I hope 2012 is off to a great start for all of you. Our first program meeting of 2012 was at Ariens in Brillion, WI. We had a great turnout for the tour. Over 30 members showed up and some brought guests so they could see what ASQ is about. We toured the zero turn mower plant of Ariens. Their manufacturing and painting processes are impressive. I didn't realize that all of the metal housings and brackets are fabricated right on site at Ariens using laser cutters and welding equipment. Two of the three engine suppliers for the zero turn mowers are Wisconsin's own, Kohler Engines and Briggs and Stratton, also very cool to see. Thank you to our great tour guides at Ariens. Everyone enjoyed the tour immensely.

After the tour, the group went to Cobblestone Creek in Brillion for the dinner meeting. During the family style dinner, everyone discussed various Quality topics prepared by Michelle Kilgas. One person from each group was asked to share their discussion with everyone. It was a great way to learn what other companies are doing with quality and more importantly to expand our professional networks. There were a lot of new faces at the meeting, which was great to see. Thanks to Cobblestone Creek for opening the restaurant on Monday night just for our group. It was a fantastic setting for the meeting and the food was awesome. And thanks to Michelle for the Quality conversation starters. Great idea!

Our next board meeting is on Monday, January 23, at 5:00 pm. The location is Sergio's in Appleton.  If you are interested in joining the board or interested in finding out what happens at board  meetings, please join us. We recently lost a board member, Luke Prasch, due to a job change.  Thanks Luke for all the work you did as our VOC chair. You did a great job and we all appreciate it.  Best of luck to you in your new position. We will miss you. Our board meetings are actually a lot of fun. We have a great group but are always looking for new additions. We'd love to see you there.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

The February program meeting is going to be at Serigraph in West Bend on the 13th. Please remember, our meetings are open to anyone. You don't have to be a member of ASQ to attend. If you know anyone at work that isn't a member, invite them to come along. It's a great way to get someone interested in joining ASQ. New members are always welcome.

Last but not least, I'd like to remind everyone to take a look at the Section 1206 website if you are looking for a job or are interested in a new position. A lot of companies ask us to post openings for Quality positions. Use ASQ for what it is intended, to help you develop and advance.

Jennifer Fleisner
ASQ Winnebago Section Chair:

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and enjoyed time with family and friends, I know I did.  It's a time for new beginnings and resolutions. Maybe some of you have made a resolution to be more active in your ASQ section. I can't wait to see you at the meetings!

Our December program meeting started at Jagemann Stampings in Manitowoc where we had a tour of the plant and a lively presentation on the Quality philosophy at Jagemann. A big thanks to our wonderful tour guides at Jagemann. We really appreciate that you took the time to show us your facility. After the tour, the group moved to the Holiday Inn in Manitowoc for the dinner meeting and a game of quality Family Feud with our fabulous host, Woody Santy. Thanks, Woody for hosting. Fun was had by all. We made this meeting a Meeting of Giving and Section members were asked to bring a new unwrapped toy to Donate to Toys for Tots. We collected over a dozen toys to donate to needy children in the area. Thank you to everyone that brought a donation to the meeting. I can just imagine how happy those kids were on Christmas morning.

You'll really want to stick to you resolutions to be more involved in ASQ and join us for the January program meeting at Ariens Company in Brillion, WI on the 16th. It should be a fantastic tour. I know I'm really looking forward to seeing how snow blowers are made. Hope to see you there! Don't forget to register!

Wishing you a prosperous, exciting and fun 2012!
Jennifer Fleisner
Section 1206 Chair

Seasons Greetings Section 1206 members!

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. For those of you that missed it, we had another outstanding tour for the November program meeting. The crew at Zander Press in Brillion, WI was such gracious hostesses. The
family owned company is currently run by the fourth generation of Zanders. Although small in size, they are using some state of the art equipment and have some brilliant designers. It was a great opportunity to see a successful business running in a small town. Thanks again to Zander for giving us a look inside your business.

Our next program meeting is scheduled for December 12th at Jagemann Stamping in Manitowoc, WI with a dinner meeting to follow at the Holiday Inn. We would like to make this meeting a meeting of giving. Please bring a new unwrapped toy to the dinner meeting. We will collect the toys and donate them to the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation. After dinner, stick around for a Christmas themed version of the Family Feud. This will be a great opportunity for you to network with your fellow Section 1206 members and to have some fun.

Last but not least, I'd like to mention that at the November board meeting, the board gave special recognition to Dave Wildner for his service as Section Chair for the past two years. Dave was presented with the past Presidents award. This was a small token of appreciation to thank Dave for all the time and hard work that he devoted to the section as Chair. On behalf of the board and the section, I'd like to thank Dave for all he's done and continues to do. Thank you, Dave!

