LSS MBB Certification
Master Black Belt Course Description
What is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt?
Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belts (MBBs) are qualified to lead and educate all levels of an organization in Lean Six Sigma tools and methodologies. They provide guidance to leaders, aligning Lean Six Sigma projects with an organization’s business plan to further drive continuous improvement.
Who Should Certify?
According to the American Society for Quality a “Master Black Belt (MBB) certification is a mark of career excellence and aimed at individuals who possess exceptional expertise and knowledge of current industry practice. Master black belts have outstanding leadership ability, are innovative, and demonstrate a strong commitment to the practice and advancement of quality and improvement.
We believe the best candidates are those that have been employed as Operational Experts or Black Belts within their organization, or those who have substantial experience in each of the major topic areas within MBB body of knowledge.
Join the Juran Certification
By signing up with Juran, we will assign an OpEx Expert to you and together you will develop a personalized program to meet the following requirements:
- Demonstrate:
- the ability to teach, facilitate and communicate effectively through coaching and mentoring – leading to the successful completion of at least 5 Black Belt level projects.
- competence in the key examination areas.
- technical proficiency with Operational Excellence improvement concepts and advanced tools.
- how to translate complex concepts into simplified and understandable examples through teaching others.
- the ability to quickly understand projects and provide guidance to others.
Master Black Belt Course Overview
Learn more about how you can become a Certified Master Black Belt.
- Certification Requirements
- Project Work
- Teaching and Consulting
- Training
Training and certification for a Juran Operational Excellence Master Black Belt (MBB) candidate consists of the following:
- Successfully complete the personalized project work, training, case studies, reading requirements and submit a portfolio of all summaries, examples, exercises, presentations and reports (electronic copy) to the Juran Certifier.
- Pass the Master Black Belt written examination. A score of 70% or higher is required to pass.
- Submit any final project reports and/or case studies (electronic copy) to the Juran Certifier.
- Successfully complete a program defense of one completed project and illustrate how the case studies are to be used in a classroom setting. Attendees at the program defesne include a senior Juran Global Master Black Belt and invited company manager(s) and professional(s).
- Upon successful completion of the protocol and its requirements, the candidate receives Master Black Belt certification from Juran Global.
The candidate must present evidence of four completed improvement projects, including the initial projects completed prior to applying for the MBB Program. The projects may be presented as case studies, but must be suitable for use in training – i.e. with explanatory descriptions beyond PowerPoint slides, breakout exercises, etc. – to exemplify the use of the Lean or Six Sigma methodology and tools. The choice and completion of the case study must be approved by the Juran Certifier.
An MBB candidate is expected to be able to teach Green Belt and Black Belts. The candidate must teach and be observed by either a Juran Global Certifier or by a qualified internal Master Black Belt for at least four training days. As an alternative, a candidate can present five Black Belt modules via a webinar with your coach. The candidate must also demonstrate coaching competency on one Black Belt and one Green Belt project. After each session of co-teaching and coaching, the Juran Certifier will provide feedback for the MBB candidate.
Training for an MBB candidate consists of completing a personalized curriculum that is identified through a written and online gap assessment interview session. The personalized curriculum is made up of cloud-based online workshops and assignments. All MBB work will be supported by reviews, feedback and coaching provided by a Juran Global Master Black Belt.
An MBB candidate must successfully complete the assignments and demonstrate understanding of the assigned topics. This training protocol provides for review of methods and tools to be used during the co-teaching and consulting; it introduces new methods and tools; and it provides more depth on statistical methods so that the candidate has a solid grounding to teach and/or consult with other Belts.
Master Black Belt Exam Topics
The training material in this certification is to help you prepare for your LSS Master Black Belt Exam and covers the following topics:
- What makes a great leader?
- Leadership
- Suitable Environments
- Goals
- Circle of Influence
- Tactics
- Strategy and diplomacy
- Maslow’s Hierarchy
- Management Hierarchy
- Introversion
- Extroversion
- Temperament
- Increasing Maturity
- SWOT Analysis
- Working with Others
- Approach / Creativity
- Mind Mapping
- Communication
- How to Coach
- How to Convince
- How to Give Feedback
- Boost your Team
- Encourage
- How to Criticize
- Get Results
- How to Delegate
- Leadership Styles
- Risk Management
- Mission
- Project management vs team leading
- Setting up project objectives
- Identifying scope
- Stakeholders and clients
- Project planning
- Project life cycles
- Work breakdown structures
- Deliverables
- Estimating time and cost
- Resource allocation
- Setting up Gantt charts
- Networks Risk Management
- Creating a contingency plan
- Clients and Stakeholders
- Effective communications
- Influencing key people
- Effective feedback
- Productive meetings
- Boost creativity
- Effective brainstorming
- Meeting frequency
- Project close
- Stakeholder Acceptance
- Final documentation
- Marketing
- Effective decision making
- Project Progress
- What is VoC
- Focus of VoC
- Effective collecting
- Applying to DMAIC
- What is Gage R&R
- When is it used
- Understanding Variation
- The Gage Study
- Selecting part samples
- Equipment variation (EV)
- Total Tolerance (TT)
- Average and Mean Report
- What is Root Cause Analysis?
- Benefits
- Standard Process
- Importance of the root cause
- When to perform
- “no blame” Environment
- Corrective Action
- Problem Solving Process
- 5W2H
- Cause-Effect Diagram
- Corrective Action Plan
- Verification vs. Validation
- The Problem Solving Process
- Examples and Exercises
- What is a Value Stream?
