MILWAUKEE - The American Society for Quality will host its fourth Six Sigma Conference February 2-3, 2004. "Excellence by Design" is the theme of the conference, which will be held at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort. Ken Lewis, chairman, chief executive officer, and president of Bank of America Corporation, will present the keynote address on Monday, February 2. His presentation is "The Customer Wins: Six Sigma and Financial Services."
In 2002, Lewis was recognized as Banker of the Year by the American Banker and as Top Chief Executive Officer by U.S. Banker.Alan P. Brache will present a keynote presentation Monday afternoon.
Brache is a partner and executive vice president of Kepner-Tregoe, an international consulting and skill development firm that specializes in strategy formulation and implementation, problem-solving and decision making, project management, and human performance management. He co-authored Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart, the book that launched the process improvement revolution and introduced the first set of tools for comprehensively managing an organization as an integrated system.
More recently, he is the author of How Organizations Work: Taking a Holistic approach to Organization Health, which enables readers to diagnose each of the variables that influences their organizations' performance.Sessions by firms representing manufacturing, service, and healthcare, as well as others, will provide valuable case studies, techniques, and lessons learned as well as the latest tools and know-how in six sigma implementation. In response to past attendees' requests for identifying the complexity of the material presented, a complexity rating from 1-3 has been assigned to the presentations to help attendees choose sessions at the levels that best meet their needs.Also on Monday, February 2, the Executive Edge program will be offered.
Designed for executives only, it's a moderated discussion with the conference keynote speakers including Ken Lewis and Dr. A. Blanton Godfrey, editor of Six Sigma Forum Magazine of issues specific to the executive role. In-depth discussions and a roundtable format will allow for a free-flowing exchange of valuable ideas and insights. Monday evening will conclude with the ASQ Six Sigma Forum Master Black Belt dinner, designed to offer a limited number of participants an opportunity to dine with experienced Master Black Belts.
A moderated panel will share their personal experiences, provide insights, and discuss the application of the tools that yield results.The ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam will be offered Sunday, February 1, from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. prior to the start of the conference.
Pre-registration for the exam is required.Registration for ASQ members and Six Sigma Forum members is $895 and $995.
Visit http://sixsigma.asq.org/index.html for detailed conference updates. The American Society for Quality (ASQ) is the world's leading authority on quality.
The 104,000-member professional association advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools, and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners, and everyday consumers. Headquartered in Milwaukee, the 57-year-old organization also administers the U.S. Commerce Department's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator.
More information can be found at http://www.asq.org .
