The evening starts with SEED presenting a Dance exhibition

Afterward, the “SMED Heads”, will present their award-winning improvement project. The SMED Heads are an international, cross-functional improvement team working at Mallinckrodt, the Pharmaceutical business of Coviden. The SMED Heads formed to evaluate and optimize the existing cleaning procedure for the large-scale production equipment in Mallinckrodt’s pharmaceutical salts facility. 

Originally conceived as a Lean Six Sigma process improvement Kaizen, this project was expected to improve First Time Right, reduce wasted time and resources, and increase available production capacity by improving equipment changeover time.  Instead, this team totally redesigned the process, and saved over $1 MM in the first year after implementation.

This project was a finalist in the International Team Excellence Competition, held at the 2013 World Conference on Quality and Improvement, and the team won the “Organizational Impact” award. Come hear how they did it!

We are honored to have this presentation from the ASQ World Conference.  Please come join us.  Because there is a limited capacity for this event, we recommend advanced registration. Click on the link below to register online and reserve your seat.

Our after dinner speaker is Leah C. Lorendo, Ph.D., CCC-SLP.

Leah is Principal, Imprensia Communications, a communication consultancy that helps executives strengthen their communication effectiveness to enhance achievement of business objectives and organizational performance. Leah has more than 16 years experience as an executive communication coach with senior executives from a variety of industries in Fortune 500 companies. She was an Adjunct Professor in the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis for 3 years. Leah is a Certified Speech-Language Pathologist with extensive experience in coaching executives in the business value of vocal distinction to strengthen communication outcomes.

Engineers Club
4359 Lindell Blvd,
St Louis, MO 63108

Tuesday, May 21 2013, 05:30 PM to 08:30 PM

Click here to register

Have you ever contemplated going into healthcare?  It is a growing industry and they need people from other industries with quality and process improvement skills.  Come attend this workshop to see what’s all involved in making the transition to the Healthcare Industry. As part of this workshop: well how examples of healthcare projects and  we will review resumes to see how you can tailor you quality skills to match the healthcare requirements. 

When: Jun. 8, 2013
Time: 8:00am – 12:00pm
Where: TBD
Facilitator: Kim Rochetti, President, Strategic Operating Systems
Sign up or ask questions by calling 314-838-4659.

Facilitator Bio:

Kim Rochetti transitioned from Boeing Aerospace after 22 years and spent 2 years in healthcare, assisting them improve their processes.  She’s a Master Black Belt, CSSBB, CQE, and PMI PMP with about 30 years of process improvement experience.  She recently started her own consulting business, Strategic Operating Systems, deploying Continuous Improvement Systems at companies in various industries.

http://strategicoperatingsystems.com/wp/

Minutes of April 9, 2013 LC Meeting

Location– Yacovellis– 407 Dunn Rd, Florissant, MO 63031

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:18 pm.

Participants: Officers and LC members: Rod Toro, Gail Keefe, Denise Arthur, Katarina Gowan, Tony Indehar, Randy Thompson, Kunita Gear, Jim Ebone. Kim Rochetti, Mark LeClair,

A quorum was present.

Business:

Approval of the Minutes: The March 12, 2013 LC meeting minutes were reviewed an approved.

HQ News: N/A

Officers’ Reports:

QMP Goals: (Denise Arthur – Vice-Chair): Denise presented QMP results. Attendance at previous membership meeting was 76 (YTD836). Still need a half day workshop (to be remedied in June).

Treasurer Report – Qtrly, Monthly status (Katarina G-Treasurer):

February statement total: $ 64,831 (checking and MM balance) as of 4/9/13.

MM Balance: $57,501

Checking Balance: $7,331.47

Pending requests: $172 Quality Council of Indiana (CQA instructor)

$24.15 wal-mart supplies for Treasurer (binder, labels,)

$1858.90 Dave & Busters

2 @ $ 399 refund for cancelled CSSGB class

Previous minutes’s action items unresolved (Gail K- Secretary):

No Report

Board Reports:

Education –Jesse will be resigning in July but has indicated he will assist with the transition. We will be needing a new Education Chair.

Status of classes –

CSSGB class was cancelled. We only had 2 people sign up despite the numerous solicitations.

CQE, we are currently having the class, there are only 3 people in the class.

CQA class is scheduled to begin on Thursday, (a big THANK YOU to Cynthia Duhigg, aka Cindy) who volunteered to teach the course at the last hour for us. We have 4 people signed up for the class

CQIA, it looks like this class will be cancelled due to lack of interest.

