Keynote Speakers

Ari Weinzweig is CEO and co-founding partner of Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB) has annual sales approaching $40 million. One of those companies is ZingTrain, a consulting and training company that shares Zingerman’s approach to business with like-minded organizations from around the world, and offers a variety of management training seminars in Ann Arbor, as well as customized workshops and presentations at client sites.

In 1988 Zingerman’s was instrumental in the founding of Food Gatherers, a perishable food rescue program that annually delivers over one million pounds of food to people in need.

Ari was recognized in the 2006 Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation, and is the author of a number of articles and books.

 

Gregory D. North
Vice President
Xerox Corporate Lean Six Sigma

Joining Xerox in January 2011, North is responsible for leading the company’s Lean Six Sigma program and its ongoing business transformation journey. North was previously the senior vice president of Process Excellence Workplace Investing at Fidelity Investments, where he led numerous quality and transformation programs and was responsible for developing and deploying its global quality systems standard, Lean Six Sigma program, and Management by Fact process management system. North also held a range of business excellence and quality positions at M/A–COM Wireless Communications and Electronics, part of Tyco International. North is a certified Master Black Belt and holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary.

 

Karen Martin is principal consultant for Karen Martin & Associates LLC, which is a recognized thought leader and practitioner in applying lean thinking—both the process design and employee engagement elements—in office, service, and knowledge work environments.

Karen is also an instructor for the University of California, San Diego’s Lean Enterprise program and an industry adviser for University of San Diego’s Industrial and Systems Engineering program. She is co-author of the book The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service, and Technical Environments, co-developer of Metrics-Based Process Mapping, and sole author of a forthcoming book from McGraw-Hill (May 2012) about how companies can accelerate their transformation efforts by instilling four key organizational behaviors: clarity, focus, discipline, and engagement.

 

Richard J. Schonberger, Ph.D., is the author of five follow-on books, and he is president of his own management development/advisory company based in Bellevue, WA. Formerly, he was a practicing industrial engineer, then held professorial posts at the University of Washington-Seattle and University of Nebraska. He was inducted into the 1995 Academy of the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing; he was also awarded the British Institution of Production Engineers' 1990 International Award in Manufacturing Management. His most recent book is Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement: A Deeper Look (Wiley, 2008).