Our Team
Orion Development Group understands that the quality of our services can only be as good as the men and women who deliver these services. Unencumbered by geography, Orion has built a nationwide network of instructors, advisors and experts who have proven they can get the job done in the real world and have guided other professionals in successful organization improvement efforts. Business leaders want and need to be guided by the "voice of experience." Experience and a track record of accomplishment are two of Orion's greatest assets.
Robert D. Boehringer
Bob Boehringer is the Vice President - Process Management for Orion Development Group. He has more than 20 years of experience helping professionals improve quality and productivity via the implementation of organization improvement methodologies (i.e. TQM, Team-Based Problem Solving, SPC, Process Reengineering).
Mr. Boehringer is the architect of several of Orion's seminars, including Process Mapping. Process Mapping is the de facto standard of the industry, having been delivered to more than 20,000 professionals from both private and public sector organizations in the last decade. He consistently receives outstanding reviews from his students. For example:
"Excellent. Bob brings together all of those elements of 'Things gone wrong' and puts order to them."
--Dave Roberts, Executive Engineer, Chrysler Corporation
"One of the best seminars I've ever attended. Speaker had broad knowledge of subject matter and applicability in real business situations."
--John Kopinski, Vice President, KeyCorp
"I had enough good ideas before lunch on the first day to justify this course."
--Hope Anderson, Operations Analyst, San Diego Gas & Electric
Mr. Boehringer's clients have included Chubb Insurance, Citibank, ConEd, Microsoft, Pfizer, Warner Lambert, Genentech, Delaware River Port Authority, Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Systems, US Navy, Fairfax County Government (VA), Dakota County Government (MN), and The Hartford Insurance Company.
Some of Mr. Boehringer's larger projects have included a major reengineering and organizational restructuring for the Michigan Office of Retirement Services, redesign of work processes to support global product management for Warner Lambert and process improvement facilitation across all functional areas for the Delaware River Port Authority.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Boehringer worked for DuPont, Shell Oil, Procter & Gamble and Pepsi-Cola. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and is a member of the American Society for Quality, Association for Quality and Participation and Institute of Industrial Engineers. He currently serves on the boards of Boehringer Laboratories, Inc. and Catalyst Marketing Communications, Inc.
Joe Brancaccio
Joe Brancaccio is a Process Management Consultant for Orion Development Group. He has more than 20 years of experience in process management, strategic planning, organizational effectiveness and leadership.
Mr. Brancaccio has worked with many Fortune 500 companies and assisted the States of Texas and Oklahoma with their quality improvement strategies. He was directly involved with the 'Leadership Through Quality' strategy at Xerox Corporation and assisted with the winning of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
As an instructor, Mr. Brancaccio has a friendly yet passionate and motivational style of presentation people enjoy. He consistently receives outstanding evaluations. For example:
"The insights and perspectives you provided will be invaluable to us as we continue working on this challenging project."
Lorraine Mase - Manager, Human Resources Development, American Airlines
"Joe succeeded in causing us to rethink our services and how we deliver such. We found him to be personable, friendly, approachable, knowledgeable and skillful as well as being masterful at delivery of information."
Glenice Robinson - Branch Library Administrator, City of Dallas
"Your insights and experiences have provided us with useful information and "benchmark" examples that will enable us to move more rapidly toward our ultimate goals."
Albert M. Koller, Jr. - Quality Manager, NASA - John F. Kennedy Space Center
"The enthusiasm and vitality of your presentation, mixed in with humor and personal reflections, added much to the day."
James L. E. Hill - Plant Manager, E.I Dupont
Mr. Brancaccio graduated with honors from the U.S. Military School in Fort Knox, Kentucky and is a Fellow at the University of Texas, Austin.
Joseph J. Cirafesi
Joe Cirafesi is a Process Management consultant and instructor for Orion Development Group. Prior to joining Orion, Mr. Cirafesi spent more than 20 years at Air Products and Chemicals where he has helped the company evolve to an internationally recognized benchmark for excellence in cross-functional process management.
Mr. Cirafesi teaches seminars for Orion's corporate clients and university partners, including Process Mapping, Emerging Role of the Process Manager and Process Value Analysis. His extensive experience at Air Products enables Mr. Cirafesi to leverage first-hand knowledge of unparalleled process management success in the classroom.
As a Human Resources Manager, Mr. Cirafesi helped lead major changes to the organizational structure and leadership teams from 1995 to 1997. As a Business Manager/Process Owner, Mr. Cirafesi was responsible for the ongoing management of the product development, innovation, bidding, customer engagement, engineering construction and start-up work processes. As a European Region Director, Mr. Cirafesi organized training and application of continuous improvement tools in 11 countries. These efforts improved profitability by 5% to 20% in various units.
Mr. Cirafesi received his BA in genetics from Cornell University and an MBA from the Smeal College of Business at Penn State. He is a Certified Management Accountant.
