Event: The ASQ Pittsburgh Regional Friday Lunchtime Webinar Series

Location: Online Webinar

Topic: “Managing Quality Costs”

Speaker: Mustafa Shraim, President and Principle of SQPS, Ltd.

Duration: 1 Hour

About the Program:
Have you ever analyzed costs of quality (as well as lack of)?
Does top management seem not interested in quality initiatives?
Do you sometimes wonder where to start improvements?

In most organizations (both manufacturing and service), the cost of doing business is subject to traditional accounting systems. In other words, categories have long been established and reported on with no value-added information on improving the bottom line from the perspective of quality. But hidden within these categories of production costs is a wealth of information for quality planning, control, and improvement.

As quality professionals, we need to speak the language of top management. It is not enough to report on quality in terms of Cpk, GRR, DPMO, and so on. Management does not understand such language and probably is not interested in investing the time to learn it.

This webinar will introduce participants to analyzing quality, conformance and non-conformance, in monetary terms. It is an eye-opener for those who have little or no knowledge about this concept. Once understood, a program to capture and monitor such costs can be developed. It can be of great interest to those who are looking for ways to improve quality and reduce cost at the same time.

About the Speaker: Mustafa Shraim is the president and principal consultant of SQPS, Ltd., a quality improvement consulting firm in Columbus, Ohio (www.shraimqps.com). He holds a Ph.D. degree in industrial engineering from West Virginia University. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Dr Shraim is a certified quality engineer (CQE) and six sigma black belt (CSSBB), both by ASQ. He also has a Lead Auditor certification by The International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA). He has many publications the area of quality management as well as statistical quality tools. His main interests are in the areas of Lean / Six Sigma consulting and training as well as quality management systems. He has helped many companies in the design and deployments of such initiatives

Cost: Participant pays $25 for voice-over-the-internet (VOIP) webinar presentation. Invite your company for Pizza Friday at no additional charge! Need speaker on computer to hear Presenter.

Registration: Call 412-261-4300, upon payment participant will be registered for the webinar.

If you have any problems with registering, please contact Robin Dudash: iqps@aol.com

Re-Certification Units (RU): Gain 0.1 RU under the Professional Development category. Learn more about Recertification …

Wednesday, May 19th (3rd Wednesday) - Section Dinner Program

Location: Westinghouse Energy Center,
4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA

Topic: “A Booster Rocket for Quality Organizations” by Jim Creiman

About the Program: Is the Quality Department treated as non-essential in your company? Are you or your Quality co-workers frustrated by a communications barrier with Executive Management? Do your Quality goals take a back seat to other business objectives?

It may be time to align your Quality initiatives with your company’s strategic goals. Using a tool that has been available for years, but too few use, you can link Quality activities with your company’s most important objectives.

It’s time to break out of your malaise! Our speaker, Jim Creiman, will show you how to develop specific action plans that drive the business and lead to organizational (and personal) success.

About the Speaker: Jim Creiman develops and implements supply chain quality solutions for a Fortune 100 Company. He has practiced the quality profession in government and industry for 30 years. He holds three certifications from the American Society for Quality: Certified Manager of Quality/Operational Excellence; Quality Engineer; and Quality Auditor. Jim is also certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt by the Six Sigma Academy. Jim is a Past Chair and current Treasurer of the ASQ Pittsburgh Section and is a Deputy Regional Director for ASQ Region 8.

Location: Holiday Inn Pittsburgh University Center

Conference Theme: Lean Six Sigma in Healthcare Cost, Quality and Efficiency Improvement.

Conference Keynote Speakers:

• U.S. Congressman Tim Murphy
• Karen Wolk Feinstein, President and CEO, Jewish Healthcare Foundation
• Tami Minnier, Chief Quality Officer, UPMC
• Joel H. Ettinger, President/CEO, Category One Inc.

Additional Speakers: David A. Vorp, PhD; Tania Lyon, PhD; Deb Simak and Shankar Lakhavani, MBB

What to Expect at the Conference: State of the National Healthcare Debate; Malcolm Baldrige Applied to Healthcare; Medical Innovations; Language of Process Improvement; Process Improvement Tools and Techniques and other timely topics. Q & A Sessions, Round Table Discussion.

