How leading companies are using Lean and Six Sigma
A panel of experts discuss how leading companies are using Lean and Six Sigma. The panel will discuss the benefits and challenges of Lean and Six Sigma and will provide insight on the journey of building a culture of excellence. This session will provide valuable learning for both those early in the journey or experienced practitioners.
Panelists:
Steve Gran, Principal of Blueprint 57
Bill Owad, Cardinal Health
Peter Ward, The Ohio State University
Moderator: Andy Keller, Cardinal Health
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Date: March 18, 2010
Location: Concourse Hotel
Panel Bios
Steve Gran
Steve Gran is the Principal of Blueprint 57, located in Dublin, Ohio. Blueprint 57 is a consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance improvement, including lean and six sigma, with specialty in the areas of supply chain management and lean logistics.
Before starting Blueprint 57, Steve held various senior operational positions with Pilkington North America, formally Libbey-Owens-Ford, in its Aftermarket Glass Division. He also held various roles in Pilkington’s Operating Excellence Department implementing lean and six sigma, in both transactional and manufacturing cultures, which included the integration of Supply Chain Management. During this time, Steve achieved Master Black Belt certification. Prior to working at Pilkington, Steve worked at Kinko’s Graphics Corporation in many management capacities.
Steve is currently an instructor in the Ohio State University MBA Program, a board member of the Council of Logistics Management, Columbus Roundtable, and an elected board member of his children’s elementary school, as well as a guest speaker for various organizations. Steve compliments his years of experience with a Bachelor Degree in Transportation and Logistics from Ohio State University.
William P. Owad, Jr. (Bill)
Bill Owad is Senior Vice president of Operational Excellence with Cardinal Health. He is responsible for the development and implementation of an enterprise approach to operational excellence and the pursuit of becoming a “lean” enterprise. Owad also supports the extension of Operational Excellence external to Cardinal through his active membership in the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) Partner’s Program, the Ohio State University Fisher College Center for Operational Excellence and the Conference Board Quality Council.
Prior to his current role, Owad served as; (1) SVP, Operational Excellence – Cardinal Health Clinical and Medical Products, (2) SVP, Operational Excellence – Cardinal Health Medical Products, and (3) SVP, Operational Excellence – Cardinal Health. During his tenure, Owad served as the primary architect of Cardinal’s enterprise wide deployment of Lean Six Sigma which in 3 years has yielded significant operational and working capital improvements.
Owad, who has served as a past board chair for the Central Ohio American Red Cross BioMedical Services, past board chair for the Cordelia Martin Health Center, and senior examiner for both The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program and the Ohio Award for Excellence, has served in multiple roles that have used the tools of Lean Six Sigma to transform health care provider organizations, supply chain and medical supply companies.
Prior to joining Cardinal Health, Owad, the author of several publications and presentations on quality systems and customer loyalty, has held several operations and administrative roles within the health care provider market. These roles include Corporate Director of Quality for ProMedica Health System, executive director for Cordelia Martin Health Center, and several adjunct faculty positions with the College of Pharmacy at the University of Toledo and other nationally recognized programs.
Owad received his bachelor’s of science degree in pharmaceutical sciences and his master’s of business administration from the University of Toledo.
Peter T. Ward
Chair, Department of Management Sciences;
Richard M. Ross Chair in Management;
Professor of Operations Management;
Director, Center for Operational Excellence (COE)
Professor Ward is the leading expert in lean management and is president of the Lean Education Academic Network. His research has been published in a number of journals, including Decision Sciences, Journal of Operations Management and Production and Operations Management. He is research director for the Center for Operational Excellence, associate editor of the Journal of Operations Management and Decisions Sciences. He serves as a judge for Industry Week’s Best Plants program and is on the advisory board of Ford Motor Company’s LeanResourceCenter. He developed, in partnership with Ford Motor Company, the Tomorrow’s Lean Enterprise Leadership program, a popular series of MBA courses and internships and six sigma programs for MBAs. He leads executive education certificate programs on Lean Management. He serves on the Board of Directors of Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio. Among his research honors are the Shingo Prize (2004), Best Paper awards for articles appearing in the Journal of Operations Management in 2000 and 1996, and Fisher College’s Pace Setters Research Award for 2003.
