Elaine Schmidt

“Train and hope for the best.” Acting on that tenuous proposition, a small group of Chevron Corp. employees initiated a business unit deployment of Six Sigma eight years ago. The odds that it would spread enterprise wide were not good. But fueled by proponents’ zeal and impressive results, the grassroots effort crossed national and business […]

For Lt. Col. Harry Yates of the 335th Theater Signal Command and his deployment advisor Capt. George Harris, Lean Six Sigma is having a big impact on the way daily work gets done. The 335th is an Army Reserve command co-located with Fort McPherson in East Point, Georgia. It is responsible for signal operations supporting […]

“We’re the largest company you’ve never heard of.” That description of McKesson Corp. by Master Black Belt Bob Gooby underscores the relative anonymity of the organization that is the largest – and also the oldest – healthcare services company in the United States. McKesson has been providing medical products for more than 175 years, yet […]

In today’s U.S. Army, it’s not caissons that are rolling along. It’s Lean Six Sigma. From the mess hall at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, to the recruiting command at Fort Knox, Ky., to the Texas depot where beat-up Humvees are rebuilt to go back into combat, the sweeping rollout of Lean Six […]

Red River Army Depot (RRAD) is a sprawling industrial complex of some 1,400 buildings on 18,300 acres in northeast Texas. Called one of the “crown jewels of the Army” by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Red River is a leader in supporting the warfighter. The depot’s mission is to return torn-up, […]