Ross Collard
Ross Collard is a highly regarded software quality consultant and trainer with Collard & Company. Ross began his testing career while he was a software engineer at Citibank. He became interested in quality issues while testing his own code for software bugs.
Since then, Ross has taught hundreds of seminars on software testing, software quality and related topics. Most notably, his seminar materials have been used by other trainers to teach more than 100,000 professionals and managers.
Mr. Collard's consulting and training clients include leading firms in several fields:
- ADP, Alcatel, American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Bell Labs, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cisco, Computer Associates, Dell.
- EDS, EMC, Exxon, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Hughes Aircraft, IBM, Intel, Intuit, JP Morgan Chase, Merck, Microsoft.
- Motorola, Nortel, Novartis, Novell, Procter & Gamble, Prudential, Qualcomm, SIAC, Siemens, State Farm and Verizon.
- Government clients include the CIA, NASA, Federal Reserve Bank, Social Security Admin., State of California and the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force.
As an adjunct professor, Ross has taught for Harvard, UC Berkeley, NYU and George Washington University. He has a BE in electrical engineering from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, an MS in computer science from the California Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Stanford University.
Gary A. Cone
Gary Cone is a pioneer in the Six Sigma principles and management philosophy. He is a recognized leader in applying statistical techniques to business process, in data driven decision-making, and in achieving significant bottom line results for his clients.
Gary was one of the original architects of Six Sigma when it all started at Motorola in the 1980s and has since refined this transformational process into the single most powerful business tool for corporations throughout the world today. Gary has led Six Sigma implementations at Motorola, AlliedSignal, GenCorp, Navistar, Danaher, and Sequa Corporation. Six Sigma has been a remarkable change agent for these companies, and with Gary's leadership, they have achieved over $1 billion in documented savings to date.
Prior to forming GPS, Gary was Co-President of Six Sigma International and he has held several key quality and operational positions at NCR, Motorola, Compaq, and Zenith Data Systems. As a prominent Six Sigma authority and consultant, his diverse client base has included General Electric, Bombardier, Libby-Owens Ford, Honeywell, Bell South of Ecuador, Black and Decker, and TI Automotive.
He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of South Florida, an International MBA and Certificate of Latin American Studies from Vanderbilt University, and has done extensive postgraduate work in Reliability and Quality at Texas A&M University.
Aimee Cowher
Aimee Cowher is a Process Management and Six Sigma consultant for the Orion Development Group and Vice President of Global Productivity Solutions. She is an expert in the Six Sigma principles and management philosophy and has been providing Six Sigma implementation services to corporate clients for over 8 years involving training for company executives, managers, technical and non-technical personnel. Her services have also included application support integrated with other improvement efforts to create a strategy that guarantees business results.
Aimee has facilitated Six Sigma implementations at Black & Decker, Walbro Corporation, Technimark and several suppliers. She provided support for effective fulfillment of client deliverables to companies such as Whirlpool, AlliedSignal, Navistar and Bombardier who were engaged in Six Sigma Black Belt training.
Prior to co-founding Global Productivity Solutions, Aimee directed materials management commodity teams, and applied Six Sigma Black Belt tools throughout the supply chain at AlliedSignal Automotive. At General Motors Powertrain, she was a Vehicle Validation Engineer for the Premium V Product Team and a Process Engineer at the Livonia Engine Plant.
She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a MS in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.
Amanda Dietz
Amanda Dietz is the Vice President - Project Management and Business Analysis and a Process Management Advisor for Orion Development Group. She has more than 20 years of experience in operations management, auditing and process improvement.
Prior to joining Orion, Ms. Dietz attained extensive quality and process management experience in the corporate world, principally in the Financial Services sector. She served on the senior management teams at InTuition, Inc. and Florida Federal Savings Bank (now part of Wachovia Bank) In these roles, Ms. Dietz's accomplishments included:
- Enhanced product line profitability in excess of 10% for multiple years
- Recognized as semi-finalist in the 1994 USA Today/RIT Quality Service Award
- Reduced turnaround times from multiple weeks to less than two days
- Reduced call center hold times by more than 80%
- Raised quality performance indicators above corporate standards
- Successfully directed numerous information technology conversion projects
As an instructor, Ms. Dietz consistently receives outstanding reviews from seminar participants. For example:
"Amanda Dietz did an excellent job...She impressed us all with her knowledge not only of process mapping but of our business."
U.S. Coast Guard Finance Center
"Amanda gave a great class! She encouraged participation and original thinking. She is definitely knowledgeable on the subject."
Navy Federal Credit Union
"[The seminar] gave me additional tools to determine where and how to improve my department's processes and performance."
BAA Indianapolis
Her process management training/consulting clients include:
|
|
Ms. Dietz earned her BS in Finance from Indiana University and MBA in International Management from the University of South Florida. She is a Certified Quality Manager American Society for Quality).