In closing, I want to wish all of you and your families a happy and safe holiday season!

Jennifer Fleisner
Section 1206 Chair

Greetings, fellow ASQ members! I’m going to keep this letter short and sweet, I know the last one was kind of long. I hope that you have all been enjoying this beautiful fall weather that we have been having. The leaves have made their usual transition from green to hues of yellow and red like an out-of-control control chart. It’s a great time of year!

I wish I had raving reviews to report about our fall conference, but unfortunately due to low registration numbers, the conference had to be cancelled. Michelle put a lot of effort into planning a great conference but for whatever reason we had very few members sign up. Thanks Michelle for your hard work! In order to get to the root cause for the low registration numbers and to help us plan the spring conference we will be sending out a survey. We are looking for suggestions from you, our members, to be sure we are offering topics of interest so that we can have a fantastic turnout at the spring event. Help us serve you better by completing the survey when it sent out. On the program meeting side of things, we still have a couple of months available if your company would like to host a program meeting in the spring. Please let a board member know so we can get you on the schedule.

I hope to see you all at the November program meeting at Zander Press in Brillion!

Hello, fellow ASQ members! This is my first letter to you as the Chair of the section. I doubt that I will be nearly as entertaining as Dave but I will sure make an effort. I sure have some big shoes to fill.  (Don’t take that literally, I have no idea what Dave’s actual shoe size is.) But seriously, Dave Wildner has done an outstanding job serving as chair of this section for the past two years. And I’m happy toreport that Dave is still a very active member of our board and will be serving as our Nomination and Newsletter Chair for the 2011/2012 year.

We kicked off the Program year with a tour of Hatco Corporation; a very impressive employee owned manufacturing plant in beautiful Sturgeon Bay, WI. Hatco produces amazing products for the foodservice industry including warmers, toasters, sanitizing equipment and refrigeration equipment. It was evident that the employees really care about the customers, the products and the plant itself.  Everyone on the tour commented on how clean and organized the facility is. The tour was followed up with a networking session during dinner at the Stone Harbor Restaurant located right on the water in historic downtown Sturgeon Bay. A big thanks to Steve Christoferson,  Bo Lambert and Rob Polster for the presentation and tour of the Hatco facility.

The Section 1206 Board is working hard as usual to plan some great program meeting and conferences to offer to you for the program year. We do have a couple of months that have not been booked yet. If your company would be interested in showing off your facility and sharing your best practices in manufacturing and quality, please let a board member know. We would love to add your company to
our tour list.

I thought I would share a little about myself in this first letter. I grew up in southern Indiana where I obtained a Mechanical Engineering degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. After graduation, I accepted a job as a Quality Engineer with Kohler Engines and moved to WI. My career path eventually took me to Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, Pentair Residential Filtration in Glendale
and landed me at Rexnord Industries in Grafton where I currently work. I have been a member of ASQ for 12 years now and have been an active board member for the past 2 years, serving as the Vice Chair for Section 1206. I will admit, I was not an active member of ASQ for 10 years. I rarely attended a program meeting. I viewed ASQ as resume fodder. One day it seemed silly to me to be a member of an organization that I got no value from. I decided to make a change and I attended my first board meeting. That was all it took for me. I realized that I was only going to get out of ASQ what I put into it. The point I’m trying to make is, there is nothing wrong with being a member and not being active, but when you participate is when you will really get something out of your membership. You don’t have to become a board member, but at least consider coming to the program meetings and network with other members. 1206 is really a great section and I am honored to be able to serve as your Chair. I look forward to meeting you at the next program meeting.

Jennifer Fleisner: Winnebago Section # 1206 Chair.

As I was creating the summer newsletter for the section, and attended the July financial audit of our checking & investment accounts, I realized that as of July, I am still the CEO and the Chair is responsible for the message located in this section, so you still get my rhetoric in this letter.

As I write this, we are about to enter the final hours of the great debate and development of the budget business that the US Government is attempting to resolve.  I am, as most of you probably are, appalled at the lack of business ethics that our “leaders” fail to operate by.  At least you can rest assured that the section leadership of your ASQ section are well aware of how to balance the books and keep funds in the accounts to provide you with the excellent programs that you are offered.

Personally, I think we should fire all the politicians and begin running the business of government like a business. We all have a responsibility in this matter, and I encourage you all to participate in that responsibility. Vote.

Seriously, we as citizens need to take control.  We need to make sure all the people in government who are representing us, pay attention to the business of government. That includes voting on issues that the majority of their constituents feel they should. Additionally, we need to make certain that everyone is paying for his or her fair share, and I would support a flat tax system. Loopholes in the system and programs that we don’t need should be eliminated so that the country has proper income and no more waste. I have always said that a lean six-sigma program would do wonders in Washington. Yet, just taking the leadership of our country and treating as we all do in our businesses, would make a world of difference.

