SUCCESSFULLY APPLYING DESIGN FOR SIX SIGMA IN A TRANSACTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

While the underlying principles of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) are the same everywhere – understanding customer needs, translating needs to product/process requirements, predicting design performance early on – the details of a DFSS implementation, in order to be successful, must align with the particulars of the business. When designing transactional processes and services, the DFSS roadmap, framework and corresponding tools must be customized to fit the work at hand. This workshop will discuss strategies for deploying DFSS in a transactional environment and illustrate how UnitedHealth Group has adapted the DMADV framework to fit the needs of its business. This workshop will:
- Describe the basic characteristics of the DMADV methodology
- Define the distinctions - and interactions - between DMADV and DMAIC
- Identify critical questions to answer in selecting the appropriate methodology
- Discuss key differences to applying DFSS in a transactional vs. manufacturing environment
- Provide a detailed walk-thru of a DMADV roadmap for a transactional environment

WORKSHOP LEADERS:

Michael Johnson, Master Black Belt, Director of Operational Excellence, UNITEDHEALTHCARE
Mike Johnson is a Master Black Belt at UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group business. In this role, Mike coaches a Black Belt team focused on Lean Six Sigma deployment in the Provider Relations business area. The team has driven several DFSS projects over the last 3 years. Mike also develops and delivers Lean Six Sigma training to Business Champions, Black Belts, Green Belts and Subject Matter Experts throughout the organization. Topics include Six Sigma DMAIC, DMADV, Lean/Kaizen Facilitation and Rapid Decision Making. Over the last 3 years, he has been a champion of the UnitedHealth Group Leadership Conference designed to provide a forum that brings the Black Belt Community together to improve critical skills, learn new methodologies and tools, including DMADV. In 2008, Mike was part of a team that led the re-design and launch of UnitedHealth Group’s Design for Six Sigma training curriculum. Mike has been with UnitedHealthcare since 2005. Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Mike gained 18 years of experience in manufacturing. He was the Quality & Supply Manger and the Operations Manager with ABB, Corporate Quality Manager with Lenox China, and Quality Engineering Supervisor with Corning Incorporated. Mike gained valuable exposure to design efforts within these roles providing an interesting perspective in contrast to a transactional environment. Mike achieved his Black Belt certification at ABB Inc. in 2001 and Master Black Belt certification at UnitedHealth Group in 2008. He has a BS in Mathematics and Statistics as well as an MS in Statistics from Miami University, Ohio.

Brian Renfroe, Master Black Belt, UNITEDHEALTHCARE
Brian Renfroe is a Master Black Belt at UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group business. In addition to coaching Black Belts and maintaining deployment responsibilities for parts of the business, Brian has primary responsibility for the instructional development, design and delivery of all UnitedHealthcare Lean Six Sigma training classes. These classes include: Operational Excellence Overview, Advanced Hands on Champion, Business Champion, Green Belt and Black Belt training. In 2008, Brian led the re-design and launch of UnitedHealth Group’s Design for Six Sigma training curriculum. Brian has been with UnitedHealthcare since 2005. He has over 18 years of customer service, training, project management and quality business experience. Brian achieved Black Belt Certification at Honeywell in 2001 and Master Black Belt Certification at UnitedHealth Group in 2007. Brian has a BS in Business from Mankato State University, Minnesota and an MBA from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

THEORY OF INVENTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (TRIZ)

Generating creative ideas in product development, research, and manufacturing is a vital key in gaining competitive advantage. Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is an effective methodology to generate creative ideas. TRIZ method is based the research on millions of patents and it has helped many companies to gain innovation advantages.

By the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Familiarize with the TRIZ methodology as a whole
- Apply inventive principles and separation principles to generate creative ideas
- Apply TRIZ functional improvement methods to improve designs
- Familiarize with TRIZ trimming method for complexity reduction

WORKSHOP LEADER: Kai Yang, Professor, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
Dr. Kai Yang is a Professor in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. His research areas include statistical methods in quality and reliability engineering, engineering design methodologies and lean healthcare. He is an author of five books and over 70 research papers. After joining the Department in 1990, he has been awarded over 40 research contracts from such institutions as US National Science Foundation, General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Corporation and Siemens Corporation. Prof. Yang has written books in the areas of Design for Six Sigma, Multivariate statistical methods, and Voice of the customer. Prof. Yang’s book, Design for Six Sigma: A Roadmap for Product Development is an influential book that provides a framework to integrate both innovation methods, and traditional statistical quality assurance methods into the product development process to improve the creativity, value and quality of the designed products.Prof. Yang has more than 9 years of professional consulting experience. 

QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT (QFD) - TAILORING QFD TO YOUR PROJECT NEEDS, SIMPLIFYING QFD

QFD is the guiding design process for rapid, low cost development of products that delight the customers. This versatile tool can be tailored to fit the needs of a very diverse collection of projects. A common barrier to using QFD is the perceived complexity and subsequently large time commitment required for implementation. However, project leadership and good facilitation can clarify the mechanics of QFD and significantly shorten the time required to complete the matrices of QFD.

This workshop covers the steps of QFD, highlighting techniques and procedures that enhance both the project teams output using QFD and increase the relevance and value of the output to all the stakeholders in the whole product development effort. Topics addressed include:

- Customer needs - What to look for and how to get the real needs
- Technical responses to the customer needs – Picking measures that identify key design requirements.
- Targets for the technical responses – Making the measurements simple and relevant to product quality loss.
- QFD and communication – Making QFD output the unifying tool for communicating product design and development focus and metrics.

WORKSHOP LEADER: Brian J Landsberger, PhD, Certified DFSS Black Belt & Research Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
BJ Landsberger was a DMAIC and DMEDI Black Belt at Caterpillar and now instructs product design courses and student capstone design projects at UNLV. At caterpillar he was in the initial group of black belts during the roll out of Six Sigma. Projects completed cover a wide spectrum including engine research and development, lean implementations in manufacturing and assembly, and development of new hydraulic control systems. At UNLV he has implemented DFSS into research and development projects funded by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy. He redesigned the curriculum for engineering student’s capstone design projects into the DFSS model. He has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in product design covering QFD and Robust Design. Mr. Landsberger has a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, a M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. and a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Academy.

USING WEB TEMPLATES FOR YOUR DFSS PROCESS STEPS

We will introduce a new approach to make your DFSS steps accessible and easy to use by everyone in marketing and engineering. This new approach relies on Web 2.0 technology and results in an elegant web site for casual users as well as experts. The workshop will take us through the most common steps in any Systems Engineering or DFSS related Product Development Process (PDP) as we create templates and fill them in using a sample case study project.

WORKSHOP LEADER: David M Cronin, Director, Business Development, COGNITION CORPORATION
Mr. Cronin has been part of the product development world for 20 years. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, both from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Mr. Cronin has worked in both the engineering and application development fields and is currently responsible for conducting applications and business development at Cognition. He assists companies who are implementing Systems Engineering, DFSS, and other product development improvement initiatives and has experience in such industries as medical devices, automotive, defense/aerospace, consumer electronics, and appliances.

THE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL KAIZEN AND THE PITFALLS TO AVOID

Successful Kaizen events are a cornerstone of a sustainable Lean Six Sigma program. Unfortunately, there are many pitfalls that can befall these events before, during, and after their completion. Problems can range from selecting the wrong topics to team membership issues to lack of follow-up.

This workshop will cover all three phases of a Kaizen – Preparation, Execution, and Follow-Up. The speaker will identify the major roles that are required during each phase of an event and outline their responsibilities. Common pitfalls and warning signs will be discussed along with strategies to be used to counteract them.

After completion of this workshop, participants will:
- Know the roles and responsibilities required before, during, and after a Kaizen
- Learn a process and schedule to use when preparing for a Kaizen
- Identify key components to a Kaizen charter
- Gain familiarity with tools that can be applied during the event
- Learn strategies to aid in follow-up

WORKSHOP LEADER: Mike Ferraris, Continuous Process Improvement - Corporate Business Executive Office, NAVSEA WARFARE CENTERS
Michael Ferraris has worked for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, RI since 1995. Michael is an American Society of Quality / Department of the Navy Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. He has led the Continuous Process Improvement Programs in both the Torpedo Systems Department and the Electromagnetic Systems Department at NUWC and is currently the Continuous Process Improvement Black Belt for the Corporate Business Executive for all the NAVSEA Warfare Centers. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MS in Program Management from the Naval Postgraduate School. Prior to becoming a Certified Black Belt, he was the Lead Integration Engineer for the Heavyweight Torpedo programs and the Lead Guidance and Control Instructor for the Heavyweight Torpedo in the Torpedo Systems Department. Michael lives in southern RI with his wife, three dogs, and five cats.

