IASSC Black Belt

Quick reference

• 00:05 Hello, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:07 If you're planning on taking the Black Belt exam, you'll need to be familiar
• 00:10 with all of the topics that are in the Black Belt Body of Knowledge.
• 00:14 So let's take a look at what that entails.
• 00:18 Let's start with what we mean by a body of knowledge.
• 00:21 The IASSC Black Belt Body of Knowledge is a list of topics and
• 00:24 subject matter that a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt practitioner should know.
• 00:28 In the case of the IASSC Body of Knowledge, it is a list of topics, but
• 00:32 not all of the details about those topics.
• 00:35 To understand the details, you need a course like this one, or
• 00:38 you need to study the books and writings that explain each of the topics.
• 00:42 Also, let me clarify for you that are not familiar with the Lean Six Sigma belts.
• 00:46 The Black Belt role is for that of a Lean Six Sigma project team leader and
• 00:50 those who are overseeing the Lean Six Sigma project leaders and teams.
• 00:54 You are the subject matter expert of all Lean Six Sigma,
• 00:58 so you need to understand all the phases and the tools of Lean Six Sigma.
• 01:03 Therefore, the IASSC Black Belt exam tests all five phases of a Lean Six Sigma
• 01:07 project, define, measure, analyze, improve, and control, and
• 01:11 all of the tools and techniques that are applicable to each phase.
• 01:15 As I mentioned in an earlier session, the IASSC Black Belt exam is 150 multiple
• 01:20 choice and true, false questions that address the Black Belt Body of Knowledge.
• 01:25 So let's look at each of these Lean Six Sigma project phases.
• 01:29 First is the define phase.
• 01:31 The body of knowledge in this phase is both a broad knowledge of Lean Six Sigma
• 01:36 and specifics on the define phase.
• 01:38 So one aspect is the basic of Six Sigma, the history and
• 01:41 the project management approach, like roles, phases, and deliverables, and
• 01:46 a fundamental aspect of problem solving, the Y = f(x) formula.
• 01:50 There are also a number of fundamental terms and
• 01:53 concepts in Six Sigma that are used over and over again.
• 01:56 Acronyms like CTQ, DPMO, cost of quality, and Pareto principle.
• 02:01 Specifically focusing on the define phase, they're the topics concerning building
• 02:06 a business case, creating a charter, and setting the project metrics.
• 02:10 The last topic area in this phase is the Lean Enterprise.
• 02:13 For many in the Six Sigma community, Lean is an afterthought, or
• 02:17 a poor stepchild to the Six Sigma statistics.
• 02:20 IASSC has made a conscious effort to bring Lean principles into his Body of
• 02:24 Knowledge, and many test questions will be related to Lean.
• 02:27 In particular, the Seven Elements of Waste and the 5S Disciplines.
• 02:31 On to the measure phase.
• 02:33 In the measure phase, we get down to the real problem.
• 02:36 And to do that, the Body of Knowledge includes a number of tools and
• 02:40 techniques for process and problem definition.
• 02:43 Things like cause-and-effect diagram, or fishbone diagram, process mapping, and
• 02:48 related topics like SIPOC and Value Stream Mapping.
• 02:51 One very powerful and helpful technique for
• 02:53 knowing where to find the problem is the Failure Modes Effects Analysis.
• 02:56 We have an entire course devoted to this topic and how to use it.
• 03:00 This is also where IASSC introduces some basic statistical principles that everyone
• 03:05 doing process improvement work should know.
• 03:07 Things like normal distribution, the items of descriptive statistic analysis,
• 03:12 and graphical analysis.
• 03:14 Another very important area is the measurement systems analysis.
• 03:17 These are the tools to make sure that your measurement system can be trusted.
• 03:21 We have an entire course on this topic, and if it is brand new to you,
• 03:25 I would recommend that you take it.
• 03:27 However, in this program, we will introduce the topic and
• 03:30 the key principles.
• 03:32 The final topic in this phase is process capability.
• 03:35 It is a statistical idea that is crucial for understanding your real problem.
• 03:39 It deals with the process stability and the customer requirements.
• 03:43 We address how this is determined both for variable and discrete data.
• 03:47 Now onto the analyze phase.
• 03:50 In the analyze phase, the team will analyze the data gathered in the measure