Roger Franco
Roger M. Franco is a Process Management consultant and instructor for Orion Development Group. Mr. Franco has more than 20 years of industry experience, including senior management roles in prominent and highly successful companies.
Mr. Franco's process expertise encompasses sales, marketing, business development, program management, asset management, strategic planning, organization design and enterprise business continuity planning.
Prior to joining Orion, Mr. Franco served as Senior Vice President, Leasing Operations at Siemens Financial Services, Inc. where he was responsible for the back office of SFS's vendor, captive and direct leasing businesses. He also served as Vice President and General Manager of the Credit Portfolio Management business unit of SFS, which was charged with securitizing trade receivables for the Siemens Operating Companies in North America. In 2005, he was appointed the role of Business Continuity Officer for SFS, Inc. NA.
Mr. Franco was also champion of Siemens' mission-critical "Apollo 13" process improvement and management initiative.
Mr. Franco earned a B.S. degree in Accounting from Seton Hall University. He has achieved Six Sigma Green Belt certification and has served as a process management consultant. He frequently delivers Leadership training, Leasing Sales Training and motivational presentations at various seminars and industry engagements.
Vicki Hesse, PMP
Vicki Hesse is an instructor for Orion Development Group. She has more than 20 years experience in project management and process improvement for transformational change projects, including international, multi-site system implementations, and the redesign of processes that accompany those projects. As a project coach, Ms. Hesse specializes in forming highly productive project teams and implementing radically new ways of getting work done.
Ms. Hesse creates effective instructor-led, participant-centered courses for both Project Management and Process Management. Ms. Hesse's style of course delivery ensures participants can apply their education to current situations. She consistently receives outstanding reviews from participants. For example:
"Vicki did an awesome job at utilizing multiple methods for learning - great group activities!" --Tracey Frosch, CEO, Palazzo, Inc
Ms. Hesse's clients have included Air Products, AMP, Blue Shield of California, County of San Mateo, Denver International Airport, Esteé Lauder, Holiday Inns Worldwide, Genentech, KLA-Tencor, Lexmark, Merck, Philips Electronics, Raytheon Polar Services Company, Shell Oil, Tupperware, and Verio.
Ms. Hesse's expertise stems from managing large projects on budget and under time constraints. These projects include: reengineering processes in order to consolidate two business lines and share financial, distribution, and sales systems for Johnson & Johnson, implementing financial shared service centers and migration of computer systems for a software company, and redefining a business model from a geography-based to route-based approach while implementing new financial systems for Bilspedition, a Swedish transportation and logistics company.
Ms. Hesse earned her Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Northridge, in Business Administration and Economics and is currently earning her Masters of Divinity at Iliff School of Theology. She has earned the Process Mastery certificate from Hammer and Company.
Jim Hooper
Jim Hooper is a Process Improvement Facilitator for Orion Development Group. His experience and expertise spans more than 25 years in management and quality leadership positions with Hewlett-Packard. With strengths of strategic planning, leadership, and business process design, he has a reputation for being a strategic thinker and a world-class meeting leader.
Mr. Hooper co-led a services business process management initiative that resulted in improved practice consistency. While leading the Black Belt business process improvement program across a world-wide team of practitioners, he laid the groundwork for annual savings of $70M.
Skilled at leading and facilitating meetings of all kinds, Mr. Hooper has regularly led executive staff through strategic planning meetings and international business reviews.
Jim Hooper holds an MS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University.
Marsha Hughes
Marsha Hughes has more than 24 years of experience in business analysis and technology-driven process improvement. For both major corporations and smaller clients, she has served as a programmer, business analyst, project manager, instructor, course developer, and consultant.
Marsha has developed and delivered Business Analysis and Project Management workshops to Orion, TeraQuest, Borland, and IconATG corporate clients worldwide. Marsha developed Vignette's patent-pending Content Management Blueprint, a business analysis approach for developing content management applications, and the Vignette Solutions Methodology for Vignette Professional Services. Marsha has managed several large projects, including an engineering drawing management system at NYNEX (now Verizon), and a gate management system for Northwest Airlines. She has published and presented on the topics of requirements engineering, knowledge engineering, and project management, and is a co-inventor on a patent for Computer-Aided Decision Making.
"Excellent instructor, good timing and checking with us as to what we need. She had many experiences to share in Requirements Engineering"
- McKesson Corp.
Alka Jarvis
Alka Jarvis is a Software Quality consultant for Orion Development Group and President of Bay Area Quality Assurance Association (BAQAA). Ms. Jarvis has more than 20 years of experience in software development, 10 of which have been in Total Quality Management. She has successfully established quality assurance departments in three Fortune 500 companies.
