Description: Getting to the source of why something has gone wrong in a system or process is critical to identifying the changes necessary for resolving the problem. During the Analyze phase of a Six Sigma project, a Black Belt practitioner utilizes a variety of statistical and nonstatistical tools and methods for analyzing systems and processes to identify variation and defects, reduce costs, eliminate waste, and reduce cycle time. While many of the tools used in the Analyze phase are statistical and quantitative in nature, there are many useful nonstatistical methods. Nonstatistical methods help in the analysis by including qualitative considerations in identifying potential problems, their root causes, and their impacts. They help prioritize these causes and generate initial ideas for resolving problems when a project enters the Improve phase.

This course covers the use of various nonstatistical analysis methods including failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), gap analysis, scenario planning, root cause analysis, the 5 Whys, fault tree analysis (FTA), and waste analysis. This course is aligned with the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam and is designed to assist learners as part of their exam preparation. It builds on foundational knowledge that is taught in SkillSoft's ASQ-aligned Green Belt curriculum.

Target Audience: Candidates seeking Six Sigma Black Belt certification, quality professionals, engineers, production managers, frontline supervisors, and all individuals charged with responsibility for improving quality and processes at the organizational or departmental level, including process owners and champions

Duration: 02:00

Description: In the Analyze phase of the DMAIC methodology, a Six Sigma team begins to analyze the root causes of the problems that it identified in the earlier stages. This analysis may require churning out huge volumes of data of different types. Sometimes this data is of a multivariate nature, meaning that many dependent and independent variables need to be considered simultaneously. As such, Six Sigma teams often use advanced multivariate tools to manage this type of data. Another set of advanced statistical analysis tools used in this phase is nonparametric tests. In conventional hypothesis tests – called parametric tests – a sample statistic is obtained to estimate a population parameter and hence requires a number of assumptions to be made about the underlying population, such as the normality of data. However, a nonparametric test is used when some of these assumptions, such as normality of data, cannot be safely made.

This course deals with multivariate and categorical data analysis tools such as factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA). The course also aims to familiarize learners with approaches for analyzing nonparametric data, particularly the use of Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests for validating hypotheses. This course is aligned with the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam and is designed to assist learners as part of their exam preparation. It builds on foundational knowledge that is taught in SkillSoft's ASQ-aligned Green Belt curriculum.

Target Audience: Candidates seeking Six Sigma Black Belt certification, quality professionals, engineers, production managers, frontline supervisors, and all individuals charged with responsibility for improving quality and processes at the organizational or departmental level, including process owners and champions

Duration: 01:45

Description: As a Six Sigma team moves into the Analyze phase of a project, team members begin analyzing the information and data collected in the earlier phases. During the Analyze phase, Six Sigma teams identify possible sources of variation, underlying root causes, and areas for improvement. It is here where assumptions or hypotheses about a process, product, or service are made and validated using tests based on sample data.

This course aims to familiarize you with some of the advanced hypothesis tests used in Six Sigma. You are taken through the key steps in testing hypotheses for proportions, variances, and analysis of variance (ANOVA), and their underlying assumptions, with the help of examples and case studies. You will also learn how to use goodness-of-fit test statistics and contingency tables for validating hypotheses about various aspects of the variables being analyzed. This course is aligned with the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam and is designed to assist learners as part of their exam preparation. It builds on foundational knowledge that is taught in SkillSoft's ASQ-aligned Green Belt curriculum.

Target Audience: Candidates seeking Six Sigma Black Belt certification, quality professionals, engineers, production managers, frontline supervisors, and all individuals charged with responsibility for improving quality and processes at the organizational or departmental level, including process owners and champions

Duration: 02:00

Description: In the Analyze phase of the DMAIC methodology, Six Sigma teams analyze the underlying causes of issues that need to be addressed for the successful completion of their improvement projects. To that end, teams conduct a number of statistical analyses to determine the nature of variables and their interrelationships in the process under study. It is rarely possible to study and analyze the full scope of population data pertaining to all processes, products, or services, so Six Sigma teams typically collect samples of the population data to be analyzed, and based on that sample data, they make hypotheses about the entire population. Because there is a lot at stake in forming the correct conclusions about the larger population, Six Sigma teams validate their inferences using hypothesis tests.

This course builds on basic hypothesis testing concepts, terminologies, and some of the most commonly used hypothesis tests – one- and two-sample tests for means. The course also discusses the importance of sample size and power in hypothesis testing, as well as exploring issues relating to point estimators and confidence intervals in hypothesis testing. This course is aligned with the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam and is designed to assist learners as part of their exam preparation. It builds on foundational knowledge that is taught in SkillSoft's ASQ-aligned Green Belt curriculum.

Target Audience: Candidates seeking Six Sigma Black Belt certification, quality professionals, engineers, production managers, frontline supervisors, and all individuals charged with responsibility for improving quality and processes at the organizational or departmental level, including process owners and champions

Duration: 02:00

Description: As a Six Sigma team moves into the Analyze stage of the DMAIC process, it looks more closely at the variables and variable interrelationships identified during the Measure stage. As part of the analysis, a scatter diagram of dependent and independent variables is drawn to visualize the form, strength, and direction of their relationships. By determining their correlation coefficient, a linear relationship can be quantified and identified as positive, negative, or neutral. Then, using regression analysis, a model is developed to describe the relationship as a linear equation and then used for predictions and estimations. However, it is essential to analyze the uncertainty in the estimate, to test that the relationship between variables is statistically significant, and that the model is valid.

This course discusses two important tools – correlation and regression analysis for measuring and modeling relationships between variables. In terms of correlation, it takes learners through examples of scatter diagrams for two variables, the calculation and interpretation of the correlation coefficient, and the interpretation of its confidence interval. The course also draws learners' attention to some key considerations in correlation analysis, such as correlation and causation. In terms of regression analysis, the course discusses the simple linear regression model, how to create it using sample data, interpret and use it, and conduct a hypothesis test to check that the relationship between the variables is statistically significant. Finally, the course looks into how residual analysis is used to test the validity of the regression model. This course is aligned with the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam and is designed to assist learners as part of their exam preparation. It builds on foundational knowledge that is taught in SkillSoft's ASQ-aligned Green Belt curriculum.

Target Audience: Candidates seeking Six Sigma Black Belt certification, quality professionals, engineers, production managers, frontline supervisors, and all individuals charged with responsibility for improving quality and processes at the organizational or departmental level, including process owners and champions

Duration: 01:30