GETTING STARTED WITH SIX SIGMA

Six Sigma is a philosophy and a methodology that provides retail businesses with perspectives and tools to achieve new levels of performance. This transformation is an event greater challenge when integrating Six Sigma into the existing processes. The Six Sigma deployment is challenging at both the deployment and the technical fronts. Six Sigma Professionals, Inc. has worked with different cusomers and has found common threads of Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) to be successful and sustainable in the service industry. This workshop will explore factors leading to successful deployments modes as well as failure modes that need to be avoided in a start up Six Sigma program. It will give you practical insight into industry success stories, the technical and deployment challenges, the do’s and don’ts based on the real experiences of starting Six Sigma programs in many businesses.

Workshop Leader: Dr Basem El-Haik, President, Six Sigma Professionals Inc.

BUILDING A VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER (VOC) PROCESS THAT WILL QUANTIFY THE REVENUE IMPACT OF PROJECTS TO DRIVE SELECTION AND EVALUATION

Most Improvement projects are justified and evaluated based on cost savings, BUT REvenue implications of improved quality and service and qualtity are ten-twenty time cost implications. This workshop will help you estimate those revenue implications in a manner the CFO will accept.
TARP’S benchmarking of best practice companies has identified eight factors that lead to an impactful Voice of the Customer Process. These are:

• The VOC process has clear ownership that ensures key issues are flagged and assigned
• A unified data collection plan produces data that “fits together” after collection
• VOC reporting and information-sharing are granular enough to be actionable
• The revenue and profit implications of VOC data are clearly established
• Formal processes and methods ensure that data translate into goals and actions
• Formal protocols are used to track the impact of the VOC process
• The VOC process is supported by company-wide incentives

Mr Goodman will describe how each of these practices can be implemented using case studies from both consumer and B2B environments. The analysis will also adress word of mouth and risk improvement impact implications of an improved service process. He will also address a strategy for getting buy-in from the CFO for the output. The workshop will end with participants evaluating their VOC process and identifying an action plan for improvement

Workshop Leader: John Goodman, Vice Chairman, TARP Worldwide

APPLYING PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILING AND DATA COLLECTION TO BOOST SALES ACROSS RETAIL OUTLETS

In today’s retail environment, building trust with customers has never been more challenging as consumers are confronted with unlimited choices in terms of different products and brands. Successful retailers recognize that the key to selling in this environment is to teach their sales staff to quickly identify and adapt the sales discussion to the ‘phychographic profile’ of the individual customer. Over time, retailers can systematically collect data on these psychographic profiles, then use the data to drive sales of higher margin brands while simultaneously creating customer loyalty. In this workshop, which is based on the application of Six Sigma techniques applied in a retail sales environment, several innovative tools and techniques will be demonstrated including:
- Questioning techniques used to enable psychographic profiling;
- Linking the sales person’s questioning skills to successful sales in a cause and effect (y=f of x) way;
- Collecting and analyzing actionable shopper behavior and profile data

Workshop Leader: Paul Hesselschwerdt, president, Global Partners inc.

DEAL OR NO DEAL: DEPLOYING LEAN SIX SIGMA TO IMPROVE TOP AND BOTTOM LINE PERFORMANCE IN RETAIL SITE VALUE STREAMS

Real estate-related costs represent the second or third highest expense on the income statements of most companies – yet Lean Six Sigma is rarely deployed in real estate planning, decision making, or operations. Properly implemented in real estate operations, Lean Six Sigma can help achieve stunning results in everything from store-level sales and profitability to enhanced financial performance across the enterprise. Six Sigma tools can be used to crunch sales data and demographics and identify the right markets and submarkets. Templates can be created to capture and rank properties according to CTQ items and metrics. Programs can be created to improve every process in terms of cycle times, direct and indirect costs, and other factors that shape revenues and profits. Lean Six Sigma can be used for every aspect of real estate – from choosing the right site, to negotiating the right terms, to papering the deal, to store fit out and provisioning, to complying with Sarbox and other regulatory and reporting requirements. This workshop will explore:

• Site Selection using Six Sigma basics
• Identifying and overcoming barriers to deployment
• Selecting real estate projects that will make a real difference
• Databases, analytical tools, and systems
• Aligning with service providers who walk the talk

The workshop will be presented by members of The Crestar Alliance, a consortium of specialty firms who have developed an array of lean six sigma services and processes, aimed specifically at retail users and property owners.

Workshop Leaders: Gary Cone, President, Global Productivity Solutions
Fred Meyer, Director, NAI Mertz Corporate Services
Rick Sabat, Partner, Morgan Lewis & Bockius