Mark Thompson (Target Corp.) : Flavors of Six Sigma and tools to use for business value discovery

April 6, 2006

Location: EE/CS 3 - 115

Twin-SPIN
For the Minneapolis/St. Paul Regional Area

Meeting Announcement:

Thursday, April 6, 2006
5:30-8:00  p.m. at  The University of Minnesota
5:30 start for networking,  6:15 start for  meeting.

EE/CS Building
Room  EE/CS 3 - 115
Minneapolis, MN

Directions:  
A map is available at http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/EE/CSci/
Check out the detailed map under the “close up” button.

This Month’s Meeting:

Flavors of Six Sigma and tools to use for business value discovery

Mark Thompson
Target Corporation

Abstract

There are many types of Six Sigma methods --- which flavor to use? Which one fits software development best? Which tools provide the most bang for the effort?  Which tools can be used to substantiate business value? Which tools can help with knowledge transfer and collaboration? The answers to these questions will be explored as we take a look at the Six Sigma tools that we have reviewed and implemented at Target Corporation.

Biography

Mark Thompson is a leading member of the Software Engineering Process Group (SEPG) of Target Corporation and holds his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).  At Target the SEPG has recently completed a major effort to review and incorporate Six Sigma methods and tools into their methodology.  Prior to Target Mark has worked with a number of consulting companies and has managed a number of large and varied development projects: from consumer loyalty programs, to the creation of a multi-axis robotic imaging system for testing implantable medical devices; and from food processing to semiconductor fabrication process control systems.  Throughout all these projects Mark has included quality and process improvement; whether with a company that has won the Malcom Baldridge award and is ISO certified; to companies that needed to establish quality groups; to ones who are on the CMM/CMMi journey.  Mark graduated from the University of Minnesota, Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering and is a member of IEEE.

Twin-SPIN Mission Statement

The Twin-SPIN software process improvement network (SPIN) is a regional organization established in January of 1996 as a forum for the free and open exchange of software process improvement   experiences and ideas. Representatives from industry, government, academia, other professional organizations, and consultants are welcome to participate. Our mission is to help sustain commitment and enhance skills in the area of software process improvement through an active program of networking and mutual support. The organization strives to serve as a source of educational and experiential information for its members, other SPIN organizations, and the general community of software professionals.  

Meetings are normally held on the 1st  Thursday of each month from 5:45-8:00 p.m. Twin-SPIN is a non-profit organization.  

See: http://twin-spin.cs.umn.edu 

2006 Sponsors:

Facility Sponsor

University of Minnesota, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

$2,000 Sponsors

University of Minnesota Software Engineering Center (UMSEC)

$500 Sponsors 

Digital River

$300 Sponsors

PACT

$200 Sponsors

$100 Sponsors

Glewwe Castle Brewery

Quality Software Technologies, Inc.

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