Please see Our Press Release and Brouchure, which you can print for a reminder.

Conference Details: ASQ Pittsburgh Section will be having their 1st Annual Healthcare Quality Conference; this 1-Day 2-Track Healthcare Conference will be held on Friday, 30 April 2010 at the Holiday Inn Pittsburgh University Center.

World-class healthcare organizations and professionals must find ways to improve through people, processes and performance to remain competitive and viable in this challenging economic environment. Attend this 1-Day 2-Track Healthcare Conference and seminars to learn quality processes and tools that you can take back to your company/organization and use your new knowledge to take your organization and yourself to a higher level of performance. This conference will offer 2 learning tracks; one for the quality professional seeking to update their knowledge and an advance track for the more seasoned professional. Look forward to high quality workshops and an opportunity to network with knowledgeable quality improvement experts.

Plus a training session: Lean Six Sigma -- Continuous Process Improvement (LSS-CPI) Healthcare: Boot Camp.

ASQ certification credits and continuing education credits for Healthcare professionals will be awarded. Continental breakfast and lunch will be included. ASQ members and students will get discount on the Conference fees.

Early Bird Registration: By April 23rd is $125; Regular Registration is $199
$25 Discount for ASQ Members
10% Discount for Organizations sending 5 or more Represenatives
Scholarships for F/T Student and Unemployed ASQ Members are available; for details and application please contact Lou Anne Rudy at Lrudy@accessabilities.org or 724-420-0040 for more details.

Reservations: Advanced credit card payment required via ESWP at 412-261-4300 or email m.gaetano@eswp.com

Location: Westinghouse Headquarters,
1000 Westinghouse Drive, Cranberry Township, PA
Auditorium 176A

Topic #1: “Reliability Modeling with Censored Data” by Dave Kitska

Topic #2: “Innovation – A Driver for Value Creation” by Kevin Posey

About the Program #1: This presentation uses an example of motor lifetimes to illustrate the primary issues in modeling a reliability distribution. Methods based on the normal distribution are usually not appropriate since failure time distributions are typically bounded and right-skewed. Another common issue in reliability testing and modeling is censoring: some units may still be operational when an experiment terminates, or units may be removed for reasons other than the particular failure mode under study. The presentation will discuss how censoring is handled in the likelihood function and how it impacts model estimation. The presentation will also show how predictor or stressor variables can be incorporated to produce a regression-like model, known as an accelerated failure time (AFT) model.

About the Program #2: This presentation will establish a common understanding of key areas of Innovation and Innovation Management Systems (IMS) based on current work and emerging standards in the field. The role of the ASQ QMD technical committee in this area will be touched on, as well as recent committee work and ongoing initiatives. This session will also include a practical exercise in understanding and applying roles of key IMS players. This exercise will teach participants how to determine what part of the Innovation cycle they best fit into, and how the four key roles/players all work closely together to make the IMS successful and enduring. According to thought leaders in Innovation, a clearly defined IMS, with well defined process roles and responsibilities, is essential for sustainable competitive advantage.

About the Speakers:

Dave Kitska has worked as a statistician with a subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation in West Mifflin, PA for the last 5 years. Prior to that, Dave held various statistical positions at Rubbermaid, Bridgestone/Firestone, Kimberly-Clark, Alcoa, and National City Bank. Dave holds a PhD. in statistics from Case Western Reserve University and an M.S. in statistics from the University of Akron. He is a Senior member of ASQ, an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, and a Certified Reliability Engineer. In addition to working with engineers and scientists at Bechtel on a variety of technical problems, Dave also develops and delivers courses on a variety of statistical topics for laboratory personnel, including reliability modeling, experimental design, regression, and statistical process control.

Kevin Posey is a quality engineering professional with over 20 years of leadership experience in quality assurance and regulatory affairs in the medical device and aerospace industries. He is especially passionate about creating value through sustainable innovation in products and processes. He has held key technical and leadership positions in product development with St. Jude Medical, B. Braun Medical, and Philips Respironics in the medical device industry, as well as Boeing, Rocketdyne, and the U.S. Department of Defense in the aerospace industry. Mr. Posey holds a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, is currently an MBA candidate with The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), and is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Mr. Posey currently holds ASQ certifications as a Certified Quality Engineer, Certified Biomedical Auditor, Certified Quality Auditor, and Certified Manager of Quality and Operational Excellence.

