MAY 23rd MEETING NOTICE:
Byron Wingerd
Diagnosing the root cause of shifts, drifts and trends in complex manufacturing processes can lead to large data sets that catalog changes to each step and input. Maintaining a focused approach to an investigation can be difficult while attempting to balance the biases and beliefs of investigation sponsors with those of multidisciplinary root cause analysis "teams." Such distractions can easily overshadow the complexity of the process under investigation. One approach to this challenge is to exclude categories of competing causes as quickly as possible to focus the investigation team's resources in unified directions. A simple graphical tool can be useful when clear process changes are experienced; however, less well defined process changes and large numbers of categorical process inputs with frequent level changes mixed with continuous variables can lead to project delaying fishing expeditions.
Decision trees and regression trees can enable the systematic selection of good candidates from long lists of parameters. These tools can scan large lists to help uncover terms that drive cost, quality or specific metrics. This presentation will demonstrate the use of partition trees in a case study of a retrospective process investigation and the implementation of a graphical test that was useful for screening cause-and-effect relationships for categories of process inputs.
Before joining SAS, Wingerd worked in biologics manufacturing for the pharmaceutical industry. He was a Process Engineer for Merck in West Point, PA and, earlier, a Senior Scientist at Emergent BioSolutions, where he was responsible for vaccine production and development. In that role, he used Six Sigma methodology for improving vaccine manufacturing processes. Wingerd also was the subject matter expert for the company's BioThrax vaccine. Before graduate school, he worked for Abbott Laboratories, producing monoclonal antibodies for use in clinical diagnostic medical devices.
Wingerd graduated from Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL, where he majored in pre-med biology. He earned a PhD in microbiology and cell and molecular biology from Michigan State University in East Lansing. As a post-doctoral fellow at Michigan State's Center for Integrated Plant Systems, Wingerd researched plant defense mechanisms.
_________________________________________________________________
Kathy Pourmehr
The mystery shopping industry allows companies to evaluate the quality of service and products their associates are delivering using everyday shoppers as evaluators. There is no better method for a company to gain an impartial perspective on how they are doing in meeting customer's expectations!
Dr. Kathy Pourmehr has been managing Information Technology teams for the past 20 years. She has mentored numerous junior managers, helping them achieve their maximum potential as they embark in a management career. She is the Senior Director of Application Services for the American Cancer Society. Kathy holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Information Systems, an MBA, and a Doctorate in Business Administration, and has ASQ certification as both a Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence and a Software Quality Engineer. She is the author of "Management - Things Your Mother Never Told You" which has appeared 35 times on the iBookstore Top 100 Books in the UK, Australia and Germany. She is a contributing writer for www.bodaciousboomers.com, a digital-Ezine magazine dedicated to active adults. Kathy and her husband Fred have been married for 32 years and have three children. She speaks numerous languages, some more fluently than others, plays in six different tennis leagues, plays in a table tennis league, and enjoys traveling.
Mike has been working with the chef to keep costs from increasing and this month's menu selection is the Chef's Choice. Please note on your reservation request if you have special dietary considerations.
|
LOCATION:
|
Hilton Suites Hotel
6120 Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA 30328
|
|
Time:
|
5:30 P.M. Social Period & Registration / Cash Bar
5:45 P.M. Mini Workshop
6:30 P.M. Dinner Begins |
|
Cost:
|
$30 Member, $35 Non-Member and member with late reservation, $40 Non-Member late reservation.
On-line PayPal payment REQUIRED.
|