I just cannot understand any of this.  I have a business degree and work in business where our objective is……… to make a profit. Government should have the same objective directly behind the service of programs and leadership to its people.  Is it really as difficult as they / we make it look? I don’t think so, therefore we still need some change.

I hope to see you all next month. Take care!
Dave Wildner; ASQ Section 1206 Chair: 2009-2011

OK, last month in this section I started out the letter with the positive view about the spring weather creeping back into the valley and the temperature going up, the birds singing, and as I write this letter, the wind is blowing a good 30 miles per hour, snow is flying sideways tapping against my window as if to scold me for writing such nonsense, and the poor little birds I see out there struggling to find shelter and food are wondering why in the heck they spent the energy to fly all the way from South America to be punished like this! I agree with them and think that the weather is for the birds, snowbirds that is!

Now that we are entering the ice age again, I thought I should point out a positive, beer is always good ice cold, and we are going to tour the Point Brewery this month in Stevens Point, so please plan on attending. The date will be different than the normal second Monday of the month as we are doing this in cooperation with our partners from Central Wisconsin, who originally was a part of our section. So, lets all get out and support them as well as take the tour of one of Wisconsin’s finest manufacturers!

This month the Quality Progress magazine seemed to focus a lot on the aspect of supplier quality. I find that very interesting on a personal level because that is the area of my responsibility in my day job at Mercury Marine. Supplier quality is an area of great importance in all areas of manufacturing, and I can say that with some confidence because of my current position and many years of experience in both supplier quality and quality systems development and management. To me, however, I still am seeing a disparity between areas within organizations. Reawakening my own awareness to Dr. W. Edwards Deming and his Principles for Transformation have made me step back and look at where we are today, in respect to manufacturing in the United States. For example, you can see some progress in the automotive industry, taking Ford Motor Company as one of those examples. They have gone through some difficult times, downsized their operations, shed some lagging brands, improved quality and are now competing well against the Japanese and other auto makers who have been traditionally ahead of them in the market place both in customer satisfaction as ranked by firms such as JD Power & Associates as well as the perception of the public. However, looking back at some of the teachings of Dr. Deming and the speaking events he has held during my career lifetime (yea, I know, showing my age) it really is not a surprise. For example, Deming claimed back in the 1980’s that it would take the US automakers probably 30 years to catch up. Quick math shows that he was exactly right. However have they really caught up, or, have the leaders slipped a little? When you take into consideration the recent spills in quality as experienced by Toyota, and just in the past several weeks, Ford was caught in one as well on their most popular vehicle, the F-150 truck, then it makes you wonder, how are they doing on maintaining? Getting systems implemented is difficult enough, keeping them on the leading edge is even more difficult, and implementing continuous improvement, that,  my friends is 3rd base in my opinion. You (your company and implementation plan) still need to get past 3rd base and across home plate to score. Additionally, you need to keep scoring to stay ahead of the competition.

Again, its only my humble opinion, but it still seems to me the focus in industry in the US is still more on cost, not quality. Did not Dr. Deming and all the other guru’s of quality teach us that if you take care of quality, through employee involvement and participation, then cost would also be well controlled? I know I am changing subject slightly, but stick with me, it all makes sense in the end. Companies are still running to find the lowest cost labor. I just read in Bloomberg where factories making consumer goods that moved to China are now moving to Vietnam and India. I think we all saw that coming, and now with new worries about inflation in the US as the government grapples with the issue of debt and managing our credit rating, the price of oil and gas, and fears of additional struggles in the Middle East and Africa, can we be double dipping into something we don’t want or need again? Hopefully not! All righty then, Wildner, what does all this have to do with Deming & the weather in Wisconsin? Quality my friends. It still is all about quality. Quality of the product you produce, the service you provide, of the elected officials in office, and yes, of the weather in Wisconsin. It is, after all, connected to the entire process, it is all related. So keep the faith, do the right thing and continue to be an advocate for quality.

Dave Wildner: Winnebago Section Chair

Springtime is finally creeping its way back into the valley. After the long rolling rumbles of thunder that I heard this past Sunday morning coupled with the sound of singing birds (the original creator of “tweeting”) as they sang their praises of seeing the snow melt in rapid form, I smiled.  I know it wasn’t just me who had felt that this winter was overstaying its welcome, and having those sounds to wake up to on a blustery weekend morning signaled the end of the season. It also signals the near end of another successful and exciting season for the 1206.  We had some outstanding corporate tours this season, and thanks again to go the hard working board members who continue to line up for future positions You and I are truly blessed to be a part of such a fun and well organized section. Thank YOU for supporting us by coming to our events. Please continue to provide your feedback and keep visiting the website frequently as this next year, many new changes are being planned.

