Session B - Pre-Conference Workshop
Steve Prevette, Lori Strom, and Mike Trimble on
From My Numbers to Our Understanding Variation
 

Tony Brown

Biography: Steve Prevette is a practitioner of Performance Measurement using the Theory and Tools developed and promoted by Dr. Walter Shewhart and Dr. W. Edwards Deming. He currently works as a statistician for Fluor Hanford in Richland, Washington, reporting to Occupational Safety and Health. He supports performance indicators in a broad spectrum of subjects, including safety, environment, operations, maintenance, and quality. His customers include the University of Washington and four DOE sites (Hanford, Fernald, Lawrence Berkeley and Los Alamos), and several Department of Energy contractors.  Steve provides his customers with more than 3,000 charts and files per month. Yes, Steve has a control chart of the number of charts made each month.

Steve has published articles both with the American Society for Quality, and the American Society of Safety Engineers.  “Lead to Succeed” for the American Society of Quality appeared in the September 2005 issue of Quality Progress and “Charting Safety Performance” by ASSE in its Professional Safety magazine in May 2006.  He has provided Dr. Deming’s Red Bead Experiment for more than 2,500 persons, and leads a monthly training session in performance indicators. He has taught evening statistical courses for City University's Richland, WA site. Steve holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech, and a M.S. degree in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Websites:
Work: www.hanford.gov/rl/?page=1144&parent=169
Home: model railroad: http://users.owt.com/prevette

Contact: Steve can be reached by e-mail at steven_s_prevette@rl.gov for additional information about this pre-conference session.

Tony Brown

Biography:
Lori Strom joined Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) in March of 2006. Her current role is in the Supply Management (SM) organization where she serves as the SM Pilot for UTC’s internal operating system, Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE). Lori is the current chair for the Process Certification board for PWR Canoga Park. Ms. Strom supports process improvement projects both within Supply Management and as needed throughout PWR. Her other experience at PWR includes advising on export issues and procedures.

In 2002, Lori earned a B.S. in molecular biology from Georgia Tech. While at Georgia Tech, she also studied computer science. Ms. Strom completed her M.B.A. at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus in the Deming Scholars Honors M.B.A. Program.

Prior to completing her M.B.A., Ms. Strom worked in several industries including financial services, real estate development, satellite operations, software development, and insurance. She has also served on the board of directors for several non-profit organizations.

Contact: Lori can be reached by e-mail at lori.strom@pwr.utc.com for additional information about this pre-conference session.


Tony Brown

Biography:
Mike Trimble is the Principal Partner at Transformation Leadership – an organizational development firm specializing in the successful application of strategic planning, problem solving, continuous improvement, Lean Six Sigma Quality, and portfolio project management methodologies.  In addition to on-site training and consulting, he offers a unique group based learning program that blends theory with the real world application of these proven methods.  His corporate affiliations include Boeing, 3M, SanDisk, PacificLife, McDonalds, Lacrimedics, Star Trac, TRW, Ford, Honda, Southern California Edison, and Western Gear.

Mike’s executive management experience includes over 10 years profit and loss responsibility leading dynamic businesses through periods of high growth, operational start-up, organizational transformation, performance optimization, and enhanced profitability.  His teaching assignments include Keller Graduate School of Management (KGSM), USC, and UC Irvine. 

Contact: Mike can be reached by e-mail at MikeT.email@yahoo.com and by phone at 714-738-4836 for additional information about this pre-conference session.


Workshop Title: From My Numbers to Our Understanding Variation

Date: Thursday, April 17th

Length: 3 hours (9:00-12:00pm)

Location: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne - 6633 Canoga Avenue, Canoga Park

Workshop Cost: None

Description:
Numbers, numbers everywhere, but not a digit fit to make a decision from.  With apologies to the Ancient Mariner, we will explore how to make use of the myriad of numbers most corporations generate.  Have you ever felt victim of the latest quarterly report … the latest safety report …  the latest production report?  Don’t be a victim -- use our understanding of variation to begin the transformation and make a difference!  Here is how to take your learning from the In2:InThinking Network 2008 Forum and apply it to make your life-work easier. 

We will start with Dr. Deming’s Red Bead Experiment, a hands-on demonstration of what can go wrong with numerical targets, quotas, tables of numbers, rating and ranking, and demonstrate how to turn the performance of the White Bead Production Corporation around.

We will learn from a statistician, an executive practitioner/management consultant and an improvement leader how to gain a meaningful understanding of your data by using Statistical Process Control, Histograms and Pareto Charts.  We will demonstrate with case studies how to translate your data from simply numbers in a table to knowledge that you and your managers can use for success.  We will discover the difference that Understanding Variation from Dr. Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge can provide.

Target Audience: This workshop is geared for those who are NOT statisticians!  It’s also ideal for those interested in gaining insight into the use of Statistical Process Control and the teachings of Dr. Walter Shewhart and Dr. W. Edwards Deming. 

Organization Issues: Organizations around the world make bad decisions from data every day.   We will learn how to turn that around, and make our numbers work for us, rather than you working for the numbers, and reacting to the quarterly profit statement.

Objectives: Upon completion of the workshop, the participant will be able to use the Theory of Variation to make a difference.  You will be able to build a better future and lead a transformation in thinking from being able to predict the future values of your data.

Workshop Handouts:
Available for download after the Forum