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News | Nov. 18, 2021

Picatinny Lean Six Sigma Certification and Recognition Ceremony

By Todd Badini/Catherine Scheper

The Lean Six Sigma Competency Office (LSSCO) held an annual certification and recognition ceremony on September 28, 2021 at The Club at Picatinny here at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.  Fifteen employees received their certification as part of the Lean Six Sigma program that is provided by two organizations: the Joint Program Executive Office Armaments & Ammunition (JPEO A&A), and the Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center.

Nghi Vo, Chief of the LSSCO, recognized the importance of carrying the lessons learned from the certification projects into improving the performance of our products and processes on a continuous basis.

John Finno, the Senior Scientific Technical Manager (SSTM) for Quality and the LSS Board Chairman, congratulated the new Master Black Belt, Black Belt, and Green Belts, as well as praising them for their successful project accomplishments.

One Master Black Belt, one Black Belt, and five Green Belt projects were recognized for their achievement of over $27.3 million dollars in cost avoidance/savings, along with risk reductions and other benefits from continuous improvement. The newest beltees were presented with their certificates by Chris Grassano, SES, Deputy Joint Program Executive Officer, JPEO A&A; Dave Castellano, SES, Director, METC Armaments Center who attended on behalf of John Hedderich, SES, Director of Armaments Center; and John Finno, SSTM for Quality, ESIC.

The beltees included: Master Black Belt Level: Michael Berry; Black Belt Level: Jennifer Page; and Green Belt Level: Deepal Dooney, Dennis Chapman, Michaela Forfa, Shauna Dorsey Parente, George Herc, William Truran, Terence DiCorcia, Michelle Ucci, Timothy Healy, Lt. Col. Pedro Lopez, Lt. Col. Eric Word, Lt. Col. Edgar Lopez and Lt. Col. James Miller.

Also recognized at the ceremony were the recipients of the DEVCOM AC/JPEO A&A Lean Six Sigma Exemplary and Lean Improvement Efforts Program Winners, the Lean Six Sigma Instructors from various organizations who assist with each of the training curriculum, as well as our LSS Black Belt & Master Black Belt Mentors from 2020-2021. A total of 12 winners from six project teams were recognized as LSS Exemplary and a total of 17 winners from four teams were recognized under the Best Lean Improvement Efforts.

Lean Six Sigma Instructors: Rob Waskis (Master Black Belt), Long Nguyen (Master Black Belt), Donna Bott (Master Black Belt Candidate), Thorsten Roberts (GB), Chris Applegate (Master Black Belt), Jim Caiazzo (Master Black Belt), Brad Sampson (BB), Beth Albinson (GB), Dave Burkhart (GB), Dan Crowley (Master Black Belt Candidate), Jason Cook (Master Black Belt), Frank Torres (GB), Bill Kadar (GB candidate), Dave Magidson (Master Black Belt Candidate), Alison Schwier (Master Black Belt Candidate), Tiffany Mills (Master Black Belt Candidate), Adam Hilburn (Master Black Belt), Ben Werner (GB candidate), Allan Lagasca (BB), John Ackerman (Master Black Belt), and Dave Dreifus (BB)

Lean Six Sigma Mentors: Ian Hamilton (Black Belt), Mike Berry (Master Black Belt), Jason Cook (Master Black Belt), Chris Applegate (Master Black Belt), Johnny Figueroa (Black Belt)

 

Best LSS Improvement Efforts (Projects):

Black Belt Level: Jordan Masters (Project Sponsored by ESIC), Donna Bott (Project Sponsored by CCDC AC), and Nghi Vo (Project Sponsored by PM MAS)

Green Belt Level: Deepal Dooney / Dennis Chapman / Michaela Forfa (Project Sponsored by ESIC), Anna Cruz / Michele Garv / Ms. Teriana Francis (Project Sponsored by WSEC), Lt. Col. Eric Word / Lt. Col. James Miller / Lt. Col. Edgar Lopez (Project Sponsored by AC HQ)

 

Best Lean Improvement Efforts (Events):

Ken Brown, Joanne Arias, Dave Dreifus, Tiffany Mills, Dan Perez, Rocco Avena (Event Sponsored by QESA ESIC)

Shin Chung (Event Sponsored by QESA ESIC)

Mishail Sharma, Manoj Menon, Michael Ambrose (Event Sponsored by QESA ESIC)

Dennis Durkin, Sing Eng, Eileen Heider, Brian Alexander, Wilfredo Ramos, Timothy Redinger, Olin Winchester Team Members (Event Sponsored by PM MAS)

The ceremony concluded with remarks from Chris Grassano and Dave Castellano, who both commended the entire DEVCOM AC/JPEO A&A Community for their commitment to continuous organizational improvement, with a combined $3.95 billion cost savings and avoidance over the past 20 years.

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