Certification – No Report.

Recertifications – Kunita G.- Nothing new to report. Things OK.

Membership – No report.

Arrangements –

The April membership meeting will be held at Yacavelli’s on April 16^th.

The May membership meeting will be at the Engineer’s Club on May 21. Pre-Dinner: SEED Presentation and Dancing Exhibition; Key Speaker: Leah C. Lorendo, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

There will be a workshop tentatively set for June 8, Kim Rochetti will give a workshop on how to convert into the Health Care Industry.

News letter – No report.

Social Networking- No report.

Standing Committee Reports:

None

Special Orders (special topics that the chair wants to bring up): Rod indicated that he would send out an email blast that our Chapter Website is up and running. Mark L will be adding Job postings to our website so any one who has job postings should forward to Mark.

Unfinished Business:

ASQ conference: Rod gave an update on the travel arrangements.

Motion: Katarina made a motion that the room and board be paid for those leadership committee members who are attending the conference. The motion carried.

Workshops: Kim Rochetti will do a workshop on June 8^th on Converting to the Healthcare Industry.

New Business:

In the next few LC meetings we will be transitioning to the new officers. The June LC meeting (June 11) will be training for the new officers.

Tableau, a software by Data Visualization, was discussed for possible use in managing membership data. It will be discussed further in September.

The May membership meeting will be held May 21 at the Engineer’s Club.

Other: N/A

Announcements: Next LC meeting will be 2^nd Tues of month May 14 , location Yacovellis.

Adjournment:

Motion: A motion to adjourn was made by Jim E. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm.

Flyer

Topics / Speakers

ABOUT EXPRESS SCRIPTS 
Advance your career with the company that makes it easier for people to choose better health.

Express Scripts is a leading healthcare company serving tens of millions of consumers. We are looking for individuals who are passionate, creative and committed to creating systems and service solutions that promote better health outcomes. Join the company that Fortune magazine ranked as one of the "Most Admired Companies" in the pharmacy category. Then, use your intelligence, creativity, integrity and hard work to help us enhance our products and services. We offer a highly competitive base salary and a comprehensive benefits program, including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, life insurance, paid time off, tuition assistance and an employee stock purchase plan.

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
The Sales & Account Management organization is Express Scripts’ key interface with prospects and clients and is organized by market segment. This organization focuses on providing consultative support to plan sponsors through benefit design recommendations and clinical expertise and is primarily accountable for growth of Express Scripts’ gross margin and membership base.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Assist management in the development and implementation of quality and risk management initiatives.  Contributes to the build and management of TPharm quality and risk-related activities, including the facilitation of root cause analysis and making process improvement recommendations.  Efforts may include facilitating quality/process improvement projects.  Work with cross-functional stakeholders to document quality activities and risks while keeping the contract requirements in perspective.  This activity will include post audit processes that support quality improvement for the current DoD contract.  Working under general supervision, ensures quality and risk-related documents are complete, current, and stored appropriately.  Utilize the Microsoft suite of software, including Access, Excel, as well as Minitab to support the development of the TPharm quality and risk management processes.  Provide continuous support and backup for other quality and risk management activities.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Working under general supervision, work on efforts that involve the development of quality-related initiatives to support the division’s quality management system development.   Includes the development of quality management policies and procedures.

2. Coordinate with cross-functional teams that will identify specific quality controls or support the development and monitoring of process controls in support of the current DoD contract.  This may include support or management of quality/process improvement efforts.

3. Design, implement and complete statistical analysis to support quality management using Minitab and or Microsoft Excel.

4. Assist in the identification, tracking and support of risk that may impact the TPharm contract.

5. Assist with the development of user training manuals and training plans for divisional risk and quality initiatives.  May assist with training users and launching operating procedures related to quality and risk management. 

