MSQPC--The Quality Center, a partnership of The Memphis Regional Chamber and
Southwest Tennessee Community College, proudly announces
The 2006 Memphis Regional Quality Cup Award Winners!

Summit Winners:
Buckman Laboratories, International Paper, and Rayloc.

Progressive Winner:
Service Master - ARS Division

Interest Winner:
Hollywood Casino - Security Division

Summit Winners

Buckman Laboratories, Inc. (Bin Fleet Transition Team)
1256 N. McLean Blvd, Memphis, TN

Team Members: Pete Tchouros, Andrew Mohler, Michael Alpert, Bill Bryan, Tim Koonce, Jeff Thorne, Toni Cochran, Bill Landreth, Dennis Brookins, Greg Spencer, Brad Walden, Don Farage, Melissa Wilson

Team Improvement: Buckman's transition to shipping new one-way chemical bin containers instead of green tote bins provides quality improvements that positively impact our customers' satisfaction, our operational efficiency, associate satisfaction and Buckman's financial performance. Customers' benefit because we have eliminated a primary source of product leaks and a source of product contamination. Internal operations benefit by eliminating the green tote bin washing process. Associates benefit by eliminating an undesirable bin washing task and the rework associated with repacking leaking bins. Once the program is fully implemented the annual financial savings is estimated at $1,475,000.

International Paper - PPR Omega Quality Control Team
070 Willow Lake Blvd, Memphis, TN

Team Members: Lars Vesterberg, Crystal Garvin, Sheila Caldwell, Theresa Moody, Kristine Craig (Robert Ricks, Manager)

Team Improvement: The Quality Control Team transformed an ad-hoc software installation process into a documented, repeatable process. The visibility of change management has increased by developing an in-house release tool, AIM for process automation. A testing team has been created to ensure the quality of software changes. A process for collecting and analyzing metrics has been instituted for use in root-cause analysis and fact-based decision making. As a result, software back-out rates and support calls have declined and remained low. Through this quality improvement, customers have been satisfied through a stable and reliable production system.

Rayloc - Shipping Department Six Sigma Team
2860 Horn Lake Road, Memphis, TN

Team Members: Joe Bynum, Tim Holden, Chris Charles, David Hutcherson, Zac Carson, Gary Robinson (Jerry Greene, General Manager, and Andy O'Neill, Quality Engineer)

Team Improvement: Rayloc ships new and remanufactured brake shoes and disc pads to NAPA distribution centers (primary orders) and NAPA stores (drop ships). The team has significantly improved the efficiency of the shipping department. They used Six Sigma methodology and Lean principles to reduce shipping labor expense from $.29 per unit to $.21 per unit. Rayloc has documented savings of over $110,000 in the 8 months since implementation of the improvements. This projects to over $165,000 in annual savings. The improvements were made with no interruption to ongoing shipments and with minimal capital investment.

Progressive Winner - Service Master ARS Division

American Residential Services - Division of Service Master- Six Sigma Team
860 Ridge Lake Blvd, Memphis, TN

Team Members: Mark Burel, Dave Thiessen, Jarih Jafri, Brad Cummings, Elizabeth Young, Linda Steger, Steve Bokleman, Roy Tanner, Denine Aubertin (42 Branch managers, 9 regional managers)

Team Improvement: Historically in the HVAC & Plumbing Service Industry, on time arrival to a Customer's location has never been a priority. For ARS, this same problem resulted in lower customer satisfaction, declining service calls and revenue. As a part of Customer Surveys conducted in 2003, ARS found that 51% of customers wanted on time service, further defined as the arrival of a service technician within a specified two-hour window. Six Sigma team in partnership with marketing conducted workshops in 42 locations to implement a consistent process. As part of ARS' commitment to arrive on time, they began offering a $50 mail-in certificate if the technician did not arrive within the specified window.

Interest Winner- Hollywood Casino

Hollywood Casino - Security Team
1150 Casino Strip Resort Blvd, Tunica Resorts, MS

Team Members: Bayless Wheeler, Dusty Rhodes, Dennis Scarborough, Donald Hawkins, Lawrence Frazier, Paul Jowers, Danny Joe Taylor, Dispatch officers, Report Writers, and 37 officers (Robert Moister, Director of Organizational Development, Dusty Rhodes, Security Manager)

Team Improvement: While Hollywood's 54-member Security Department has consistently demonstrated excellent performance, the Team believed that they could do better. Beginning in 2003, the development/implementation of new selection, training, mentoring, and operational programs increased the morale and professionalism of the Team which resulted in a more effective and efficient operation. The Team has become an integral part of marketing efforts through interaction with guests and player card sign-ups. The Security Department works as a team 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.