My purpose is to synthesize Data Science, Lean, and Six Sigma Continuous Process Improvement tools to provide a unique tool set and solve problems.
I am an experienced Continuous Process Improvement Leader, Mentor, Practitioner, and Educator seeking to share my knowledge with anyone who will listen, through the synthesis of Data Science, Lean and Six Sigma principles, and Statistical Analysis tools that can be applied to any situation. At home, work, and play, regardless of your area of interest, Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) methodologies can be applied to give you more time for what is important to you.
What I offer are not secrets, but a unique way to apply CPI in ways that work in any setting. By creatively using these CPI concepts you can achieve the results you are looking for. Whatever your goals are, I believe that you can achieve them more efficiently and effectively by using CPI tools and methods.
A little bit about my background:
A long, long time ago…
I enlisted in the US Navy in 1993 as an avionics technician and performed in a variety of roles over the following 20 years. After working as a helicopter maintainer through 1997 I “tried on a new hat” as a recruiter. After learning the ropes during my first year I ranked in the top 5% and top 7% of recruiters in my district the following two years.
Following my recruiting experience, I returned to helicopter maintenance, this time in a managerial role where I was in charge of both a maintenance work center while also working as a quality assurance manager. It was while in this role that I was first introduced to Continuous Process Improvement through my organization’s Total Quality Management program, where I participated in various focus groups and was taught to use the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle to improve our processes.
In 2005 I became an instructor and Certified Navy Master Training Specialist and taught new avionics technicians the same skills I’d begun learning over a decade earlier (in the same classroom, no less!). A shortage of instructors and classrooms, combined with an abundance of students, forced our team to reevaluate our training methodology; it was here where I first learned to apply the Theory of Constraints methodology to solve throughput problems, and my team was able to drastically reduce costs.
2008 brought a new position as a helicopter maintenance manager. Although I’d performed some project management functions in some of my previous positions, it was while in this role that I began using those skills on (almost) a daily basis. The management of aircraft maintenance while constantly transitioning locations (from San Diego, to an aircraft carrier, and then back again) while ensuring that all operational needs are met is no small task, especially with a constantly rotating pool of personnel!
My final role with the Navy was as a Continuous Process Improvement Program Manager. It was while in this role that I really learned what CPI was all about and how it can improve an organization. Through training, education, and hands-on DMAIC project leadership my CPI team was able to accomplish amazing things in a challenging environment. Some of my favorite memories of this time are the conversations I’d have with new CPI practitioners at how excited they were to apply Lean Six Sigma tools in new and unexpected ways.
And speaking of new and unexpected… Following my retirement from the Navy my family relocated to Verdi, Nevada! Eager to “get back to the real world” I started sending out resumes. One of those resumes led to what I (at the time) considered a practice interview with the region’s largest hospital system. Little did I know that I would fall madly in love with my interview team and, as a result, take the job (as an e-learning specialist within the Organizational Development function). I left the position almost two years later to complete my Executive MBA with University of Nevada, Reno. Shortly into my “second retirement” I embarked on a series of journeys through various manufacturing organizations, completion of a second master’s degree (MS in Business Analytics through Golden Gate University), and most recently completed a Certificate in Applied Data Science with MIT… which brings us to where I am today.
Prior to everything I listed above I was born in Toledo, Ohio and spent most of my childhood growing up in DeLand, Florida. I am married to a woman who is more amazing than I deserve, and I am the proud parent of four incredible children. I enjoy old pinball machines, occasionally plant plastic flamingos in a neighbor’s yard, and am (after years of practice) a very mediocre ukulele player.