- Types of Value Streams
- History of Value Streams
- Identifying the Value Stream
- Eight Service Industry Wastes
- Office Process Waste
- Lean Office
- Value Stream Mapping
- Flows of information
- Process Data Box
- Objective for Every VS
- Current State
- The Future State
- Takt time
- Administrative Mapping
- Implementing Change
- What is DOE?
- Method: Model Variables, Set Variable Targets, Experimental Plan, Testing, Analysis
- Effects, Replicates
- y = f(x1, x2, x3, …)
- Design variables
- noise variables
- Experimental Plan
- Testing
- Analysis
- Determine ß coefficients
- Replicates
- What is Mistake Proofing?
- Everyday Examples
- Effectiveness & ROI
- Error Proofing and SPC
- Inspection Techniques
- Types of Poka Yokes
- What is FMEA?
- History
- Benefits, Applications
- Procedure
- Exercise
- Summary
- Definition of Hoshin Kanri
- History of Hoshin Kanri
- Introduction to Hoshin Kanri
- Implementing Hoshin Kanri
- Initial Considerations
- High Performance Culture
- Critical Behaviors
- Plan Categories
- Business Fundamental Plans
- Measuring Performance
- Breakthrough Performance
- Fundamental Systems: Daily Management System, Cross-Functional Management
- What is Kaizen?
- Identify the Customer
- Types of Waste
- How to Kaizen
- The Kaizen Blitz
- Roadblocks
- Why Pull?
- The Problem of Inventory
- Just In Time
- Kanban
- One Piece Flow
- Standard Work & Takt Time
- Smoothing
- Leveling
- Statistical Process Control
- Variability
- Control Charts
- Process Capability Cp
- Measuring Instruments
- Repeatability
- Introduction to Constraints
- Theory of Constraints
- Drum Buffer Rope
- Issues with TOC
- Measurements
- Financials
- What is 5S?
- 5S and Lean Enterprise
- Elements of 5S
- Visual Workplace
- Implementation Plan
- Summary
Admissions Process
Master Black Belt certification runs throughout the year. Please speak to a representative for pricing or fill out our contact form here.
Master Black Belt FAQs
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about our Master Black Belt training course.
Master Black Belt (MBB) certification adds a significant amount of value to individuals and organizations alike. As well as being a mark of career excellence – distinguishing exceptional leaders from mere great ones – the presence of MBBs in an organization can have a transformational impact on business processes and financial performance.
Certified MBBs will be fully grounded in Lean Six Sigma methodology, which is geared towards improving business performance through quality, reducing costs and creating continuous value for customers. Companies that practice Lean Six Sigma typically benefit from greater levels of customer loyalty, employee satisfaction and productivity, as well as better strategic planning and supply chain management.
By training other employees and departmental heads in Lean Six Sigma, MBBs can play an instrumental role in creating a culture of excellence and quality within their organizations.
The amount of money you can earn as a Master Black Belt depends on numerous factors, including the industry you work in, the number of years you have spent in your chosen profession, and any additional skills, qualifications and certifications you may have.
According to Salary.com, the average Six Sigma MBB salary in the United States is $154,100 (as of March 26, 2020), with the range typically falling between $130,000 and $175,800.
Juran’s Master Black Belt program is founded on over 40 years of quality improvement and change management expertise. We don’t offer a “shortcut” to Master Black Belt certification; we believe the only way to unlock true value for both yourself and your organization is by completing an industry-recognized MBB program that offers a genuine test of Lean Six Sigma knowledge, and challenges participants to deliver tangible, successful improvement projects.
With Juran, you will be trained by a qualified MBB coach, completing a personalized curriculum that combines workshops, technical assignments and review meetings. Your statistical and technical knowledge will be put to the test, you will learn new tools and methods, and apply these learnings during observed instruction sessions.
The Juran MBB program has been developed by a global team of Lean Six Sigma experts, all of whom have a wealth of experience helping organizations implement changes that drastically improve their productivity and profitability.
As the pinnacle of Lean Six Sigma certification, attaining a Master Black Belt should be a true challenge for anyone. The sheer depth of Juran’s MBB program means anyone completing it will be well positioned to drive their organization forward and train others in Lean Six Sigma methodology.
Trained and certified Master Black Belts are able to consistently provide top line growth and bottom line savings for your organization. They are able to make sure that your organization continues to expand it continuous improvement program by aligning the program to the business strategy, identifying projects, training personnel, mentoring green and black belts, and providing leadership to the overall program.
Without a Master Black Belt involved in the Continuous Improvement program, it will have a much higher chance of failing or being abandoned, wasting valuable resources in people and funds. On average, personal Juran MBB projects save an organization $1,000,000+, with average savings of $250,000+ expected for projects where the MBB provides coaching support.
To apply for Master Black Belt certification, you must already hold an LSS Black Belt and be able to present evidence of four completed quality improvement programs. If you haven’t completed four projects, our team will offer guidance on how you can complete this process. Following a call with a Juran Certified instructor, we will confirm that you have been approved for the MBB program, allowing you to make payment.
Candidates can either pay via credit card or we can provide an invoice. We are also happy to be flexible with a payment schedule if required.
There isn’t a set amount of hours for 1-to-1 consultation; candidates are free to use as many as they like via web conferencing with their Juran Certified coach.
As well as completing various assignments and workshops throughout the program, a candidate must score 70% or higher in the Master Black Belt written examination and successfully complete an oral review/presentation of one completed project. They will also need to illustrate how the case studies can be used in a classroom setting.