by determining the objective, selecting appropriate factors, responses, and measurement methods, and choosing the appropriate design. (Evaluate)

4.One-factor experiments
    Design and conduct completely randomized, randomized block, and Latin square designs, and evaluate their results. (Evaluate)

5.Two-level fractional factorial experiments
    Design, analyze, and interpret these types of experiments, and describe how confounding can affect their use. (Evaluate)

6.Full factorial experiments
    Design, conduct, and analyze these types of experiments. (Evaluate)

B.Lean Methods

1.Waste elimination
    Select and apply tools and techniques for eliminating or preventing waste, e.g., pull systems, kanban, 5S, standard work, poka-yoke. (Analyze)

2.Cycle-time reduction
    Use various tools and techniques for reducing cycle time, e.g., continuous flow, single-minute exchange of die (SMED), heijunka (production leveling). (Analyze)

3.Kaizen
    Define and distinguish between kaizen and kaizen blitz and describe when to use each method. (Apply)

4.Other improvement tools and techniques
    Identify and describe how other process improvement methodologies are used, e.g., theory of constraints (TOC), overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). (Understand)

C.Implementation
    Develop plans for implementing proposed improvements, including conducting pilot tests or simulations, and evaluate results to select the optimum solution. (Evaluate)

VIII. Control 
A.Statistical Process Control (SPC)

1.Objectives
    Explain the objectives of SPC, including monitoring and controlling process performance, tracking trends, runs, and reducing variation within a process. (Understand)

2.Selection of variables
    Identify and select critical process characteristics for control chart monitoring. (Apply)

3.Rational subgrouping
    Define and apply the principle of rational subgrouping. (Apply)

4.Control chart selection
    Select and use control charts in various situations: X-R, X-s, individual and moving range (ImR), p, np, c, u, short-run SPC, and moving average. (Apply)

5.Control chart analysis
    Interpret control charts and distinguish between common and special causes using rules for determining statistical control. (Analyze)

B.Other Controls

1.Total productive maintenance (TPM)
    Define the elements of TPM and describe how it can be used to consistently control the improved process. (Understand)

2.Visual controls
    Define the elements of visual controls (e.g., pictures of correct procedures, color-coded components, indicator lights), and describe how they can help control the improved process. (Understand)

C.Maintain Controls

1.Measurement system reanalysis
    Review and evaluate measurement system capability as process capability improves, and ensure that measurement capability is sufficient for its intended use. (Evaluate)

2.Control plan
    Develop a control plan to maintain the improved process performance, enable continuous improvement, and transfer responsibility from the project team to the process owner. (Apply)

D.Sustain Improvements

1.Lessons learned
    Document the lessons learned from all phases of a project and identify how improvements can be replicated and applied to other processes in the organization. (Apply)

2.Documentation
    Develop or modify documents including standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and control plans to ensure that the improvements are sustained over time. (Apply)

3.Training for process owners and staff
    Develop and implement training plans to ensure consistent execution of revised process methods and standards to maintain process improvements. (Apply)

4.Ongoing evaluation
    Identify and apply tools (e.g., control charts, control plans) for ongoing evaluation of the improved process, including monitoring leading indicators, lagging indicators, and additional opportunities for improvement. (Apply)

IX. Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) Framework and Methodologies (7 Questions)

A.Common DFSS Methodologies
    Identify and describe define, measure, analyze, design, and validate (DMADV) and define, measure, analyze, design, optimize, and validate (DMADOV). (Understand)

B.Design for X (DFX)
    Describe design constraints, including design for cost, design for manufacturability (producibility), design for test, and design for maintainability. (Understand)

C.Robust Designs
    Describe the elements of robust product design, tolerance design, and statistical tolerancing. (Understand)

 

Successfully completing the assessment and practical simulation of six sigma tools needed in meeting the requirements specified by the International Quality council

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