Contact Us
Call Now Email Us Start a Chat
Request Info Classroom Login Support Enroll Now

Enroll by December 1, 2024

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Practice identifying and implementing improvements for enhanced bottom-line results using Lean Six Sigma.

Download Guide
image
16-Week Course
image
16 Continuing Education Units
image
160 Military Clock Hours
image
10 Military Clock Hours / Week

About the Course

Join process improvement practitioners who are saving billions by improving productivity, and reducing waste, variation and defects. One of the most useful business credentials today, the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certificate helps you ask the right questions and get the right answers. As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, your mastery of Six Sigma techniques and strategies can help you lead top-quality improvement projects and mentor Green Belts in your organization.

This course includes a required, simulated project that integrates critical topics into every phase of Six Sigma. Having completed the Lean Six Sigma and Six Sigma Green Belt courses, students will be prepared to delve into expanded alternatives on the use of Six Sigma tools.

Prerequisites for this course:

Earn a Digital Badge
Villanova students will earn a digital badge when they successfully complete an individual course or full certificate program. These badges help to emphasize their skills and commitment to professional development and enables them to easily share and display the badge on a resume and/or social media.
Curriculum
16 Week Course
Week 1
Lean Six Sigma - A Process Improvement Methodology
  • Compare and contrast effectiveness and efficiency
  • Define key terms, such as defects, value, waste and quality
  • Discuss the importance of the standards of quality in any Lean Six Sigma project
Week 2
The DMAIC Approach and Building Strong Teams
  • Explain the project selection process
  • Define key terms, such as tollgate review, effort impact matrix, force field analysis and affinity diagrams
  • Discuss the importance of building strong teams and managing them effectively
  • Compare and contrast methods of team decision making
Week 3
The Define Phase - Part 1
  • Create a well-defined project charter
  • Explain various Critical to Quality (CTQ) elements, such as critical to cost, critical to process and critical to delivery
  • Explain the House of Quality decision-making process as it relates to customer needs
  • Define key terms such as voice of the customer (VOC) and voice of the process (VOP)
  • Discuss the application of various types of process maps, including value stream maps
Week 4
The Define Phase - Part 2
  • Identify the key measurements in a value stream map
  • Discuss the indicators of nonefficiency
  • Explain the different techniques used to construct value stream maps for products and for services
  • Discuss the suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers SIPOC process map and describe the steps in the SIPOC process
Week 5
The Measure Phase - Part 1
  • Explain how to determine the appropriate measurement system
  • Define and explain key terms, such as statistics, parameters, population, sample and variation
  • Discuss expected and unexpected variation, normal distribution and the central limit theorem
  • Explain the significance of the shape of the variation and what it reveals about your process
Week 6
The Measure Phase - Part 2
  • Explain confidence intervals and the margin of error
  • Define key terms such as histogram, stem and leaf plot, Pareto chart and scatter plot
  • Discuss the concept of correlation and the strength and direction of relationships
  • Explain how run charts are used to illustrate process performance over time
Week 7
The Measure Phase - Part 3
  • Explain how customer requirements impact the data collection plan
  • Discuss the three types of process measurement, four types of measurement scales and two types of data
  • Define key terms such as process performance (Pp) and process performance index (Ppk)
  • Explain the purpose of the 1.5 sigma shift
Week 8
The Analyze Phase - Part 1
  • Discuss gemba, waste walks and the critical few root causes
  • Describe how fishbone diagrams and fault tree diagrams are used in root cause analysis
  • Define key terms such as FMEA and OEE, including availability, quality and performance
  • Explain how to conduct a root cause analysis using six key categories of factors
Week 9
The Analyze Phase - Part 2
  • Discuss the importance of narrowing root causes and predicting probability
  • Identify the various types of probability distributions and discuss when and why to employ each one
Week 10
The Analyze Phase - Part 3
  • Discuss the Z-distribution, the t-distribution, and the paired t-test
  • Describe the function of null and alternative hypotheses
  • Define key terms, such as null and alternative hypothesis, type I error, type II error, alpha, beta and power
  • Explain the relationship between alpha, beta, and power and how it affects statistical analyses
Week 11
The Analyze Phase - Part 4
  • Discuss issues related to utilizing control charts
  • Describe how attribute charts are used for noncontinuous data and to monitor yield
  • Define key terms, such as measurement system analysis (MSA), measurement system evaluation (MSE) and evaluating the measurement process (EMP)
  • Explain how an X-bar R chart is used in MSE and what it reveals about part-to-part and observer-to-observer variation
Week 12
The Improve Phase - Part 1
  • Compare and contrast pull systems and push systems
  • Define key terms, such as Kanban, single minute exchange of dies (SMED), TRIZ and Theory of Constraints
  • Describe the eight steps used in the quick changeover process
  • Explain takt time and cellular design
Week 13
The Improve Phase - Part 2
  • Define key terms such as cost-benefit analysis, standard order, inference space and piloting solutions
  • Describe the chi-square distribution and explain when you would use it
  • Compare and contrast piloting solutions in a Lean environment as opposed to a Six Sigma environment
  • Explain how to construct one-way and two-way ANOVA tables
Week 14
The Control Phase - Part 1
  • Identify the five elements of a control plan
  • Explain how a XmR chart can help you decide whether to act or leave a process alone
  • Define key terms such as mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to failure (MTTF), mean time to repair (MTTR), and failure reporting, analysis and corrective action system (FRACAS),
  • Explain how to control upstream x’s (input variables)
Week 15
The Control Phase - Part 2
  • Identify the methods involved in total productive maintenance
  • Explain how to respond to unexpected outcomes, e.g., an unresolved problem or a new problem
  • Define key terms such as response plan and continuous improvement plan
  • Explain the process of transferring the project to the owner
Week 16
Design for Six Sigma
  • Explain the importance of deploying Lean Six Sigma throughout an organization
  • Define DMADV, DMADOV and IDDOV
  • Compare and contrast the three approaches to implementing Lean Six Sigma
  • Discuss the process of selecting a Lean, Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma strategy
Learning Objectives
Skills Learned
Leadership Team Management Project Management Process Improvement Six Sigma DMAIC Statistics Data Collection and Analysis Kaizen
What You’ll Study