6. Provide routine briefings to supervisor on the status of quality monitoring and risk-related activities.

7. Other duties as assigned, including the support of functional and organizational initiatives.

QUALIFICATIONS
-Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related area of study.  MBA or Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training preferred.
-5-7 years in a business environment
-2+ years in quality management role
-Ideal candidate should understand or have Six Sigma/ Lean skills in order to propose changes/solutions resulting in efficiency or error reduction to increase client satisfaction.
-Ideal candidate will have a related process certification such as Lean, Six Sigma Green Belt or Process Reengineering
-Working knowledge of Minitab or other statistical software
-Working knowledge of Visio and Microsoft products
-Knowledge of quality management systems
-Experience in quality control analysis
-Working knowledge of general statistics
-Working knowledge of Six Sigma quality tools
-Demonstrated advanced communication, analytical, and organizational skills
-Ability to work individually and within a team dynamic
-Detail oriented
-Strong presentation skills
-Ability to work with a very high degree of autonomy and strategic input
-Ability to work well with minimum supervision
-Ability to multitask and meet deadlines
-Good communication and customer relations skills
-Experience with the principles of continuous quality improvement, brainstorming, cause and effect analysis, root cause analysis and graphic representation of data 

Apply online: www.express-scripts.com

LMC Industries, Inc., a growing St. Louis based automotive, consumer products, agricultural and medical components manufacturer has an immediate opening for a Quality Engineer.

This is a manufacturing-focused position which provides engineering support in safety, new product startups, process improvements, waste reduction, problem solving, 8D reporting, auditing, and cost reductions in meeting company goals and objectives.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:

• Participate in cross functional teams which develop new and revised products and process to meet customer requirements and project timelines.

• Serve as quality liaison with customers regarding corrective action, product quality analysis and 8D logistics.

• Identify and implement continuous improvement activities as it relates to product and process quality.

• Function as quality liaison between purchasing, engineering, manufacturing, and suppliers to identify and resolve quality issues. Evaluate and develop suppliers.

• Serve as a technical resource to manufacturing, resolving issues that may have an impact on product quality.

• Take ownership of the quality system for assigned areas and projects. This includes: control plans, process capability studies, visual aids, forms and other associated documents.

• Maintain production control plans consistent with the requirements set forth in the AIAG Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) Reference Manual.

• Conduct capability studies and measurement system analysis; prepare test and inspection plans to support manufacturing quality criteria. Conduct audits to ensure manufacturing process conformance.

• Maintain quality records that support APQP planning and the TS 16949 quality system. Develop and deploy forms and record retention procedures when needed.

• Take corrective and/or preventative action when the product or process does not conform to stated requirements. Take preventative action based upon the regular review of quality assurance data to reduce variation and waste.

• Investigate causes of non-conforming product and disposition appropriately.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, ASQ certification and a minimum of five years’ experience in an inspection/quality function within a manufacturing environment.

Candidates should submit their resume, with compensation history and expectations, to the address and/or email below for consideration:

LMC Industries, Inc.
Attn: Human Resources
100 Manufacturers Drive
Arnold, MO 63010
glpolach@lmcindustries.com

Quality Testing Services, Inc. is a materials testing company that performs nondestructive testing, training and calibration services. We have been in business over 20 years and are centrally located in Maryland Heights (St. Louis), Missouri near Westport Plaza. QTS is ISO-Guide17025 accredited, NADCAP accredited and is an FAA repair station. We have a diverse client base and work with a wide range of industry requirements.

Some of the highlights of the position include:

• Directs, oversees and coordinates all documents and activities involving our QA program including the Quality System Manual. Performs internal audits and leads customer audits and performs contract review. Review and write procedures. We also offer an excellent benefits package.
  Qualifications: One to two years working in a quality capacity for a company with an accredited Quality system. Must be ethical, practical, detail oriented, capable of analyzing specifications and codes. Must be able to communicate and work well with others and be capable making the right decision even if it is not the popular decision.
  

Scott Zimmer
President
Quality Testing Services, Inc.
Office phone: (314) 770-0607
scottzimmer@qualitytesting.net
www.qualitytesting.net

A. VEZEAU AWARD – for TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT in the field of QUALITY

Minutes of March 12, 2013 LC Meeting

Location—Yacovelli’s– 407 Dunn Rd, Florissant, MO 63031

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6 pm.

Participants: Officers and LC members: Rod Toro, Gail Keefe, Denise Arthur, Katarina Gowan, John O’Reilly, Jesse Stevenson, Eric Schellenberg, Tony Indehar, Randy Thompson, Kunita Gear, Steve Mundwiller, Jim Ebone.

Guests: Marc Leclair

A quorum was present.

Business:

Approval of the Minutes: The February 12, 2013 LC meeting minutes were reviewed.

Motion: Tony made a motion to approve the minutes. Jim seconded the motion. The motion carried and the minutes were approved.

HQ News: Rod T reported that the price for students to attend the ASQ conference is $195 per person which will impact their ability to attend.

