Six Sigma Master Black Belt Emeritus (Retired) Unisex T-shirt | Army Drab Green

NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES

A sharp gold and white insignia inside a crisp DMAIC cycle, printed on a super soft, drab green shirt, with a perfect joke at the bottom. This is obviously the absolute best t-shirt for a retired six sigma master black belt, in the universe.

We MBBs are a funny lot with a good sense of humor, including the ability to be self-deprecating. The joke at the bottom reads: 

Great news— I retired. Now I have even more
time to tell you what you’re doing wrong.

The maroon EMERITUS banner complements the gold, white and drab green, beautifully. (We offer a similar shirt without banner and with a different joke for all you master black belts still in the field.)

#IYKYK. If you don’t know…

EMERITUS (adjective or noun): A retained title after retirement, especially for professors. SSMBBs are teachers, mentors, and overall inspirational.

That joke works because SSBBs and SSMBBs are experts in process improvement, as well as quality improvement, and systems thinking. They can improve any process but they need the process owners, aka subject matter experts, as partners.

The Belts System:  While Bill Smith, a Motorola senior engineer and scientist, seems to get the most credit for initiating the Six Sigma methodology, it was Dr. Mikel Harry, around 1986, who developed the belting system. Harry, another Motorola process expert, was on loan to Unisys in their Salt Lake Printed Circuit Facility when he came up with the "belt" title to draw in Unisys team members.  

“Master” was added to the black belt ranking system sometime later. The Master’s mission is to consult, mentor, and develop more black and green belts. 

If you find yourself in our little clubhouse and are unfamiliar with the methodology, read on.

The term Six Sigma originated in the quality control departments of manufacturing, primarily Motorola’s. Unisys, AlliedSignal, and General Electric were other prominent early adopters. The term comes from a reliability level. Six Sigma reliability means long-term defect levels are below 3.4 per million opportunities (DPMO).

It's a collection of analytical tools and techniques, undergirded by process improvement principles, and organized into a five-phase methodology known briefly as DMAIC (“duh-may-ick”). DMAIC is the scientific method applied to process problems. 

DMAIC stands for:

1. DEFINE the business problem, the SMART goals, project resources, scope, and timeline. Maybe get some voice of the customer activity going, perhaps a SIPOC.
   
   
2. MEASURE current process and performance variables. Establish your baseline.
   
   
3. ANALYZE to identify, validate and target root causes. Nail down which process inputs have the greatest leverage over the outcome measures.
   
   
4. IMPROVE the process. Design an intervention. Test it. Implement it, either in part or as a whole.
   
   
5. CONTROL the new process. Build in sustainability mechanisms, something beyond promises of vigilance.

LIMITED TIME ONLY! 

Offered exclusively to QI Curiosities customers.

Here at Quality Improvement Curiosities, buying in small batches pays! Get an escalating discount when you buy multiple shirts in any combination. Buy 3-4 and get 15% off. Buy 5 and get 20% off. Buy 6+ and get 25% off.

Our comfy t-shirts are soft and lightweight with the right amount of stretch.

• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton (Heather colors contain polyester)

• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz./yd.² (142 g/m²)

• Pre-shrunk fabric

• Side-seamed construction

• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping

• Blank product sourced from Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, or the US

This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!

Size guide