ASPIN Meeting - Making Lean Six Sigma and CMMI work for you

Making Lean Six Sigma and CMMI Work for You
(Second of a 2-part series)

May 14, 2009
Speaker: David Srulowitz, business and technical professional services consultant
Overview:
Have you ever wondered why Japanese car manufacturers took the lead in market share from American car manufacturers over the years? Do they have some secret technology, methodology, or economic weapon that they have been keeping to themselves? Did they receive it from aliens from another planet? The answer, quite simply, is that it’s the application and practice of Lean Six Sigma in the Japanese factories and production lines. The Japanese have been trying to give us the knowledge and capabilities of Lean Six Sigma for years, even building factories in the US and teaching Americans how to do it (Why would they do this, you may ask? Come find out!). Still, the average American business person has either still never heard of it, thinks they know what it is (but they don’t), or dismisses it as another “process improvement-de-jour” that doesn’t work and will fade quickly. The Japanese developed Lean Six Sigma over the years, starting with assistance from an American (one of Japan’s national heroes, by the way), whom the American car manufacturers wouldn’t listen to (so much for the alien theory!).

The speaker will give two presentations on Lean Six Sigma and how it can be blended with the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for Development for use on software and all sorts of projects. The first night’s presentation will be solely devoted to the “Lean” in Lean Six Sigma. The second presentation at a later date will explain the “Six Sigma” part of “Lean Six Sigma” and tie Lean, Six Sigma, and CMMI together in a way that makes sense of it all. Make no mistake…Lean Six Sigma “is” an economic weapon of sorts! If you aren’t understanding and using it in your business applications, your competition is. And the worst part is, that business competition is now global and your “global competitors” are years ahead of you in getting started if you still don’t know much about Lean Six Sigma! Don’t end up like some American car manufacturers who didn’t listen years ago!

About the Speaker:
David (Dave) Srulowitz is a business and technical professional services consultant, currently working with Kforce Government Solutions (KGS) at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Financial Services Center (FSC) in Austin, where he is leading them in a CMMI for Development Maturity Level (ML) 3 initiative. He is a seasoned software, management, project management, and process improvement professional and leader, having served as a US Air Force Communications-Computer officer for 22 years and in the private sector for over 10 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Black Belt. His Black Belt project focused on using Lean Thinking to reduce the time it takes a CMMI ML1 company to achieve ML3. He is an accomplished academic (four degrees), assertive leader, and productive technician, (recognized for several leadership, work, and academic-related honors). He teaches M.S. Quality Systems Management classes for the National Graduate School and Lean Manufacturing/Thinking, Six Sigma, and Project Management classes for the Northwest Vista College. Dave has served in various leadership, technical, and management positions, supporting several diverse military and commercial business missions and operations. Now an Austin SPIN member, he is a charter member of the San Antonio SPIN (10 years) and served the past 2 years as its President. He is also a member of the Alamo Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and teaches PMP Certification Preparation classes for them. He wrote four LSS courses and taught them to several Toyota-supplier companies, on-site, during a recent production cutback, at the San Antonio Toyota Tundra pickup manufacturing plant.
Meeting Agenda:
6:30 p.m. Networking and Gathering
7:00 p.m. Call to Order, Announcements
7:15 p.m. Presentation, with Q/A
8:45 p.m. Door Prize, Meeting Evaluation, Adjourn

Meeting Location:
Amplify Federal Credit Union, 2608 Brockton Dr. Off of Burnet Rd, and just one block north of Braker Lane,
Northeast corner of Brockton and Burnet. Map, directions.
For more details, see the ASPIN web site at www.austin-spin.org

Tonight’s Door Prizes:
The Black Belt Memory Jogger, from the Six Sigma Academy, published by GOAL/QPC.

Open Membership:
Membership in the Austin SPIN is free and open to all. Come with a friend!

Re-certification Credit:
Proof of Attendance forms will be provided for PMI (PDU), ASQ (RU) and PDMA (PDH) re-certifications.

Special Note:
The Austin SPIN does not meet during June, but that gives you time to consider how you can give back to your profession by being part of the team that keeps the Austin SPIN moving along. In July, we do our annual election of board members, and being on the Board is open to all active members. Consider your talents and interests and let us know if you'd like to run for a position on the Board or be a Member at Large. See the description of duties on the Bylaws page on the Austin SPIN web site for more information on what's involved. It's a good way to get to know the Austin software community a little better.