Location: Online Webinar

Topic: “Getting Things Done as a Quality Professional”

Speaker: Brien Palmer, Principal InterLINK Management Consulting

Duration: 1 Hour

About the Program:

Do you find yourself frustrated as a Quality professional?
Do you find it difficult to get management to hear your ideas?

Then plan on spending lunch hour of March 26th in an immensely valuable webinar.

Most of us are very skilled in the analytical areas of logic, use of data, formal problem-solving processes, statistics, and so forth. We are trained in these areas, we use them constantly, and we are inclined by temperament to think of them as the only way of thinking. However, this way of thinking —this temperament— represents only a small part of the general population, and other people can consider us a bit odd.

In fact, we analytical types often lack what can be called “complimentary” skills, such as people skills, communication skills, assertion, presentation skills, political acumen, business knowledge, ability to managing change, etc. Because Quality professionals often lack these skills, we can get marginalized in organizations. Ideas get lost, management goes un-convinced, Quality takes a back seat, companies get in trouble, and so forth.

This cycle can be frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be inevitable. In fact, analytical people are fast learners when they set their minds to it. When analytical people focus on non-analytic skills, they experience vast improvements in personal and organizational effectiveness.

This program will introduce Quality professionals to some immediately-applicable complimentary skills.

About the Speaker: Brien Palmer is a management consultant specializing in leadership development and quality management systems. In twenty-five years as a consultant, he has served a broad spectrum of clients, from large, internationally known companies such as Commonwealth Edison and Ontario Hydro to smaller, family-owned businesses. He has produced significant business results in a wide range of business settings, including high technology, manufacturing, public utilities, financial services, construction, and non-profit organizations.

Brien is a senior partner in InterLINK Management Consulting, a small, Pittsburgh-based consultancy (www.InterLINKbusiness.com).

Brien serves on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Quality (ASQ). He is an ASQ Certified Quality Auditor, and has written many articles for Quality Progress magazine. He is the author of one of a Quality Press’ best-selling books: Making Change Work—Practical Tools for Overcoming Human Resistance to Change. He also created ASQ’s first internet-based “virtual seminar”, which is still in production: The Case for Quality: Taking it to Management.

Cost: Participant pays $25 for voice-over-the-internet (VOIP) webinar presentation. Invite your company for Pizza Friday at no additional charge! Need speaker on computer to hear Presenter.

Registration: Call 412-261-4300, upon payment participant will be registered for the webinar.

If you have any problems with registering, please contact Robin Dudash: iqps@aol.com

Re-Certification Units (RU): Gain 0.1 RU under the Professional Development category. Learn more about Recertification …

Thursday, March 25, 2010 (4th Thursday), 11:30am-1:30pm - Healthcare Special Interest Group and Pitt Student Chapter Joint Lunchtime Meeting

Location: William Pitt Student Union Room 837, University of Pittsburgh Oakland Campus

Topic: “Lean Applications to Healthcare: Building a Culture of Change”, by Jennifer Condel

Abstract: The rapidly changing healthcare landscape, need for reform and improved patient outcomes, continues to drive interest toward solutions from other industries. One such industry, automotive, has demonstrated efficiency using lean principles to improve quality, decrease waste and cost; challenges in our current healthcare systems. To achieve systematic and sustainable reform, an organizational shift toward a culture of change must occur to align and empower all levels of the organization to be real-time problem solvers and conductors of rapid improvement cycles. For the past ten years, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative has taught and applied its lean based methodology, Perfecting Patient Care (PPC), in various healthcare settings for improved patient outcomes. Core components of this methodology are observation of work at the point of care, application of work design principles, value-stream mapping and A3 problem solving. In this presentation, examples of direct PPC application to healthcare workers will include anatomic pathology, hospital and primary care settings.