Ms. Jarvis' work in the quality field, as a manager or consultant, has included assignments for Bank of America, Pacific Bell, Apple Computers Inc., Pacific Gas & Electricity, IBM, Intuit, Franklin Resources, Hewlett Packard, Cisco Systems and Charles Schwab.
Ms. Jarvis is a widely-acknowledged expert in software quality techniques. She has served as an Applied Total Quality Advisory Board Member for University of California-Berkeley-Extension and an Advisory Board Member to the Certificate Program in Continuous Improvement & Quality Management - U.C. Santa Cruz Extension. In addition, she authored three books on related disciplines.
When the International Standards Organization guidelines for software industry was published, Ms. Jarvis saw the need for educating the software engineers in interpreting the standards. To address this need, she co-authored her first book ISO 9000-3, published in 1995. Ms. Jarvis also wrote "Inroads To Software Quality" and "Dare To Be Excellent." In these books she captured successful software quality assurance practices of various companies, including those she worked at. This broad experience and expertise make Ms. Jarvis an excellent leader for our Software Testing & Quality Assurance seminar.
Peter Johnson, CBAP
Peter Johnson brings 20 years of experience in a variety of industries to his current role of helping companies achieve greater business value from IT projects.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Johnson was Director of IT Business Solutions for a database marketing and literature distribution company, Product Marketing Manager for an AT&T WorldNet Service launch team, and an Instructor for the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK TM). He leverages this broad experience to help clients achieve meaningful business results from technology projects. Mr. Johnson recently completed a project management / business analysis assignment, guiding the design and implementation of interfaces for New Jersey's Department of Youth and Family Services case management system. He is currently providing custom training and expert guidance for a multi-national distributor. The project is improving program management office processes to better achieve business case objectives.
Mr. Johnson's expertise also shines through in the classroom.
"His course is one of the real gems of the Continuing Studies program. The real value is not only Mr. Johnson's excellent and wide-ranging real world experience, but the real world knowledge and experience encountered in class."
--Mercer County College testimonial
A Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAPTM ), Mr. Johnson is a founding member of the New Jersey Chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). He serves as the chapter's Vice President of Education, Certification and Professional Development. In addition, Peter is part of the review team for the IIBA BABOK v2.0.
David Kane
David Kane is a Process Management and Six Sigma consultant for the Orion Development Group. He is a specialist in building organizations' capabilities to accelerate major change and achieve sustainable results. One of his major clients cited David as instrumental in their $2 billion cash flow improvement.
David has been involved in a wide range of major change initiatives, including ones at General Motors, Union Carbide, BASF, ICI, Shell, ExxonMobil, Praxair, Millennium, Rohm and Haas, Eli Lilly, Aventis, Cooper Industries, AstraZeneca and DuPont. He has written numerous articles and been active in the organizational effectiveness field for the last 20+ years.
Selected Accomplishments
- Supporting the lean/process-centric organization design efforts of a global pharmaceutical firm shifting from a functional organization to deliver the responsiveness and flexibility to satisfy their customer and business needs.
- Leading the global lean/Six Sigma supply chain transformation / ERP Value Capture initiative for a leading chemicals firm expected to deliver over $1B financial impact while increasing their capability to serve their customers and markets
- Led the analysis, design and implementation of a lean/Six Sigma structural change "Repositioning for Growth" initiative that delivered more than $100 million annual fixed cost savings while improving the competitive positioning of a global chemicals SBU and enabling future growth of over $100 million incremental revenue
- Led development/validation of site & business mfg. strategies across a global network of >100 plants for a chemical firm by introducing a Strategic Leadership in Manufacturing framework concurrent with their ERP implementation.
- Led a major Six Sigma change program in a global chemicals business involving product line (portfolio) management, network, line & site optimization, lean manufacturing, supply chain management and high performance organization concepts - delivering more than $50 million annualized benefits and operational improvements
- Played a leading role in the organization design / change management of a pharmaceutical firm's Site Excellence initiative that delivered significant increases in labor efficiency, reductions in scrap, WIP & cycle time with documented savings of more than 15% and a continuous improvement approach in place to enhance the gains
- Helped design/implement a business-driven, lean, high-performance operations organization design model for a major chemicals firm that significantly contributed to improved performance & delivered >$60 million in benefits.
- Led the change management of a major global pharmaceuticals firm's strategic sourcing initiative, mobilizing the organization around new strategies and processes while delivering more than $100 million in annualized benefits
- Led the global organization design for an industrial gases supplier to use a process-driven organization to enable the realization of step-change performance goals of a 50% reduction in cycle time and cost and 99% reliability.
- Co-led a major global chemicals firm/consulting alliance that delivered >$500 million in benefits through a portfolio of projects involving sales and marketing effectiveness, market segmentation, supply chain reengineering, organizational design, quality and yield improvements, fixed cost reduction, and product development.
