Lean Six Sigma Expert Named to Top 100 List

The Vice President of 3M’s Lean Six Sigma, Supply Chain Acquisition Integration and Quality for 3M, Jerome D. Hamilton, was named to Savoy Magazine’s 2014 Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America.  The list is a compilation of African American individuals who are facilitating global change through their leadership.

Hamilton, known as a LEAN expert, has made tremendous contributions to a number of companies, Savoy stated, particularly in areas of cost, cash and growth. Hamilton manages a program called Optimized Operations, which recruits and trains entry-level 3M manufacturing and process engineers.

Lean Six Sigma is an important part of 3M’s daily operations. In a 2013 presentation for the Minnesota Chapter of ASQ’s annual summit, for which Hamilton was the keynote speaker, it was revealed that the company — whose global sales in 2012 were $29.6 billion — began its Lean Six Sigma program in 2001. Since then, 65,000 3M employees have been trained in Lean Six Sigma methodologies. As of 2012, 90 percent of all of the company’s employees were six sigma trained, and 99 percent of its executives were. There are now Lean Six Sigma black belts in every 3M region. 73,000 projects have been closed or are in-progress. 450 full time resources are committed to Lean Six Sigma. Hamilton’s presentation noted that the company’s Lean Six Sigma focus was creating a common leadership focus within the company, connecting business, supply chain, manufacturing, IT, sales and marketing, and finance departments into one cohesive unit.

The EPA has also taken notice of 3M’s Lean Six Sigma commitment, which it has applied to its environmental goals. The company has been using Lean Six Sigma methods in 3P (Pollution Prevention Pays) program since 2005, the EPA stated. In 2006, 70 percent of all 3P projects relied on Lean Six Sigma, at least in part. 3M has consistently been named an industry leader in preventing pollution, the agency noted.

Hamilton is proof that Lean Six Sigma is a valuable tool for leadership. 3M is proof that Lean Six Sigma is a valuable tool for success.