Introduction to Lean Six Sigma

  • What is Lean Six Sigma
  • DMAIC and Kaizen Overview and Integration
  • Defects
  • Value and Waste
  • The Cost of Poor Quality
  • The History of Quality Improvement

Team and Facilitation Tools

  • Team Dynamics and Stages
  • Dealing With Difficult Team Members
  • Decision Making Approaches and Tools
  • Advanced Facilitation Techniques
  • 7M (Management) Tools

Define Tools

  • The Project Charter
  • Project Management Tools
  • Stakeholder Analysis
  • Customer Needs vs. Requirements
  • Advanced House of Quality
  • Selection of Improvement Approaches
  • Flow Charting and Cross Functional Process Mapping
  • Value Stream Mapping in DMAIC
  • Benchmarking

Measure Tools

  • Criteria for Collecting Data
  • Types of Data
  • Histograms and Pareto Charts
  • Scales of Measurement
  • Scatter Plots and Check Sheets
  • Data Collection Plans
  • Determining Baseline Sigma
  • 1.5 Sigma Shift
  • Gauge R&R (Repeatability and Reproducibility) Studies
  • Measurement System Evaluation studies (MSE/MSA)
  • Process Capability (Cp/Cpk)

Analyze Tools

  • Waste Walks
  • One Sample, Two Sample and Paired T-Tests
  • Theory of Constraints
  • One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
  • Two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
  • Linear Regression

Improve

  • Poka-Yoke
  • Quick Changeover
  • Cellular Systems
  • FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis)
  • Determining Solutions
  • Kaizen (Individual, Point or Process) Events
  • Binomial and Poisson Distribution Applications
  • Exponential, Hypergeometric and Lognormal Distributions
  • Reliability
  • Planning and Organizing Designed Experiments
    • Full Factorial Designs
    • Analyzing Full Factorial Designs
    • Fraction Factorial Designs
  • Taguchi Design
  • TRIZ
  • Theory of Constraints
  • Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE)

Control

  • Monitoring and Control Plans
  • Monitoring and Control Documentation
  • Visual Management Tools
  • Radar Charts
  • Statistical Process Control
  • XmR Charts
  • Moving Average Charts
  • Attribute Charts
  • 5S applications
  • FMEA During Control
  • Continual Improvement Planning

Implementing Lean Six Sigma

  • Design for Six Sigma (DMADV, DMADOV)
  • Creating a Six Sigma Culture
  • Critical Success Factors
  • Pitfalls to Avoid in Implementing Six Sigma
  • Strategy of Six Sigma
Related Certificate Programs

Lean Six Sigma Certificate

24+ Weeks
3 Courses
$6,059+

Become a change champion at your company by learning how to identify and solve critical business process problems.

Certification Available
Skills Learned
Lean Six Sigma, Agile, Team Building, Management, Flowcharting, Project Management, Decision Making, Quality Control
Program Details

Who Should Register?

This course is part of the three-course Certificate in Lean Six Sigma program and designed for knowledgeable practitioners who have successfully passed Villanova’s Lean Six Sigma and Six Sigma Green Belt courses. In this course, you can identify and implement breakthrough improvements for enhanced bottom-line results. Upon successful completion of all three courses, you can take the next step to earn your Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification by registering for the certification exam. Learn more about Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification through Villanova University.

Tuition & Payment

Total Course Cost

$4,095

Request Information

Course offerings and associated prices are subject to change without prior notice. Pricing for multi-course certificate programs varies depending on course selection. View the Professional Education Catalog for more information on the courses and programs.

 

Payment Options

There are multiple ways to pay for your certificate program. Just let your enrollment representative know the choice that works best for you.

icon Pay in Full
icon Flexible Payments
icon Tuition Assistance
icon Military Benefits