For Immediate Release

ASQ Partners with Milwaukee County Six Sigma Program
County First in the Nation to Apply Management Technique

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. February 21, 2006 – For thousands of businesses large and small Six Sigma is proving to be a key quality management approach; leading to better performance, better use of resources and improved results. A $5,000 grant, provided by the Milwaukee-based American Society for Quality (ASQ), will assist Milwaukee County in implementing a Six Sigma pilot program. Milwaukee is the first county government in the nation to use this technique for the administration of governmental functions.

The grant is through the ASQ Community Good Works Program, which provides financial support and ASQ member expertise to help not-for-profit organizations nationwide improve operations and higher performance by using quality management principles. The money will fund the purchase of software which will statistically track the progress of the Milwaukee County program.

According to County Executive Scott Walker, “We feel it is smart business for Milwaukee County to leverage those tools which have been successful in the private sector to help us increase our efficiency, effectiveness and revenues.” Walker notes that “in many ways the county faces similar expectations of controlling costs while delivering top-notch service that businesses have to handle.”

Paul Borawski, ASQ Executive Director adds, “Because ASQ is part of this community, we can observe firsthand and be of possible assistance through member volunteers in applying the benefits of Six Sigma to help government work better and more responsively.”

Six Sigma has already been applied successfully by the city of Fort Wayne , Ind. , which was visited by Milwaukee officials for insights into their application of Six Sigma. In considering the program, Milwaukee County officials observed firsthand the program at work in Fort Wayne.

Along with ASQ, Milwaukee County will partner with the Business Excellence Consortium (BEC) through the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). BEC will provide the training expertise while participants can use the facilities and infrastructure at MSOE, all at no charge to the county.

The pilot initiative seeks to train Six Sigma Black Belts to manage four Black Belt projects. Black Belts are highly-regarded personnel who have gone through intensive training in Six Sigma and have the ability to lead teams as well as to advise management. The projects, which are a major feature of Black Belt training, allow participants to apply what they are learning to tasks within their organizations.

The implementation team includes County Executive Walker – Executive Champion, Dr. Karen A. Jackson, Deputy Human Resources Director – Six Sigma Champion, and the four staff members who, as Black Belt candidates, will be conducting the projects.

County staff who are involved in the pilot program and their projects include:

• Bud Borja, Chief Information Officer - Reducing time to enter transactions into the financial system.
• Lisa Marks, Deputy Director, Child Support Enforcement - Increasing Collections
• Faye Roberts, Asst. Director, Dept. of Parks and Public Infrastructure - Improving the work order system.
• Shawn Schmidt, Partnership and Policy Development Manager - Improving county parks reservation system by improved customer service.

BEC member Steven Fleming will be providing the Six Sigma Master Black Belt training. He is a member of the original group of General Electric (GE) personnel trained when former GE CEO Jack Welch adopted Six Sigma.

The goal of the pilot program is to prove the efficacy and viability of Six Sigma within the large Milwaukee County government environment which serves more than 900,000 residents. The ability to fund continuing Six Sigma training and projects with county tax revenue is contingent upon the success of the pilot program. A completion date has not yet been established.

Through the Community Good Works program, ASQ seeks nationwide to utilize quality tools, technology, and concepts to effectively, efficiently, and visibly demonstrate the value of quality in community improvement projects and activism while leveraging ASQ’s strong volunteer base. The Community Good Works program provides $5,000 in matching grants along with vital quality expertise to community-based, not-for-profit organizations engaged in local projects. As volunteers the quality experts use their knowledge and skills to design and implement quality-improvement plans.

Locally, a Community Good Works grant was awarded in 2004 to Heart Healthy Waukesha, a county program to improve adult coronary health. For additional information about the ASQ Community Good Works program, contact Jeanine Becker at jbecker@asq.org.

The American Society for Quality www.asq.org this year celebrates 60 years as the world's leading authority on quality. With more than 90,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools, and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners, and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991.  Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ASQ is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.