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF COMPUTER EXPERIMENTS

DFSS emphasizes the development and judicious use of "transfer functions." Often these transfer functions are computer models or simulation tools. This workshop highlights differences between classical Design of Experiments (DOE) and efficient methods that can be applied to conduct experimentation using computer models. The intended audience is anyone with knowledge of basic DOE methods. Emphasis will be more on the practical "how-to" than on theory. Topics to be addressed include
- Monte Carlo simulation, including examples using Excel and Crystal Ball
- Designs for computer experiments
- Regression and response surface methods for capturing transfer functions
- Real world case study applications of these methods

WORKSHOP LEADER: Nathan Soderborg, PhD, DFSS Master Black Belt, & Member of the Office of Technical Fellow for Quality Engineering Body Interior Six Sigma, NAPD, FORD MOTOR CO.
Nathan R. Soderborg is a Master Black Belt in Ford Motor Company's North American Product Development organization with current assignment in the Body Interior organization. At Ford since 1992, he has been a leader in the development and deployment of Design For Six Sigma since 2000. He leads a team of certified black belts in solving problems related to current and future programs. In addition, he conducts training, mentors teams, and leads institutionalization of DFSS lessons learned from across the company. Mr. Soderborg has a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan, a B.S. in Mathematics from Brigham Young University, and an M.S. in Engineering and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality and a Certified Reliability Engineer and Six Sigma Black Belt. He is the author of over 25 technical papers and four patents.

The 4th Annual Design for Six Sigma Conference will bring together senior-level quality & process improvement professionals from a broad range of organizations.

One of the key benefits of attending this conference is the networking opportunities you will find.

WCBF structure their events to make them as interactive as possible to maximize knowledge sharing. As well as networking opportunities over breakfast, breaks, sit down plated lunches, a gala reception and various dinners, there are roundtable sessions, panel sessions, Q&As and various benchmarking forums. WCBF understands networking is a key value driver, and we make sure our events are at cutting-edge of the latest networking thinking, including recently introduced initiatives such as the "Wall of Opportunity" and "Speed Networking"

Sponsorship provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate your presence amongst a pre-eminent network of senior management executives. A range of sponsorship and advertising options are available, if you are a consultant or vendor and wish to take further advantage of these opportunities, you should contact Flora Hamilton of WCBF about taking an exhibition booth or sponsoring one of the lunches, breaks or evening receptions.

Email: flora.hamilton@wcbf.com

You will benefit from this conference if you are a:

• Head of Technology

• VP of Manufacturing

• Head of R&D

• VP of Performance Improvement

• VP of Process Excellence/ Improvement

• VP of Six Sigma

• VP/ Director of Quality

• Head/ Director of Engineering

• Head of Operational Excellence

• Senior Engineer

• VP of Business Excellence

• Deployment Leader/ Champion

• Head of Process Management

• Programme Manager, Project Manager

• Director of Operations

• Six Sigma Champion, Master Black Belt and Black Belt

Venue

MonteLago Village Resort

30 Strada Di Villaggio

Henderson, NV 89011

Reservations: 1.866.787.1945 or 702.564.4700

http://www.montelagovillage.com

Hotel and travel costs are NOT included in the conference fee. However, WCBF has negotiated special room rates for those attending the Conference starting at just $124++ per room per night. Please note, that the group room rate cut-off is January 26, 2009 so please ensure you book early to secure the reduced rate. Quote WCBF or the "Six Sigma DFSS Conference" title when making the booking.

MonteLago Village Resort is a one of a kind luxury Las Vegas resort, located just 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Set among the desert mountains of Nevada on the shores of sparkling Lake Las Vegas, the Mediterranean-themed village offers exquisite shopping and dining, golfing, European-style gaming, and access to the championship golf and lakeside recreation of Lake Las Vegas Resort.

The Conference experience is unique, but we can still provide you with the documentation of the event you missed on CD, for $699 (inc.p&p).

To order call (1) 800-959-6549 0r (1) 312-466-5774 - or email reg@wcbf.com.