About the Speaker: Ms. Condel is currently Project Manager/Coach for the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) using its lean-based methodology, Perfecting Patient Care (PPC), to support primary care practices and health care centers transform to a patient-centered medical home. She has 19 years experience working in the healthcare industry. Prior to PRHI, she was an Improvement Specialist for the Donald D. Wolff, Jr. Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation of UPMC applying. Ms. Condel has a strong laboratory background including experience as an Anatomic Pathology Manager, Cytotechnologist and Medical Technologist. For three years, she served as a Team Leader for the UPMC Anatomic Pathology Learning Line utilizing the tools. Ms. Condel has also published and presented in the areas of problem solving, lean concepts and quality assurance in pathology.

About the Program: This is the Joint Healthcare Special Interest Group and ASQ Student Chapter meeting. We will have free pizza for lunch. To help establish the student chapter ASQ-Pittsburgh is looking for ASQ mentors and corporate sponsors (to help defray the expense of ASQ membership for the students). Please, help out in this endeavor. Please contact Shankar Lakhavani at ShankL@pitt.edu or 412-736-5864 for more details.

Meeting Duration: 2 Hour

Cost: Free for ASQ Members
$10 for Non-ASQ Members (note: if a non-member becomes a member at the meeting, then the $10 can be applied towards membership dues)

Memberhip Information:

For students interest in becoming a member of the Pitt Student Chapter, please sign up on the Pitt Student Chapter Page.

Anyone interest in becoming a member of the Healthcare Special Interest Group, please sign up on the Healthcare SIG Page.

Wednesday, March 24th (4th Wednesday) - Section Dinner Program joint meeting with with Saint Vincent College Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence

Location: Westinghouse Energy Center,
4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA

Topic: “Cascading Quality Goals to the Front Line” by Steven Leuschel, KCOE

About the Program: What corporate metrics are you observing day in and day out? Is your leadership team aligned around safety and quality as the top priorities? Once you’ve got the metrics right and the systems in place around those metrics, how do you begin to cascade them to the frontline? Come listen to Coach Steve Leuschel from KCOE and bring your own examples of how to cascade quality to the frontline.

About the Speaker: Steve Leuschel, Coach at Saint Vincent College Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence, is currently working with area manufacturing and healthcare continuous improvement systems.

Location: Wm Pitt Union Room: 538, University of Pittsburgh, Oakland Campus

Topic: "From the Classroom to the Bedside: Strategies for the Successful Implementation of a Lean Program in a Healthcare Setting" by Graciela de Lujan Perez, Ph.D.

Abstract: Lean concept techniques have been applied in manufacturing after WWII first by Toyota in Japan, and later since the 80’s in the US. The 80’s also brought Six Sigma through Motorola. Today these techniques are widely spread throughout the manufacturing sector. While powerful to reduce waste and improve systems, they are not easy to teach outside the industrial engineering environment due to the lack of specific support courses. Knowledgeable lean/six sigma practitioners can adapt these techniques to healthcare settings through non-traditional teaching /learning ways. This presentation focuses on the development and implementation of a lean /Six Sigma training program for future healthcare administrators with no previous experience in either field; healthcare or lean.

About the Speaker: Dr. Perez is adjunct faculty of Healthcare O&Q Management at GSPH. She has been a researcher for the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health, the School of Engineering, human genetics, adjunct professor in Operations Management for Katz School of Business since 1998, and statistical consultant for UPMC–Children’s Hospital - Department of Organ Transplantation and VERC/VAPHS. She is a senior consultant for HC delivery systems. She is an ASQ CQM/OE and CQE

About the Program: This is the Joint Healthcare SIG and ASQ Student Chapter meeting. We will have free pizza for lunch. To help establish the student chapter ASQ-Pittsburgh is looking for ASQ mentors and corporate sponsors (to help defray the expense of ASQ membership for the students). Please, help out in this endeavor. Please contact Shankar Lakhavani at ShankL@pitt.edu or 412-736-5864 for more details.

Meeting Duration: 2 Hour

Cost: Free for ASQ Members
$10 for Non-ASQ Members (note: if a non-member becomes a member at the meeting, then the $10 can be applied towards membership dues)

Memberhip Information:

For students interest in becoming a member of the Pitt Student Chapter, please sign up on the Pitt Student Chapter Page.

