Business Excellence Consortium

Financial Services Executive Seminar:
Applying Lean Six Sigma in a Transactional Environment

Lean Six Sigma has emerged as a powerful methodology that combines the waste reduction and continuous improvement practices of Lean with Six Sigma's powerful tools that uncover processing variations that cause costly errors. A successfully executed Lean Six Sigma strategy helps executives address everyday challenges such as reducing operational costs, increasing service levels, and, ultimately, increasing revenue. Lean Six Sigma is about building a culture of continuous improvement and shifting management philosophy from being reactive, based on gut feel and focused on functional areas, to one that is proactive, based on data-driven decision making and process focus.

Firms that have implemented this management philosophy correctly have realized a 700% return on their investment. Some recent examples include:

• Slow response times were causing a global lender to lose 40% of loan applications at various process stages. Through the use of basic Lean and Six Sigma tools, response times improved by as much as 98% and contract volume increased up to 120%. Read full story here
• Rapid retail expansion of a national bank led to growing pains like frequent transaction errors, too many new processes, training deficiencies, and customer service issues. The combination of Lean and Six Sigma tools helped improve core business processes through process and product elimination as well as process simplification. The bank realized $2.1 million in savings in just eight months. Read full story here

The goal of this one-day seminar is to provide clarity, helping you decide if this is the right path for you. The session will focus on addressing questions such as: 

• What is Lean Six Sigma? 
• How is it different from other methodologies? 
• What will it cost me? 
• What should I expect in return? 
• How and where do I start?

Who should attend?

Senior executives with financial and transactions-based organizations including banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and others that process a high volume of transactions. The one-day seminar is crafted specifically to gain awareness and understanding about the methodology for implementation and execution.

At the conclusion of the seminar, you will:

• have a clear and concise understanding of the Lean Six Sigma methodology and how it can apply to your organization
• gain insight into the value of Lean Six Sigma through a review of industry specific case studies
• understand options for implementation strategy and associated costs
• be aware of common pitfalls and how to avoid them

About the instructors:

Sheila Shaffie is a co-founder of ProcessArc, Inc, a Lean Six Sigma consulting firm specializing in the transactional and financial services industry. A sample list of the firm's clients include: RW Baird, Thomson Reuters, CUNA Mutual, GMAC, and Associated Bank. Sheila worked for 10 years in quality and process management at three General Electric businesses - Plastics, Healthcare, and Capital. She has proven experience and knowledge in launching global quality initiatives and Six Sigma process re-engineering. As a Director of Quality, she pioneered the usage of Lean and Six Sigma at GE Capital's transactional environment. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. She is GE Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, and Master Black Belt certified.