Six Sigma and Change Management

 Tuesday, Feb 17, 2015

The Effects of Change Management on Six Sigma Project Success: Is there a Correlation?

Using Change Management to Expedite Results

President, Strategic Operating Systems

 Tuesday, Feb 17, 2015

Understanding and Leading Business Change is vital to making progress and achieving higher level of results.

This presentation will explain the process of change, how to get past resistance, and how to use tools to enable faster change.

So you want to be a consultant and provide performance excellence

Steve Mundwiller, SME Quality Resources

 Wednesday, Jan 21, 2015

“So you want to be a consultant and provide performance excellence…or perhaps lead your organization to performance excellence”

The presentation will include brief review of the pros and cons of business improvement consulting, as well as a discussion of why one should or should not consider becoming a consultant.

The criteria for leading an organization to performance excellence is similar whether one is an outside the organization consultant or an internal champion.  These attributes and challenges will also be discussed.  This is planned to be a semi-open discussion between the presenter and the audience.

The Gift of Wisdom: Discovering at 20 what others know at 60

Rod Thompson, Senior Manager, Express Scripts

Wednesday, Jan 21, 2015

What is “The Gift of Wisdom”

Even though some are no longer in their 20’s, you have children, grandchildren and others you mentor and advise.  Finance, career, friends, education, stress, time management, hobbies, dreams, loss, goals and other topics will be discussed.

The presentation is based on Neal Whitten’s book “The Gift of Wisdom:  Lessons for a Lifetime”.

Annual Awards and Elections

Annual Awards

Have you received an ASQ certification this past year?  Come and be recognized for your quality achievement at the St. Louis Section 1304 Annual Awards night.  Recipients of ASQ Certifications are eligible for a complementary dinner.

Annual Elections

Every year we elect section officers for key leadership committee positions.

• Section Chair
• Section Chair-Elect
• Section Treasurer
• Section Secretary

The leadership committee plans, coordinates, and leads all section events; assists members with ASQ opportunities; and represents the section at ASQ functions.  Section leadership provides an excellent opportunity to develop management skills, give back to your section, and help others on their quality journey.  Open positions are available for those ready to take the challenge.

ASQ Inspection Division and the CQI and CQT Certifications

Joe Wesling, GE Healthcare

Tuesday, Oct 21, 2014

Did you ever wonder what the ASQ Inspection Division does?

Or, what exactly are the CQI and CQT Certifications and are they right for you?

Learn first hand what is going on in the world of inspection, test, and auditing methods and techniques and what it means to be a Certified Quality Inspector and a Certified Quality Technician from the Chair-Elect of the ASQ Inspection Division — Joe Wesling.

He will present information on the ASQ Inspection Division and the CQI and CQT Certifications.

An Engineering Company’s Top 10 Secrets to Sustainable Performance Excellence

Warren Knoles; Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc.

Tuesday, Oct 21, 2014

The “Top 10 Secrets” cover CMT’s key organizational, operational and continuous improvement elements that have kept its TQM system from becoming a short-lived “flash in the pan” through four CEOs over 20 years.  Though not a one-size-fits-all system, some of its “secrets” may have application in your organization.

Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. (CMT), a mid-size consulting engineering firm, implemented a comprehensive Total Quality Management (TQM) system within the firm in the mid-1990s, when TQM was a hot item in the engineering consulting business.  Now, some 20 years later, many engineering companies have dropped TQM as a management strategy.  However, CMT continues its quality journey under a TQM approach that has evolved and matured to meet the ongoing challenges of company growth, external competition and delivering excellence in engineering and project delivery.

CMT’s performance excellence and progress on its quality journey was recognized in late 2010 by Illinois’ Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence, a Baldrige-patterned quality organization, with a 2010 Lincoln Bronze Award for Commitment to Excellence.

Working in a Multi-Cultural Environment

Ed Vallorani, Avanti Improvement Solutions, LLC.

Tuesday, Sept 16, 2014

Business today is global. Whether we are dealing with suppliers or customers from different cultural backgrounds, or we have co-workers from different cultural backgrounds, we need to be aware of those differences to work effectively with all people.

Cultural Dimensions

This program is designed to highlight some of the differences between cultures. It will look at the major cultural dimensions, and how different cultures fit along these dimensions.

After this presentation you should have a very basic understanding of why people may react differently to same request, or why people with different backgrounds my react differently to your management style. The important point is that if you understand some of the basic biases of different cultures, you will be more effective, and your team will perform better.

Top ISO 9001 Misconceptions Resolved in New ISO 9001:2015 Standard

Chris Anderson, Management Coach, Bizmanualz, Inc.

Tuesday, Sept 16, 2014
Have you ever wondered  why ISO 9001 is so bureaucratic, requiring so many pages of documentation?

This is actually one of the most common misconception about ISO 9001. The new ISO 9001:2015 standard is in draft form (expected to be released next September, 2015), but already there are a number of changes that address such common misconceptions as too much documentation.

ISO 9001:2015 Standard Changes

Now is your chance to hear what changes are coming in the new ISO 9001:2015 standard.  You will learn about the requirement for a quality manual — there is none!  How about quality procedures — None!  quality records — Only to the extent necessary… You define it.  That’s right, ISO 9001:2015 has eliminated many of the hard requirements for documentation and replaced them with the term “documented information”.  The new standard is focused less on documentation and more on performance.

Learn what’s new, what’s been changed, and what’s been eliminated in the coming ISO 9001 Standard.

James Canham, VP of Pharmacy Operations, Express Scripts

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Express Scripts Facility Tour and Presentation

Learn how Express Scripts Holding Co. became the only St. Louis company to crack the top 50 on this year’s Fortune 500 list. The pharmacy benefits manager landed at No. 24 on this year’s list, which ranks the nation’s largest corporations based on revenue.  Express Scripts manages prescription benefits for tens of millions of Americans on behalf of thousands of clients, including health plans and plan sponsors for employers, unions and government organizations throughout the nation.