Anyone interest in becoming a member of the Healthcare Special Interest Group, please sign up on the Healthcare SIG Page.

Location: Westinghouse Headquarters,
1000 Westinghouse Drive, Cranberry Township, PA
Auditorium 176A

Topic: “Identifying Process Inefficiencies”, by Mike Sherwin

About the Program: Time studies, Value Stream Maps, Value Flow Analyses, and similar tools are widely used as aids in identifying process inefficiencies and overall system waste. During this presentation, Mike Sherwin will demonstrate a pragmatic approach of utilizing these techniques in combination with other Lean, Six Sigma, and Industrial Engineering tools to identify areas of improvement in a biological laboratory process with an emphasis on observation, front-line worker feedback, and minimizing disruption

About the Speaker: Mike Sherwin is currently responsible for leading the Operational Excellence programs at Precision Therapeutics, a Pittsburgh-based company specializing in the development of decision support tools and services that provide physicians with valuable information for the treatment of cancer patients. Prior to joining Precision Therapeutics, Mike held positions in Operations Management, Project Management, and Quality Management with Kennametal and was active in Lean manufacturing implementation. During his tenure, Mike earned Kennametal Green Belt Certifications in QFD, FMEA, and Six Sigma. His experience also includes engineering positions with Crucible Compaction Metals, AMTellect Inc., and Curtiss Wright (previously known as Westinghouse EMD). Mike holds a Master of Business Administration (Carnegie Mellon), Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (Penn State University), and a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering (Penn State University). Mike is an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Green Belt and a QFD Institute Certified Green Belt in Quality Function Deployment. He is an active member of Penn State University’s Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Society’s Advisory Board and served as its President until 2009.

Event: The ASQ Pittsburgh Regional Friday Lunchtime Webinar Series

Location: Online Webinar

Topic: “Efficient, Effective Training: Essential for Tenuous Times”

Speaker: Doug Hagy, Principal Twin Lakes Consulting Corporation

Duration: 1 Hour

About the Program: Challenging economic conditions, and changes in business demands, invariably spawn in-house training initiatives. Now, more than ever before, training must be efficient and effective. This program presents key training tenets based on seminal works widely adopted by the training industry.

• Deliver the right training to the right people,
• Facilitate learning with lean, to the point, subject matter that delivers vital outcomes and results,
• Boost retention and sustained transfer of training to the job,
• Evaluate training performance and use what you learn to continuously improve your training and bias training for success.

This informative program equips you to deliver successful training; focused on impact and free of waste.

About the Speaker: Doug Hagy is Principal Consultant at Twin Lakes Consulting Corporation (Greensburg, PA). Mr. Hagy is a seasoned management consultant with recognized expertise in automated systems and development of effective employee training programs. He is certified by the American Society for Quality as a Certified Quality Auditor, and is also certified by the American Society for Training & Development as a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance.

He holds an M.B.A. from Bowling Green State University and teaches Operational Excellence at Saint Vincent College.

Since the mid 1990's, Doug has equipped manufacturers with tools to manage efficient, effective, employee training programs.

Cost: Participant pays $25 for voice-over-the-internet (VOIP) webinar presentation. Invite your company for Pizza Friday at no additional charge! Need speaker on computer to hear Presenter.

Registration: Call 412-261-4300, upon payment participant will be registered for the webinar.

If you have any problems with registering, please contact Robin Dudash: iqps@aol.com

Re-Certification Units (RU): Gain 0.1 RU under the Professional Development category. Learn more about Recertification …

Event: January Healthcare Special Interest Group and Pitt Student Chapter Joint Lunchtime Meeting

Location: University of Pittsburgh William Pitt Student Union (opposite the Cathedral of Learning)

Topic #1: “Applying Engineering Technology to Healthcare and Vascular Surgery”

Speaker #1: Dr. David Vorp

Speaker #2: Shankar Lakhavani

About the Program: This is the first Healthcare Special Interest Group and Pitt Student Chapter meeting. We will have free pizza for lunch. To help kick-off the student chapter ASQ-Pittsburgh is looking for ASQ mentors and corporate sponsors (to help defray the expense of ASQ membership for the students). We hope you and your employer will decide to help out in this endeavor. Please contact Shankar Lakhavani at ShankL@pitt.edu for more details.

