January’s
General Meeting Review
Lela S. Perteet - Programs Chair
We started the year with a new location. The January dinner meeting was held at La Mirage in Rolling Meadows, IL. While the food was great and the facilities received high marks, we have work to do with the coffee. Based on feedback, menu options are appreciated; therefore, we will continue to offer options, when available. Special thanks to Ray Wick for the extra effort in making this a success. It was great to see and welcome all the first time attendees. Overall Satisfaction score was 98%.
During the Advance Session, Susan Nauseda, from Rush University Medical Center, shared many tips to help gain Executive Buy-In when prioritizing projects. Because all organizations have projects, benefits can be achieved by developing a prioritization process, which include: Identifying the executive’s role, understanding the problem, establishing goals, involving the business in the prioritization process, identifying process roles, developing a status report process and creating a risk management & escalation process. Susan presentation highlighted that a prioritization process can aid in successfully meeting stakeholder requirements.
Imagine spending $800 million to $1.2 billion dollars and 10-15 years of research to see if you have a product. Catherine Johnson presented data on the pharmaceutical industry and the quality systems required in drug development. It was fascinating to hear the rigor, time and quality details required in drug development. Catherine also shared how Lean was being used at TAP to standardize processes, optimize floor plans, reduce cycle time, develop value stream maps for key processes, and aid in addressing inefficient activities freeing up time to improve overall productivity.
Special Thanks to the volunteers who worked to make the evening a success: June Morita, Sam Makwana, Dan Brown, Ray Wick, James Persaud, Jim Walker, Tonk Scott, Norm Peplow and Lela Perteet.
If you would like an on-line copy of these presentations, please see the Presentations page.
Raffle Prize Winners
Congratulations to Raffle Prize Winners who each received a $25 gift certificate: June Morita, Greg Sulek, Don Winter, Ravi Bala