David has an MS in Organizational Psychology from Hahnemann University and a BS in Biology and Psychology from University of Michigan.
Alan Leigh
Al Leigh a Process Management and Six Sigma consultant for the Orion Development Group. He is an acknowledged leader in Six Sigma and Quality process implementation with the objective of delivering tangible business results.
From a start in manufacturing, Al has been active in change leadership for Six Sigma, Quality, Supply Chain and Lean for the last 20 years. As an integrator of Six Sigma technology and processes, quality leadership from the customer back to the manufacturer and supplier, lean concepts and supply chain processes, Al has led businesses in a major chemical corporation to demonstrated business results. He has been involved in a wide range of change initiatives including the grass-roots global implementation of QS-9000 / ISO9000 quality processes, supplier development initiatives, customer-focused improvement projects, corporate Six Sigma leadership, and Kaizen leadership for corporate transactional processes. Having worked for DuPont for 33 years, Al was recognized corporate-wide as a Quality Management leader and also served on DuPont's Lean Management Board. An ISO 9000 Lead Assessor, Al has conducted over 25 ISO 9000 / QS 9000 assessments and helped to develop the subsequent deployment programs. A certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Champion and active member of the Six Sigma community, Al has delivered numerous Six Sigma presentations at universities and national conferences.
Selected Accomplishments
- Led team of 25 Black Belts across US Leveraged Operations as part of a multi-business improvement effort of major global chemical company who generated validated recurring savings of over $28MM annual; projects included capacity release, yield improvement, lean kaizens, energy cost reduction, maintenance cost reduction, and global supply chain optimization.
- Led team of 11 Black Belts across US, Europe and Asia regions of a global chemical SBU in the identification and deployment of Six Sigma tools and methods to drive $11MM annual benefit; projects included yield improvement, fixed and variable cost reduction, revenue generation, and customer specific product improvement efforts driven from research and development through commercialization.
- Led series of transactional lean kaizen events across multiple regions (AP, Europe, LATAM, North America) that developed and implemented sales policies to improve the competitive cost to serve position of a global chemical business that resulted in immediate savings of $1 million and longer term better business positioning resulting from clearer customer segmentation.
- Led the development and implementation of the quality management system and continuous improvement process for a global $300 million business; helped them achieve QS-9000certification for 6 sites in the U.S., Europe and Korea while developing the governance and processes to managed their Global Strategic Business continuous improvement process.
- Developed and led Six Sigma training for over 130 Process Owners and over 200 Green Belts in the US, Europe, and Asia including operations, sales, marketing and supply chain people.
- Initiated and led a Supplier Relations/Development Team for a global chemicals business that included developing on-going supplier improvement plans, supplier qualification protocols, and upgraded material specifications which were delivered through over 10 supplier quality process audits/improvement efforts at major suppliers resulting in projects that saved over $1 million.
- Led development of new product introduction to world market to Tier 1 automotive suppliers; initial effort was wrapping development package around new product and navigating it through qualification for key Japanese customer adoption; successful pilot was then commercialized for broader Tier 1 automotive suppliers.
- Developed a standard process for responding to customer complaints and internal problem handling that reduced complaints by 50%; effort including development and delivery of a problem-solving training course and implemented training for corporate-wide quality resources and salesmen. Including over 60 people, including the Senior Business Leadership.
Al has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Washington State University.
William T. Mann
Bill Mann is Senior Vice President/Partner of Orion Consulting, Inc., a Human Resources Consulting firm. His career spans over 25 years in Human Resources, business management and consulting.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Mann held executive positions with manufacturing companies in the automotive, electronics, chemicals, consumer products, and oil and gas industries. Positions within the Human Resources field have included Corporate Director, Vice President and Senior Vice President with USS Chemicals, Schlumberger, Ltd., and Anchor Bank. In addition, Mr. Mann has had manufacturing management experience with the Western Electric Division of AT&T and the assembly division of General Motors Corporation. He has had full responsibility for all Human Resources functions, including Training, Organizational Development, Performance Management, Employee and Labor Relations, Compensation, EEO, Benefits and Staffing.
Mr. Mann has leveraged this real-world experience to make Strategic Thinking in Human Resources an extremely valuable event. But don't take our word for it. Listen to former students from this seminar:
"Unusual to have a seminar this comprehensive for experienced HR managers."
Richard Strahl, Vice President - Human Resources, American Diabetes Association
"A skilled and knowledgeable leader. Lots of food for thought."
Susan Kies, Manager of HR, Spring Window Fashions
"He asked for topics for discussion and followed through with addressing all! Very informed in related topics."
Kay Oldenburg, Human Resource Consultant, Aetna Life & Casualty
As the National Practice Leader for Orion's Human Resources' Consulting Services Division, Mr. Mann has worked with medium and large companies providing specialized consulting expertise. Projects have ranged in complexity from design and implementation of complete management development programs to specialized training systems, organizational development, management assessment, manpower/succession planning programs, quality/objectives based performance management programs, and a variety of Human Resources programs. In addition, Mr. Mann serves as "off-site" Director of Human Resources for start-up organizations and medium-sized companies managing their entire range of Human Resources functions.
