B. About the Contributors
Michael Brennan is an executive director for Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. (SBTI). Brennan specializes in strategic planning, executive training in Six Sigma, new product planning, product development, and Six Sigma deployment. He previously was vice president of product development at Black & Decker Power Tools and the Life Fitness Division of Brunswick. He is an accomplished leader and change agent with a track record of delivering world-class results in global markets with strategic planning, innovative products, concurrent product development, manufacturing startup, and effective product marketing. Mike earned his MBA and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville, Kentucky.
Joyce A. Friel is president of Peak Performance Consulting Corporation. With more than 25 years’ experience in organizational development, human resources, and process improvement consulting, Friel serves as a business leader, strategist, facilitator, catalyst, and developer. Her applications experience comes from leading change in both Fortune 500 and smaller organizations, including Eastman Kodak, IBM, and Kodak Polychrome Graphics. As a visionary leadership strategist and catalyst for change, Friel concentrates on strategic planning, measurement and goal alignment; change management; leadership development, group process design, and facilitation. Joyce is an active member of Arizona Business Leaders, Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Arizona SHRM Consultant’s Forum, International Association of Facilitators, National Organizational Development Network, and Executive Women’s Golf Association. Friel has served on numerous community and educational advisory boards and is an adjunct faculty member of the Graduate School of the College of Business and Professional Studies at Grand Canyon University.
Joe Ficalora is currently the vice president of technology at SBTI. In this role, he is responsible for the methodologies, content, and technical approaches SBTI uses. Joe developed and designed the highly acclaimed SBTI Master Black Belt Program. He has worked, and is certified as, a Black Belt and Master Black Belt. He has consulted with clients in the medical devices, beverage, health care and food packaging, electronics, metal, glass, and plastics manufacturing industries. He has mentored, designed, and taught workshops to Executives, Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts in DFSS, Six-Sigma in Manufacturing, and Transactional Business projects worldwide. Ficalora also holds several patents in lasers and optical devices, and is an active member in IEEE and ASQ.
Dino Hernandez is director of sales and marketing for SBTI. He leads the marketing and sales teams and champions SBTI’s Marketing and Sales for Six Sigma products. With over 15 years’ experience in management and business leadership, Hernandez has led businesses in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. In addition to his broad experiences in marketing, sales management, and product development, he is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, with expertise in both the DMAIC and DFSS roadmaps. He has an MBA from the University of Texas and a BSEE from the University of Oklahoma.
Roger Hinckley is director of international operations for SBTI. He enhances SBTI’s international activities by developing international joint ventures, partnerships, and affiliations; working with International JV leadership deployment planning and training; developing an operational infrastructure; and reporting with managing translations of SBTI Intellectual Property (IP) materials to facilitate training and testing in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Hinckley has also contributed to market analysis of market segments for Six Sigma applications, client pitch and negotiation with relevant financial modeling, executive material customization, deployment modeling, and coaching support.
Daniel M. Kutz is president of SBTI. He oversees business development, marketing, sales, and day-to-day operations. He previously served as vice president of operations and was responsible for all internal operations, expanding sales and marketing efforts, overseeing project managers, revising the leadership training curriculum, and expanding the regional training program. Earlier, as an SBTI master consultant, Kutz taught and consulted with client companies worldwide in Six Sigma methods and productivity improvement. He was the project manager coordinating the Six Sigma deployment efforts in Eaton Corporation, Cummins, Cooper-Cameron, Entergy, and BASF Automotive Coatings. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University and an M.S. in Manufacturing Systems and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Kristine Nissen is a senior consultant with SBTI and is currently deploying process improvement methods to clients around the world. Ms. Nissen has successfully implemented Lean and Six Sigma techniques within global logistics and distribution, chemical, manufacturing, medical device, and service companies ranging from $400 million to $40 billion in annual revenue. She codeveloped SBTI’s Transactional Green Belt and Black Belt curriculums and the Six Sigma Process Design methodology that enables companies to rapidly develop and deploy new processes and services that meet customer needs. Ms. Nissen has experience in all areas of business process management and improvement, with demonstrated expertise in Six Sigma, Lean, project management, Total Quality Management (TQM), DFSS, product cost reduction, and statistical modeling. She is a certified Master Black Belt.
