Business901

Yesterday, I posted a Podcast that I did with Mark Graban, Senior Fellow at the Lean Enterprise Institute. I enjoyed talking to Mark and at the end of the Podcast; we went off the subject matter and started a discussion on social media. I respect Mark’s work a great deal. He has created a very loyal following, not only on his blog but also on Twitter. He is one of the few people, when you step away from the early adapters such as Chris Brogan, John Jantsch and Seth Godin, that has done that.

I encourage others to follow and watch how he engages his audience. If you would like to follow Mark, he can be found at http://LeanBlog.org or on Twitter: @leanblog.

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I had the pleasure of discussing with Mark, the role he is playing at the Lean Enterprise Institute and his book on Lean Health Care. Mark is an engaging speaker and a Lean advocate.  Mark also writes the highly acclaimed Lean Blog.

Mark Graban is a Senior Fellow at the Lean Enterprise Institute and author of the Shingo Prize-winning book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Satisfaction. Previously, Mark worked as a consultant for numerous healthcare organizations across North America and in the United Kingdom. He taught and led teams of hospital personnel across multi-month lean transformation engagements in departments including laboratory, radiology, primary care, and nursing settings. Working with managers and senior leaders, these hospitals developed a track record of sustaining their lean improvements and also instilling a culture of continuous improvement and kaizen. With a background in Industrial Engineering, Mark first learned and practiced lean in various manufacturing industries, learning how lean concepts and management methods could be translated into different settings.

Related Blog Post can be found on the Businss901 blog.

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Deron K. Ertel is General Manager of Process Excellence for Embarq Corporation. This NYSE-listed company has approximately 18,000 employees and operates in 18 states offering voice, data, high speed internet, wireless, and entertainment services to over 5 million customers.

In our conversation, it was very evident that Deron believed in his message that “Embarq doesn’t lead with the tools - they lead with results.” Deron’s focus is very much customer driven and his description of using Lean, Six Sigma and project management when it is needed was excellent.

Deron will be presenting “Best Practices on Cost Reduction using Lean Six Sigma” at The Global Lean, Six Sigma and Business Improvement Summit. This summit represents the largest gathering of leading experts and senior executives across various industries who are passionate about achieving process and business excellence.It is held October 13-16, 2009 in Orlando, FL.

WCBF Six Sigma Solution Conference Global Six Sigma Awards

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On the Business901 podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Slater, the Operational Excellence and Productivity Leader for Sonoco. Sonoco is a $4.1 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with more than 300 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations. Jeff is an expert in his field and had some very progressive ideas on how to leverage the Supply Chain for competitive advantage. Lean Six Sigma is a tool that he uses to accomplish many of his objectives and he explained the use of them at Sonoco.

Jeff will be presenting a case study on the Application of Lean Six Sigma to the Supply Chain at The Global Lean, Six Sigma and Business Improvement Summit. This summit represents the largest gathering of leading experts and senior executives across various industries who are passionate about achieving process and business excellence.It is held October 13-16, 2009 in Orlando, FL.

WCBF Six Sigma Solution Conference Global Six Sigma Awards

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I had Robert Stapp of OP•EX Direct Results Inc. on the Business901 podcast. We had a discussion on performance and the use of Six Sigma as a tool to achieve this. He discussed several interesting ideas on how to leverage Six Sigma and other tools in developing operational excellence. There was a slight problem with Robert’s microphone, but only from having a clean audio. The sound level and content is great.

Robert is the Founder and President of OP•EX Direct Results Inc. which was established in 2006 as an S-corporation based out of Huntington, Indiana as a performance improvement and management consulting firm which focuses on creating value and delivering results for clients.

Operating Excellence™ is a highly advanced and sophisticated system of management sciences, which leverages Lean Six Sigma, Engineering Solutions and Leadership to establish world class performance. OP•EX Direct Results Inc. has served both manufacturing and service industries; such as Health Care, Publishing, Food & Beverage, Automotive Manufacturing, Mining Equipment, Commercial Glass, Printing, Milling & Foundry Operations, and Construction Goods leveraging his experience and knowledge to positively transform entire business enterprises.

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My podcast this week featured Robert Stapp of OP-EX Direct Results Inc. In the 1st session of this 2-part series, Robert discusses Hoshin Kanri aka Policy Deployment. Robert is an executive professional with nineteen years Lean Six Sigma Operation Management experience domestic and internationally.  He is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (since 1998) and Certified Lean Master™ (CLM) process improvement expert ( since 2005). Robert is an author and speaker for Lean Six Sigma business transformation and quality engineering solutions. As a certified kaizen instructor he has managed, facilitated and been involved in continual improvement his entire career.

Robert is the Founder and President of OP•EX Direct Results Inc. which was established in 2006 as an S-corporation based out of Huntington, Indiana as a performance improvement and management consulting firm which focuses on creating value and delivering results for clients.

Operating Excellence™ is a highly advanced and sophisticated system of management sciences, which leverages Lean Six Sigma, Engineering Solutions and Leadership to establish world class performance. OP•EX Direct Results Inc. has served both manufacturing and service industries; such as Health Care, Publishing, Food & Beverage, Automotive Manufacturing, Mining Equipment, Commercial Glass, Printing, Milling & Foundry Operations, and Construction Goods leveraging his experience and knowledge to positively transform entire business enterprises.

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