About the Speakers: Dr David Vorp is a tenured Professor of Surgery (General/Vascular) and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as a Director of the Center for Vascular Remodeling and Regeneration as well as the Director of the Vascular Surgery and Vascular Biomechanics Research Lab.

Shankar Lakhavani is a Master Black Belt, Pitt Industrial Engineering Adjunct Faculty member, Senior Consultant of L6S Quality Solutions, LLC, and Chair-Elect of the ASQ Pittsburgh Section.

Meeting Duration: 2 Hour

Cost: Free

Location: Westinghouse Energy Center,
4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA

Topic: “Panel Discussion on Careers in Pittsburgh: Opportunities, Risks, Rewards”

About the Program:

Mike Sylvester, President of Pittsburgh Technical Staffing Association, brings a panel from PTSA to discuss many opportunities to gain or retain employment in the Pittsburgh Market. Opportunities available in the Pittsburgh market, networking, suggestions for growing your career (whether starting out or moving up) are just some of the possibilities. Bring your resume!

Teresa Whitacre, Program Chair, will dovetail a brief presentation of the Career Guide from Quality Progress Magazine January Issue.

About the Panel:

John E. Barnyk, co-founder and owner of Titan Consulting, LLC, a Pittsburgh based personnel resource company providing qualified engineering (technical), information technology and business support professionals to organizations of all sizes. John is current Chapter Director of the PTSA.

Jeff Mauer, Recruiting Manager at Technical Solutions, Inc., a premier technical service provider in Pittsburgh which specializes in consulting and contract engineers, software programmers, technicians in all disciplines, as well as management consulting, supervisory and management staff.

Please note this meeting was rescheduled from Dec 9th due to multiple power outages on the original date.

Event: The ASQ Pittsburgh Regional Monthly Dinner Program

Location: Online Webinar

Topic: “LinkedIn - Professional Networking for Career Development and Job Seeking”

Speaker: Andy Tkach - American Society for Quality Pittsburgh Section

About the Event: This will be a live webinar presentation using voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP). Your computer must have speakers to hear the presenter.

Unlike our normal onsite dinner meetings, this meeting will held on your computer, so the cost is only $10. Advanced payment by credit card is required.

Upon registration/payment, registrants will receive webinar access information via email

About the Program: LinkedIn is widely recognized as the on-line tool to use for professional networking.

If you have not yet established a profile on LinkedIn, or would like to learn more about key features of LinkedIn for career development and job seeking, this is the program for you.

We will discuss and demonstrate:

• What LinkedIn is
• Reasons you want to have a presence on LinkedIn
• Elements of an effective profile
• Effective use of groups
• Growing your network
• "Do's and dont's"

About the Speaker: Andy Tkach is currently a free agent residing in Murrysville, PA. Mr. Tkach has provided management, complex systems engineering and consulting services to companies in a wide variety of industries, including metals, metalworking, manufacturing, supply chain management services and research and development.

He has held the positions of Director of Strategic Processes and Technologies with GENCO, Director of Industrial Technologies with Concurrent Technologies Corporation, Worldwide Market Manager for Process CIM and Senior CIM Consultant with IBM, and Senior Systems Project Manager and General Foreman, Fuel & Instruments, with U.S. Steel.

Mr. Tkach is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), a Professional Member of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a member of the Software Engineering Institute.

He has a CMMI Certificate from the CMU Software Engineering Institute and completed Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training from Six Sigma Academy. His education includes a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from CMU and an M.B.A. from Katz Graduate School of Business.

His focus is on establishing sustainable operational excellence, through process improvement, organizational development and innovation.

Cost: Participant pays $10 for voice-over-the-internet (VOIP) webinar presentation.

Registration: Call Dave Teorsky @ 412-261-4300 or email m.gaetano@eswp.com

Registration Deadline: Reservations and Cancellations required by December 8th.

Location: Westinghouse Energy Center,
4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA

Topic: “CorrectSPC: the correct use of SPC in precision machining.”