Officers’ Reports:

QMP Goals: (Denise Arthur – Vice-Chair): Denise presented QMP results. Meeting attendance and Total membership are above target. We still need a workshop or factory tour before the end of June.

Metric	2012/2013 Goal	Ave/Total	12-Sep	12-Oct	12-Nov	12-Dec	13-Jan	13-Feb	13-Mar
Member Certification	75 New Certifications	67		24		43
Meeting Attendance	60 Attendees	84	110	59	N/A	57	110	111
Total Membership Section 1304	750 Members	818	809	808	807	806	818	842	838
Exam Pass Rate	80% Students Pass	83%		100%		Approx 67%
New Member Retention Rate	80% Renew in 2013	46%	25%	39%	75%	57%	60%	58%
Half-Day Workshop/Factory tours	3 Offerings	2	1		1
Submit Minimum Requirement Goals on time	100% Required Documents	100%		100%				100%
Activities posted for sign up on website	90% average of all Activities posted for members to sign up	40%	0%	0%	100%	100%	50%	100%	100%

Treasurer Report – Qtrly, Monthly status (Katarina G-Treasurer):

February statement total: $69, 119.89 (checking and MM balance) as of 3/12/13. There are 2 pending check requests and 2 outstanding checks.

MM Balance: $62,494.80

Checking Balance: $6,625.09

Previous minutes’ action items unresolved (Gail K- Secretary):

Action: Rod has begun conducting a 3 part workshop on Tools for Continuous Improvement and Effective Planning” at our ASQ membership meetings which will total a half day workshop when complete. Can that count toward the half day workshop goal on our QMP goals?

Status: Denise said that it wouldn’t count toward the goal because it is part of the membership meeting so that it is already accounted for, so we just need another workshop or factory tour. See notes below about Anheuser Busch tour below.

Action: Eric will provide the percentages on exam Pass rate.

Status: TBD

Action: Implement form to be used by instructors which give detailed dates and hours of their course.

Status: Jesse reported that this is done.

Board Reports:

Nominating Committee –Tony led a discussion concerning nominations for next year officers. No new people have been added to the slate of nominees. There was also a discussion about who will serve as officer during the period from July 1 through Dec 31, 2013.

Motion Gail made a motion which was seconded by Tony that those who will be the newly elected officers in April (serving from Jan –Dec 2014) will also serve in the interim period from July1 2013 through Dec 2013. The motion carried.

Education –Jesse reported that the Green Belt, CQE, and CQIA classes are ready (i.e. instructors and locations identified). We still need CQA instructor for class.

Certification – Eric reported that for March exams 31 people were signed up, and there were 4 no shows, He also got the proctors he needed for the exam.

Recertifications – Kunita G.- Nothing new to report.

Membership – John proposed having a free meeting in both March and April for those who certified this past year.

Arrangements – Tony reported on arrangements. The March membership meeting will be at Dave and Busters next week. So far 70 have signed up. Fred Miller will have a presentation and the awards will be given. The location for the April meeting was discussed. Tony will check on price for Botanical Garden. If it is too expensive or not available, the April meeting will be held at Yacovelli’s.

News letter – No report.

Social Networking- No report.

Standing Committee Reports:

None

Special Orders (special topics that the chair wants to bring up): N/A

Unfinished Business:

Historian: Steve M reported on Historical records. He proposed that if former chairs or committee members would send records of relevant documents in their time, it would help fill out records. He would like to set up a table of pivotal people or events.

ASQ conference: Rod has booked a van for May 4th for the leadership conference that can hold 7 people. He wants 6 other people to sign up at ASQ website.

He has also reserved a bus for May 6, 7, 8 for the ASQ conference. So far no one signed up. The deadline for signing up is April 5. He needs 15 people to sign up.

Workshops: We need one more half day workshop or factory Tour by June 30.

Action: Cindy will contact Anheuser Busch factory tour in June.

New Business:

The next membership meeting will be held at Dave and Busters on March 19.

Scholarship winners: 15 people turned in applications. 2 had parents who are not current members. 3 winners were selected by random drawing. (Alexander Samuels, Christopher Hyland, Alex Giovani).

Other: N/A

Announcements: Next LC meeting will be 2^nd Tues of month April 9, location Yacovelli’s.

Adjournment:

Motion: A motion to adjourn was made by Gail and seconded by Jim. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 7:48 pm.

Gail Keefe, Secretary Rod Toro, Chair