I am sure you all have noticed the slow steady increase in job openings in our area, as well as across the nation. Just look further in this newsletter to see some great positions being advertised right here in beautiful Wisconsin.

I think everyone who is a member of ASQ receives the Fast Facts on Friday, and I will be honest, I did not pay much attention to the originally. (Yes, shame on me) Frankly, that was a mistake on my part and I have to say that it is a great idea for you to get just a quick snapshot of what is new in the past week and how you, as a quality professional, are making a difference in the world. Seriously, go back and look at last week’s links and if nothing else, read the article by Linda Wawrzniak, on leveling the playing field. To me on a personal level, it was interesting because I accidentally clicked on the interview link and listened to the verbal exchange between her and a host from ASQ. It was interesting because her background was vary similar to mine whereby I spent many years working in the automotive industry at the tier one level as either a quality engineer or manager.  Even more interesting is the story she tells in the article about how she was able to utilize the quality sciences to help improve athletes performance at the minor league baseball level. She talks about how monitoring and improving process control using learned tactics in quality do help improve a player’s performance.  Check it out, it’s pretty good!

We are having a joint meeting in May with the Central Wisconsin section in Stevens Point, so if you are looking for a networking opportunity, here is your dagger! (Err, I mean excellent chance to do that) Also watch the web site calendar, as we are already well under way to planning next seasons schedule of events. I just don’t even want to think about winter right now, UNLESS the Packers repeat as the World Champions of professional football. Then I say….. “Bring it on”!

Dave Wildner: Winnebago Section Chair

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NFC CHAMPION GREEN BAY PACKERS!  SUPER BOWL BOUND!

As a lifelong football fan and a lifelong Packer fan that has lived most of his life in Michigan, this NFL season ended with a bang, did it not? That is unless you’re a Lions, Bears or Vikings fan living behind enemy lines. Me personally, I can’t consider the Steelers an enemy as they are my close 2nd favorite team, so this Super Bowl, for me, is truly going to be super, and I expect a fantastic game out the deal. I also think that our ASQ Section # 1206 may have been their (the Green Bay Packers) good luck charm following our tour and presentation at Lambeau Field! (Did they not end the season with a record of 12-06?)

Additionally, I trust those of you who attended the SCA plant tour and presentation in January were as impressed with their operation as I was, and continue to be. The tour guides / hosts, the presentation (which I would love to schedule a future visit to that lab and see the alternative energy uses that they have implemented) and the people in general have shown us all again that Central Wisconsin is loaded with extraordinarily talented and hard working people. Speaking of this green initiative that Mike Dillon of SCA shared with us at that presentation, they are mentioned in the January edition of Marketplace Magazine. You may have seen me quote news items from them in the past as they are all about the Fox Valley.

The story on page 10 titled “A Win-Wind” talks about the company Renewegy and their development of this very desirable smaller wind turbine. In addition to SCA, they have also installed turbines on top of Orion Energy Systems in Manitowoc (the sight of President Obama’s post State of the Union tour) and Bergstrom Mini in Grand Chute, as well as Kaukauna High School. These were the preproduction turbines, and as of October, full production kicked off at the Oshkosh manufacturing company and they are poised to have an exceptional year in 2011. According to one of their founders, Jeff Ehlers, “Our philosophy is we’re helping to save the world one turbine at a time.” These nifty and somewhat affordable units are not the same behemoths that dot the landscape of Fond du Lac County, but one fourth the size, easily maintained and much more affordable for a company that wants to show its community that it cares about the planet. They stand about 100 feet tall (as opposed to the 400 foot tall WE Energy System turbines) and cost between $80,000 - $90,000 with an approximate seven to twelve year payback and twenty five year life expectancy.  Additionally, the federal tax credit, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, covers 30% of the cost of an eligible renewable energy project, either as a tax credit or as a grant. The Wisconsin organization, Focus on Energy also funds up to 25% of a project, potentially making the investment affordable.

Especially interesting to me is that this company was founded by former Brunswick employees when MotoTron Corporation was sold to Woodward Governor Company, which manufactures and sells the “embedded electronics” as MotoHawk Control Solutions. As Mr. Ehlers puts it, “Renewegy is really founded on electric systems”, which are the motors that control these amazing power sources. He also states that Renewegy’s customers are “very progressive,” seeking the next step beyond what they can do to conserve energy. This is great stuff, and again, it’s happening right here in our back yards.