Culture of Improvement, Global Environment Among Focus of ASQ’s 2012 Lean and Six Sigma Conference

“Positive Outcomes: Putting Lean and Six Sigma to Work”
Theme of 12th Annual Event

Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 15, 2011 —The vice president in charge of Xerox’s Corporate Lean Six Sigma initiatives and the CEO and co–founder of Zingerman’s community of businesses are among the headliners speaking at ASQ’s 2012 Lean and Six Sigma Conference.
The event, which features hands–on workshops and networking opportunities, will be held Feb. 27 and 28, 2012, at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix. The conference theme is “Positive Outcomes: Putting Lean and Six Sigma to Work.”
The conference will focus on the culture of improvement; global imperative; new and unique applications with lean and Six Sigma; technical, applied, and statistical tools; and cost, waste, and defect reduction.
Gregory North, vice president of Xerox, and Ari Weinzweig, CEO and co–founder of Zingerman’s, are confirmed keynote speakers at the 12th annual event.
North is a Master Black Belt and responsible for the Xerox Corporate Lean Six Sigma program. He has extensive experience with Lean Six Sigma, including developing and deploying Fidelity Investments’ program. North also held a range of business excellence and quality positions at M/A-COM Wireless Communications and Electronics, a part of Tyco International.
Weinzweig co–founded Zingerman’s community of businesses in 1982 and has grown the operation to sales nearing $40 million. Zingerman’s community of businesses includes a mail order operation, coffee company, catering business, and consulting firm, which shares with other organizations Zingerman’s approach to business. In 1988, Zingerman’s was instrumental in founding Food Gatherers, a perishable food rescue program that delivers more than 1 million pounds of food to people in need annually.
ASQ’s 2012 Lean and Six Sigma Conference offers more than 50 concurrent sessions facilitated by experts in quality. Session titles include “Making Positive Outcomes in Accountability,” “Six Sigma–The Journey and Evolution Toward Sustainability,” “Execution–The Key to Six Sigma Success,” “Empower Your Staff to Eliminate the Eight Wastes Every Day,” and “Lean Handbook Journey.”
The full program and session descriptions can be found at asq.org/conferences/six-sigma/program/index.html.