Mr. Mann holds a BBA in Industrial Management from Southern Methodist University, and an MBA in Industrial Relations from Seton Hall University.
Donna McEwen, PMP
Donna McEwen is a process and project management advisor for Orion Development Group. She has more than 20 years of experience in Process and Project Management.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Ms. McEwen held executive positions for Verizon Wireless and GTE. In these roles, she led multi-billion dollar integration projects that were the result of mergers and acquisitions. These integration projects led to best practice standardization that saved her employers more than $50 million dollars annually. Successful management of the GTE integration project required Ms. McEwen to direct hundreds of resources in multiple disciplines.
Across her corporate career, Ms. McEwen gained expertise in business acquisition, transition planning, process reengineering and project management. Prior to entering corporate life, she was as a public school teacher in the State of Florida.
Ms. McEwen holds an M.A. in Adult Education from the University of South Florida. She acquired her B.S. from the University of Tampa. Her certifications include:
- Project Management Professional (PMP) with the Project Management Institute
- Masters Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University
- Certified Quality Analyst by the Quality Assurance Institute
- Specialist Degree from the University of South Florida
- Human Resource Development Certification from the University of Georgia
- Certified in Software Quality Management and Organizational Development
Donna consistently receives outstanding reviews from her students. For example:
"Outstanding - all instructors should be this good. Loved the background, high energy and fun that Donna brought to the classroom. Can't wait to take another class from her".
"If you set out to get the perfect instructor for a class, this is the person you would want. Outstanding background and subject matter knowledge married with the ability to actually teach".
Edwina McKinney
Edwina McKinney is a Senior Instructor with Orion Development Group. Ms. McKinney has more than 20 years of experience in management and organizational training. She has provided quality management, process improvement and Balanced Scorecard training for both public and private sector organizations.
As an IBM Systems senior manager, Ms. McKinney utilized her extensive training experience in workflow analysis, human resource activities, quality processes, employee motivation and management skills for changing environments. As a member of IBM's management team, she participated in their preparation for the Malcolm Baldrige Award. This broad experience enables Ms. McKinney to excel in both management-level and executive-level training assignments.
Ms. McKinney has developed and delivered business seminars for many organizations. As an IBM loaned executive, she designed, developed, conducted and documented a five-course curriculum for a non-profit organization. For this she received the IBM "Curriculum of the Year" Award. She has served as an instructor and advisor to many companies implementing quality improvement programs and has taught professional development seminars from universities throughout the country.
Ms. McKinney received her undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon and conducted her graduate studies at the University of Minnesota and Harvard University.
Jeff Minder
Jeff Minder is a Business Analysis and Project Management instructor for Orion Development Group. He has more than 15 years of experience in project management and software development and 25 years of experience as a professional instructor. His areas of expertise include project management, systems analysis and design, agile software development, and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
As a practitioner, Mr. Minder has successfully launched secure, database-driven Internet solutions for the Department of Homeland Security, governmental lotteries, healthcare providers, insurance companies and other clients in both the private and the public sectors. In 2004, Dell and the National Federation of Independent Businesses recognized Mr. Minder as one of the top 10 entrepreneurs in North America for the use of technology in support of customers.
Mr. Minder's instructional background includes 11 years of service to the U.S. Air Force (USAF), where he was a survival, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE) instructor. In 1991, the U.S. Special Operations Command named him the SERE Instructor of the Year in recognition of his work in the field of counterintelligence during Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
Mr. Minder earned a B.S. (magna cum laude) in computer science with a minor in mathematics from Troy State University. He is a certified Project Management Professional (Project Management Institute).
Hermann Miskelly
Hermann Miskelly is a Master Black Belt. He is a consultant for Orion Development Group where he is responsible for providing Six Sigma instruction/training, project support and for leading the deployment of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) clients. He is a Senior Consultant for Global Productivity Solutions.
Hermann has twenty-three years experience in mechanical engineering, project engineering, program management, new business development and Six Sigma/DFSS process improvement leadership in the aerospace/defense industry. He has led Operational Excellence initiatives at corporate and local business unit levels, applying methods and tools to product development, manufacturing, and transactional improvement processes. Hermann trained Six Sigma Blackbelts across all Sequa Corporation business units and was instrumental in leading the implementation and integration of DFSS into Atlantic research Corporation's existing product development process. He also developed methodologies for aligning Operational Excellence projects with annual operating plan objectives, strategic goals, and key performance metrics (KPMs).
Hermann's education includes a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and graduate studies in missile design, engineering management, and advanced statistics. He has been awarded six patents.
