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2004's 15th Annual QualPro Leadership Symposium - Workshops Inbound Call Center Sales Increased 20% Citibank Process improvement, profit improvement, and customer service are continual challenges for all companies. Citi Cards met that challenge through Multivariable Testing(tm) where they improved sales on inbound calls, with no significant increase in handle time. When all helpful MVT® factors are implemented fully, a 20% increase in sales is indicated, which has the potential to deliver millions of dollars to Citi Cards bottom line. Handle Time remained virtually unchanged, with a tiny 1% increase. Interestingly, out of all the many ideas that were considered, Citi Cards found that they could focus on implementing just four ideas. An unexpected bonus was that employee satisfaction also improved. Change Times Reduced 19% and Energy Costs Lowered Boise Paper Boise Paper in Jackson, Alabama had a strong desire to decrease the time spent changing grades on their J1 machine. Through MVT® experiments, including unique energy conservation techniques, they were able to reduce change times 19% and substantially lower energy costs. The result was improved machine and operational efficiencies worth more than a quarter of a million dollars. Off 5th Increases Sales 4.3% during MVT® Saks Fifth Avenue The management team at Off 5th opted to use the MVT® methodology to increase sales penetration while continuing to upgrade the merchandise mix, improve customer service, and execute its key item gift strategy. During the eight week period of the screening MVT®, the 24 stores participating in the test out- performed the other stores by 4.3% representing approximately $1 Million in additional sales. This is a great example of how MVT® can quickly identify winning factors that will increase sales performance in the retail environment, often even during the testing period. Tens of Millions of Dollars in Increased Technical Sales Pactiv Corporation It seemed an impossible task! Rapidly experiment in a decentralized, technical sales environment with an 18-month decision making cycle time. However, the Pactiv Hexacomb(r) sales team accepted the challenge and used MVT® experiments to test 23 ideas in only two months, identifying actions to immediately improve sales and margins. Individual helpful actions increased sales by over 13%, while other actions increased new customers by almost two new accounts per sales person per month. The findings can deliver tens of millions of dollars of new Pactiv revenues annually. Client Partnership Increases Order Accuracy 25% Deluxe, Inc. Deluxe used MVT® to improve customer check printing accuracy, working in partnership with a key banking client. With MVT® results indicating an improvement opportunity of 25%, this project is an excellent example of how the MVT® process can simultaneously achieve increased product accuracy, customer satisfaction, and client partnership. Multi-Million Dollar Improvement in Chemical Operation OCI Chemical In order to meet customer requirements, the OCI chemical operation in Decatur, Alabama desired to improve the stability and particle size distribution of a product used in laundry detergents and "oxygen" cleaners. Using MVT®, the plant was able to increase product potency stability beyond specifications and improve particle size distribution by reducing fines by 75%. With multi-million dollar economic benefits, this project demonstrates how a disciplined application of the full 12-Step Procedure can improve a manufacturing facility to a point beyond its basic design. Chemical Process Yields Increased BASF The BASF intermediates complex in Freeport, TX utilized MVT® experiments to increase the cracking and conversion of a heavies stream into finished product. This improved the yield of the process while decreasing the amount of heavies formed. The manufacturing improvements yielded a 10% decrease in the amount of heavies formed, and a 20% increase in the conversion of heavies to product. Savings in raw material purchases alone total close to $500,000 per year. This project is an excellent example of MVT® experimentation on a large scale manufacturing plant. Brand Multi-Channel Sales Improved with Catalog Creative Testing Williams-Sonoma As customers migrate to Internet purchasing, Williams-Sonoma Catalog sales growth has declined. An MVT® project was initiated to reverse this trend and restore the sales growth to the Catalog as well as drive more incremental business to the Internet and Retail channels. With 10% improvement worth $8 million per year, this project illustrates the use of MVT® in a complex multi-channel business model with many dependencies across the organization, including significant catalog development lead times. Over $2 Million in Manufacturing Improvements Olin Chlor Alkali Intensive capital needs. Stringent safety requirements. Massive energy demands. Enormous risk management issues. In four