Speaker:

Bob Doering

About the Program:

This presentation is very controversial, as it destroys the myth of the normal curve in precision machining! It goes into the correct distribution, and the proper setup of control charts that allow absolute control of the process! I go into how Cpk's cannot be calculated for precision diameters and lengths - because the distribution is non-normal (see AIAG PPAP 4th edition 2.2.11.5, NOTE), and how compression control limits increases variation, and is not continuous improvement! It sounds like blasphemy, but it is all true - and once you see the facts, it is impossible to argue!

About the Speaker:

Bob Doering has been in the quality field for over 13 years, and has industrial experience for over 28 years. He is an adjunct instructor at Lorain County Community College in Engineering Technology and Enrollment Services departments, and has lectured classes in Metrology and Quality Management. As a consultant, he provides training in CorrectSPC for precision machining as well as other more typical SPC applications. He holds associates degrees from Lorain County Community College and The University of Akron in OH; BA in Business and MBA in Systems Management. from Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea ,OH. He holds ASQ certifications: CMQ/OE, CQE, CQA, and CMI.

Location: Westinghouse Energy Center,
4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA

Topic: “Quality in Health Care and Quality in Manufacturing: What Can We Learn From Each Other?”

Speakers:

Shawn Simpson from Medrad
Lee Erickson, MD, from Forbes Regional Health Care System.

Facilitators:

Diane Frndak from West Penn Allegheny Health System
Brien Palmer from InterLINK Management Consulting

About the Program:

Modern concepts of Quality first gained traction in manufacturing, starting from Dr. Walter Shewhart’s work in the mid-1920’s at Western Electric and Bell Labs. Since then, Quality practices have gained acceptance in manufacturing operations world-wide, as executives realized the competitive benefits of Quality. In other fields, Quality has had a later start but is now making significant strides.

Join us in this innovative program where we compare the practices of Quality in manufacturing and in health care. We will have brief presentations from each area, followed by a lively discussion among executives and practitioners in the audience from both manufacturing and health care.

Quality practices offer a real chance to improve the delivery and costs of health care. You will have a rare chance to participate in an important conversation that bears on the national issue of improved health care.

Please make your reservations early, as this program is sure to fill up quickly.

Location: Westinghouse Energy Center,
4350 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA

Topic: “How to Become a Six Sigma Black Belt Without Employer Sponsorship”, by Shankar Lakhavani (American Society for Quality Pittsburgh Section Chair Elect)

About the Program:

Practically all job advertisements in the quality, operational excellence, or process improvement fields now have requirements that we did not see frequently a mere 10 years ago. Examples of requirements from recent job advertisements on Monster.com are:

• “ASQ CSSBB certification is a plus.”
• “Understanding of Lean and six sigma practices”
• “Six Sigma - Lean training or certification preferred”
• “ASQ CSSBB or CSSGB certification preferred.”

About the Speaker:

Shankar Lakhavani is a Senior Consultant and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt for L6S Quality Solutions (A Training and Consulting Company) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is responsible for consulting and training in Lean Six Sigma, and product/process improvement for domestic and international customers.

Mr. Lakhavani has worked with and trained several hundred Green Belts and Black Belts over the past ten years while working as Master Black Belt for the American Society of Quality (ASQ) and the Eaton Corporation domestically and internationally. Shankar has trained Green Belts and Black Belts in various industry segments, such as Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Food Industry, Medical Device, Service/Transactional and Manufacturing.

Shankar is an ASQ Master Black Belt, an Adjunct Faculty member in Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh where he is teaching courses in Lean Six Sigma, and Probability and Statistics, a senior member of ASQ and IEEE, an ASQ-Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified Quality and Operational Excellence Manager, Certified Quality Engineer, Certified HACCP Auditor and Certified Quality Auditor.

Shankar Lakhavani previously worked for Emerson Electric, Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Eaton Corporation in various engineering and management positions for more than 30 years. He has also been an Adjunct Faculty at: Carnegie Mellon University (ECE), University of Pittsburgh (Mechanical Engineering) and University of Missouri (EE).

Shankar Lakhavani can be reached at: shankarlakhavani@gmail.com