Randy Perry is a senior-level executive for SBTI. He has extensive experience in P&L, global product management, marketing, Six Sigma, strategic planning, personnel coordination, and budgeting for global process operations. Perry is a Master Black Belt in Design, Operations, and Transactional Six Sigma methods, with experience in project implementation for various multinational corporations. Perry has worked with clients such as Seagate, Tyco, Celanese, Eastman Chemical, BASF, Sequa Chemical, WR Grace, TRW, Lincoln Electric, FMC, Johnson Wax, and Osram Sylvania.
Richard R. Scott is master consultant and executive director for SBTI. He manages the SBTI Master Black Belt Program, which trains and develops superior Six Sigma leaders; highly knowledgeable mentors and technical resources for Champions, Black Belts, and Green Belts; and excellent instructors, communicators, and future business leaders. Scott is an expert in Six Sigma for Operations, DFSS, Marketing for Six Sigma, project management, TQM, and statistical modeling.
Debby Sollenberger is vice president of business development for SBTI. She brings her experience as a General Electric executive to consult with senior leaders of SBTI’s current and future clients. Sollenberger is a General Electric-certified Black Belt and Master Black Belt. She has designed, developed and delivered training in DMAIC, Design/Measure/Analyze/Design/Verify (DMADV), and Black Belt Leadership Training.
Dr. Ian Wedgwood is an executive director for SBTI, responsible for working extensively with clients, consultants, and home-office staff to ensure client success and continued business development. Dr.Wedgwood has led a number of deployments in industries as diverse as electronics, engineered materials, medical devices, chemicals, and healthcare, and has trained and mentored numerous Executives, Champions, and Belts in DFSS, Six Sigma, and Lean. Dr.Wedgwood has a strong product development background and codeveloped SBTI’s Lean Design, Lean Sigma, and Healthcare methodologies and curricula. He holds a Ph.D., and a first-class honors degree, in applied mathematics from Scotland’s St. Andrew’s University.
Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. (SBTI), a corporation with 28 employees and over 50 expert consultants, is based in San Marcos, Texas (only 25 minutes south of Austin, Texas). Specializing in Lean and Six Sigma deployments, the CEO and executive team has over 100 years of combined process-improvement and product-development expertise. SBTI has been delivering superior results through Six Sigma and Lean for customers since May 1997. SBTI executive directors and master consultants have a minimum of 10 years’ industry experience, but many have 25 years’ experience or more. Executive directors for SBTI have actually led program deployments inside a corporation and/or as an outside project manager. SBTI has worked with over 50 corporate clients. Find out more about SBTI at http://www.sbti-hq.com/.
Peak Performance Consulting Corporation is an organizational development company. With intentionally planned efforts specifically targeted to client needs, Peak Performance increases the client organization’s effectiveness by increasing leadership capability, streamlining and defining effective processes, facilitating the development and use of balanced strategic plans, and regularly monitoring metrics. Collectively, these and other intentionally planned activities yield a shift in the organization’s culture and results. Peak Performance works with companies to assess and design business solutions that deliver results, with customers ranging from small businesses to large Fortune 500 companies located throughout the U.S. and Canada. Find out more about Peak Performance Consulting Corporation at www.Peakperfromancecorp.com.
Instantis, Inc., provides on-demand software to manage CXO-mandated initiatives that improve enterprise financial performance. Leading global corporations, such as Credit Suisse, McKesson, Xerox, Verizon, and dozens of others, use Instantis software to manage initiatives such as Six Sigma, Lean, Operational Excellence, New Product Development, and more. Instantis’s flagship EnterpriseTrack product enables CXOs to assure that teams convert their strategic priorities into visible execution in the form of structured, trackable, manageable projects. With unmatched configurability, ease of deployment, ease of use, ease of administration, and a comprehensive fourth-generation feature set, EnterpriseTrack is in production deployment at more Global 2000 companies than any other comparable product. Instantis customers span multiple industries—such as manufacturing, healthcare, services—and include market leaders. Find out more about Instantis at www.instantis.com.