U.S. facilities with exactly this kind of difficult manufacturing environment, Olin Chlor Alkali has evaluated 100+ ideas to improve their results. MVT® findings have helped Olin reduce energy consumption, increase production, improve reliability, and raise product quality. Several project teams will tell the story of how Olin's first year of MVT® testing is accumulating total benefits over $2 million. Selling/Marketing Mix Improved During Testing of New Product Viability Deluxe, Inc. As Deluxe was confirming the viability of a new product in multiple channels, they used MVT® to determine maximize sign-up/enrollment and avoid unnecessary investment. The Deluxe project team will describe how, prior to market launch, they were able to identify actions to increase sign-up for this key new product, and at the same time, reveal unnecessary tactics that would be non-productive investments. Paper Mill Generates Economic and Quality Benefits Boise Paper The St. Helens, Oregon mill of the Boise Paper Company uses QualPro's 12-Step Procedure to improve processes in all areas including pulp, papermaking, power and recovery, and measurement systems. This presentation will explain how the mill has found that a workforce trained in the tools of process improvement, coupled with an engaged management team, can lead to success in any area of interest. Using this approach, St. Helens has generated economic benefits for the company and quality benefits for their customers. Product Quality Raised While Costs Reduced GAF Materials Corporation GAF successfully used QualPro's 12-Step Procedure to reduce variation in a key process step by minimizing raw material variation, improving material loading, and optimizing process settings. They not only reduced coating variation and improved color consistency, sheet construction, and granule adhesion, but the plant also realized annual savings of $90K due to increased raw material loading. This is a good example of the benefits of the full 12-Step Procedure. Savings and improvements generated are being implemented at multiple sites within GAF. Retail Planning Process Dramatically Changed Saks, Inc.-Carson Pirie Scott The Carson Pirie Scott division of Saks, Inc. is using MVT® to verify and refine store management and sales promotion/marketing theories to create a sustainable competitive advantage. MVT® has changed Carson Pirie Scott's planning process dramatically, as testing has become an integral part of running the business. The presentation will emphasize how support and teamwork was gained from all functional areas as they implemented the MVT® process. Software Errors Reduced by Half Deluxe, Inc. A process improvement team at Deluxe launched a project to improve the quality of software released for use by their internal and external customers. Using MVT® experimentation, they were able to reduce, by half, the number of defects introduced in a newly developed software release. They have subsequently implemented the learnings for all software development, and demonstrated the effectiveness of MVT® as an effective tool to improve the quality of outsourced software development. Finding the Best Sales Force Incentive Program Increases Sales 20% Boise Boise used MVT® techniques to determine what components of a Business-to-Business sales force incentive program to implement. While there are many types of incentive programs, some yield better results than others. This presentation will describe how Boise used this project to determine the best program to implement, as well as measuring overall program return. The results were exciting, with average sales rep performance increasing 20%. This project clearly illustrates the importance of understanding key drivers in order to maximize incentive program return. Set-Up Time and Waste Reductions Worth Millions Pactiv Corporation Reduce set-up time and waste in a short-run, custom made-to-order, continuous process? That was the daunting challenge facing the Pactiv Hexacomb(r) plant in Trenton, Illinois. In a quick series of MVT® experiments, they tested 40+ ideas across the entire plant, and identified actions that will substantially improve both set-up time and waste. The results can deliver millions to the Pactiv bottom line when applied to all plants! This project demonstrates the value of combining decisive managerial leadership with extensive local work force involvement.  |
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Since 1982, QualPro has used Multivariable Testing (MVT®) with 1000+ companies to test 100,000+ improvement ideas. MVT® tests between 20 and 40 ideas simultaneously, accurately predicting the bottom-line impact of potential process changes in weeks. Take existing process initiatives, like Six Sigma, to a whole new level. All process improvement tools and approaches (TQM, DOE, Six Sigma, Re-Engineering, SPC) can be enhanced through the use of Multivariable Testing by QualPro.
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