• 03:54 phase to determine the root cause or causes.
• 03:56 One way to do this is to determine the distribution of the data,
• 04:00 which means the patterns of variation.
• 04:02 Inferential statistics are another topic.
• 04:05 This means the statistical analysis of a sample of data that is used to infer
• 04:09 the characteristics of all the data.
• 04:11 Needless to say, how the sample data is selected and
• 04:14 analyzed is a big part of this analysis.
• 04:17 Hypothesis testing is the approach used to statistically determine the root causes.
• 04:21 There are many factors that influence the structure and
• 04:24 analysis of a hypothesis test.
• 04:26 We have an entire separate course on this subject because it is the heart of much of
• 04:30 the statistical analysis in Lean Six Sigma.
• 04:32 The Black Belt Body of Knowledge focuses a segment of hypothesis testing with
• 04:37 normal data and another segment on non-normal data.
• 04:40 If you already know statistical analysis, you'll be familiar with all of these.
• 04:44 If not, you should take the hypothesis testing course in order to become familiar
• 04:49 with all of the tools and tests and when to use them.
• 04:52 On to the improve phase.
• 04:53 For many quality problems and with the Lean analysis,
• 04:56 the improve phase is very straightforward.
• 04:59 Eliminate the problem or change the process to get the performance you want.
• 05:03 However, sometimes,
• 05:04 there are stickier problems that need a more powerful approach.
• 05:07 One of these is the simple linear regression.
• 05:09 Don't let the terms fool you.
• 05:11 In this approach, you must discover the regression equation for
• 05:15 how the system responds, and
• 05:16 then use that formula to set the system at the desired level of performance.
• 05:21 An even more advanced approach is to use a multiple regression analysis.
• 05:25 This uses multiple factors to statistically predict the system
• 05:28 performance.
• 05:29 There are a number of considerations with this approach,
• 05:32 including the residual analysis and confidence intervals.
• 05:35 We'll touch on these topics more in our hypothesis testing course.
• 05:38 When the problem is complex with multiple interacting factors,
• 05:42 a design of experiments approach is used.
• 05:44 This uses a set of experiments to statistically
• 05:46 determine an optimal setting for product and process performance.
• 05:50 There are several types of design of experiments, and
• 05:53 we have dedicated an entire course to this topic.
• 05:55 One technique is full factorial analysis, which determines the main effects and
• 06:00 interaction effects of all factors being studied.
• 06:02 There are many issues for consideration when creating this set of experiments to
• 06:06 ensure the statistical analysis is valid.
• 06:09 A variation of the factorial design of experiments is the fractional factorial
• 06:13 design of experiments.
• 06:15 This is actually the most commonly used approach because it saves a tremendous
• 06:19 amount of time and money, but it also reduces the resolution of the analysis.
• 06:23 Finally, the control phase.
• 06:25 There are three topics for the control phase in the Black Belt Body of Knowledge.
• 06:29 One is the Lean controls, 5S, Kanban, and Poka-Yoke.
• 06:34 The next is statistical process controls.
• 06:36 Unlike hypothesis testing where statistics were used to determine the root causes,
• 06:41 this is an approach that uses statistics to determine whether the process is
• 06:45 continuing to perform as designed and expected.
• 06:48 It relies on the control chart.
• 06:50 Different charts are used depending upon the characteristics of the data.
• 06:54 We will introduce the topic of statistical control and
• 06:56 control charting in this course.
• 06:58 But if it is new to you, I strongly recommend that you take our standalone
• 07:02 course on Statistical Process Control.
• 07:04 The final topic is Six Sigma Control Plans and
• 07:07 Response Plans, along with the final Cost Benefit Analysis.
• 07:12 The Black Belt Body of Knowledge contains all of the widely recognized tools and
• 07:16 techniques that are part of Lean Six Sigma.
• 07:19 Now, not every project will use every tool, but to be a subject matter expert,
• 07:23 you need to be familiar with all of them.
• 07:26 Make sure you know these before you sit for the exam.

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