Mike Parnitzke
Mike Parnitzke is a Process and Call Center Consultant for Orion Development Group. He has more than 15 years of Fortune 50 corporate success facilitating both senior management and specialized project teams in their quest towards process excellence.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Parnitzke played a key leadership role in the design and full deployment of all key business enterprise processes for the startup of the $500 million revenue Telephone Sales Organization of Pepsi-Cola National Customer Service Center in Winston-Salem, NC. In a prior Pepsi assignment, he managed a massive reengineering effort to streamline bottling operations processes. Mr. Parnitzke was also recognized as the facilitator of choice for key strategic project planning work sessions while at United Technologies Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division.
Mr. Parnitzke earned his Bachelor of Science at the University of Florida and his MBA at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Chance W. Reichel, PMP
Chance Reichel is Project Management Consultant for Orion Development Group. He has more than twenty years of site-specific project management experience, which he draws upon for course development and instruction.
During the last four years Mr. Reichel has presented more than 350 project management topics to clients belonging to the Fortune 500 companies. During that time Chance has acquainted more than 3,700 course attendees to the theory and reality of project management as created by the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Mr.Reichel provides direction and has managed a variety of project management consulting projects. Most notably, Mr. Reichel has provided project management expertise to more than sixty-five Fortune 500 clients as well as to several branches of the U.S. Government.
He was granted his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from San Diego State University in 1985 has completed extensive graduate studies in Education and was awarded a Master's degree in Environmental Project Management from the University of Findlay in 1995. Chance is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Richard L. Robinson
Richard L. Robinson is a software productivity and quality advisor for Orion Development Group and principle of Software Quality Associates. He has more than 25 years of experience in the field, with 13 concentrated in the creation and management of software quality assurance and testing groups. He has taught at the post-graduate and professional level for 17 years.
Mr. Robinson's clients have included LORAL Aerospace, TRW, Citibank, US West, ETS, Intel, IBM, Levi Strauss & Co., AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, MCI and Boeing Computer Services.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Robinson held positions of Director-Corporate Quality, Product/QA Manager, Systems Testing Manager, and Senior Programming/Analyst in corporate America. His accomplishments include:
- Creating a corporate wide Quality Management System for AccessLine
- Achieving superior product quality two years ahead of plan and reducing overall development time by 80% for Motorola Wireless Data
- Cutting GTE Telecom's time-to-market by 50%
- Training 31 QA analysts, programmers and project managers for Bank of America
Mr. Robinson earned his BA and MA from the University of California at Santa Barbara and has been trained by Quality Assurance Institute, Motorola University, Six Sigma Institute and the IBM Systems Science Institute. He is a Certified Quality Analyst, Certified Software Quality Engineer and a qualified ISO 9000 Lead Assessor.
C. Michael Schlueter
Mike Schlueter is a process management and information technology advisor for Orion Development Group. He has more than twenty years of experience helping organizations leverage technology and process redesign techniques to improve organizational and process performance.
Mr. Schlueter's background includes experience in manufacturing, service, academic and government environments. As an Assistant Vice President at a Big 10 University, he was responsible for developing and directing a group of senior business management consultants, he served at an executive level on several management steering committees and process reengineering design efforts, and was a member of the President's strategic planning team. Mr. Schlueter also held management and technology positions at a Big 12 University, Washington University in St. Louis, the United States Navy Fleet Material Support Office, McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing), Brown Shoe Company, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mr. Schlueter has had the opportunity to teach process improvement courses to representatives from over 140 companies and institutions, including in-house training, team development, project planning and project management for 16 different companies, nationally and internationally.
A few of his recent clients include Zondervan Publishing, Marathon Ashland Pipe Line, the University of Maryland-University College, Kent Intermediate School District, St. Mary's University, UAW-General Motors, Pfizer, Corus Bank, ClientLogic/Microsoft, Grant-Thornton, Hitco Carbon Composites, Husky Injection Molding, the Michigan state government - State Retirement System, and the U.S. Army Intelligence & Security Command.
Mr. Schlueter holds an MBA from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis, and two Associate degrees.
William Shockley
Bill Shockley, a business leadership advisor for Orion Development Group, is a credible and respected management development professional that has educated more than 14,000 managers in his twenty-year career.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Shockley served as the manager of training and education for IBM, Champion International, and International Paper. He has extensive domestic and international experience, having conducted educational seminars in many countries, including Finland, Belgium, Brazil, United Kingdom and Canada.
Mr. Shockley's widespread experience counseling private and public sector managers is the backbone of the Boom and Bust Business Cycle curriculum. Customers consistently rave about the value Mr. Shockley's seminar delivers. Mr. Shockley also delivers training and consulting in Cultural Change, Strategic Leadership, Team Building, Performance Management, Innovation and Influence.
Bill is an IBM Presidential Award-winning expert in experiential learning techniques/game design that conveys interactive and stimulating educational concepts. He has won awards for curriculum design and training program delivery and has helped organizations apply learned techniques in the workplace.
Ralph Smith
Ralph Smith is Vice President – Strategic Services for Orion Development Group and the author of Business Process Management and the Balanced Scorecard. He has personally supervised the performance improvement efforts in more than fifty organizations worldwide.
Each year, Mr. Smith facilitates the development of Strategy Maps and Scorecards for numerous organizations. Recent clients include Johns Hopkins University APL, Rogers Cable, Arbitration Forums, Delta Dental and Fairfax County (VA). Mr. Smith's experience is particularly deep in the insurance industry. He facilitated development of dashboards for six functional groups within a major domestic insurance company. Prior to that, he led the strategic redesign and deployment effort for a Bermuda-based insurance company. This engagement included the creation of a new performance management system based on the Balanced Scorecard. Another strategic services client, Alcoa Packaging, was a finalist for the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame.
Over the last decade, Mr. Smith has utilized his strategic planning and process improvement expertise for a diverse group of clients, including Texas Children’s Hospital, AT&T, Dakota County (MN), The University of the Arts, Harris Corporation and Atlanta Public Schools. He has designed training solutions, facilitated team activity and served as a consultant to management. His efforts helped the quality improvement teams at Texas Children's Hospital achieve dramatic gains in efficiency. At Alcoa, the Scorecard efforts Mr. Smith facilitated led to a dramatic business turnaround and return to market leader status for their packaging division.
As an instructor, Mr. Smith consistently receives ratings that average over 9.2 on a scale of 1 to 10. Seminars he teaches include Process Mapping, Linking Strategy & Process, Facilitating High-Performance Teams, Using the Balanced Scorecard and Statistical Process Control. Participant reviews include:
"I learned a great deal and can see where we need to make changes in our scorecard. I wish I had taken this course a year ago."
--Margo Schmidt, Consultant, Michigan Department of Transportation
"Entertaining, enlightening and involved class with valuable examples and tips!"
--Eric J. Gall, Manager-Global Quality Programs, Ford Motor Company
Prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Smith was an internal quality resource for Kawneer Company, a manufacturer of architectural aluminum products. He coordinated the improvement efforts in 23 facilities throughout North America and Europe.
Mr. Smith has a Masters degree in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Georgia. He is a member for the American Society of Quality.
Alice Wilken
Alice Wilken is a process and project management advisor for Orion Development Group. She has more than 15 years of experience providing consulting services in quality, project and business process management.
Ms. Wilken has taught process mapping, analysis and improvement techniques for corporate clients, including BAE Systems, BankUnited, Akzo Nobel, Qwest Telecommunications, Wyeth Bio-Pharma, Jacksonville Electric Authority, CNA Insurance, and the Texas Department of Insurance. She also teaches Orion's suite of project management seminars.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Ms. Wilken held management positions in Corporate Quality and Logistics Management for MCI. She has served as chair of the Telecommunications Industry Benchmarking Consortium, and conducted internal audits for successful IS9000 certification efforts. She began her career as a computer programmer and analyst with John Deere.
Ms. Wilken has been certified by ASQ as a Quality Auditor. She holds a B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa and an M.A. in Organizational Management from The George Washington University. She consistently receives outstanding review from seminar participants. For example:
"Alice is a very gracious and outgoing instructor who made the forum of teaching this class very easy to learn and ask questions."
J.T. Swann & Company
Susan Williams
Susan Williams is the Vice President - Process-Based Organization for Orion Development Group. As a manager and consultant, she has more than 20 years of experience helping companies assess and improve organizational effectiveness.
In the corporate world, Ms. Williams helped Xerox integrate quality into its marketing, profit and leadership strategies. She helped Xerox successfully prepare for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and design its Leadership Through Quality Training.
As a trainer and consultant, Ms. Williams has been involved with successful process reengineering, quality improvement, and leadership development projects. Her customers in both the private and public sector have been inspired by her practical, experience-driven approach that delivers improved business results. Indeed, General Dynamics recognized Ms. Williams as "Supplier of the Year" for her design and delivery of their Total Quality Management and Process Action Team training programs. She consistently receives outstanding review from seminar participants. For example:
"Wow! Susan [is] one of the best presenters I've met. Thanks for making process management come alive."
"Susan is a great instructor. . . .I have some process mapping experience. This course broadened that knowledge."
"Susan was excellent! Great sense of humor with excellent listening skills."
Ms. Williams' corporate clients include Citibank, Central American Bank for Economic Integration, Chiron, Consumers Energy, Hospice of Michigan, Technology Federal Credit Union, and the Western Association of College and University Business Officers.
Ms. Williams received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and her M.A. in Organization Development from Loyola University.
© Copyright 2007, Orion Development Group