Denis Leonard has a degree in construction engineering an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in quality management. Denis is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality, a Certified Quality Manager, Auditor and Six Sigma Black Belt. He has been an Examiner for the Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners a Judge on the International Team Excellence Competition and a Lead Judge on the National Housing Quality Award. A former Professor of Quality at the University of Wisconsin, he has experience as a quality manager in the homebuilding industry as well as construction engineer, site manager and in training, auditing and consulting with expertise in strategic and operational quality improvement initiatives. His work has achieved national quality, environmental and safety management awards for clients.
Denis is co-author of 'The Executive Guide to Understanding and Implementing the Baldrige Criteria: Improve Revenue and Create Organizational Excellence'.
There are some characteristics that should be embedded in any New Product Development (NPD) process. This includes customer input, the involvement of cross functional teams, strong project management, concurrent engineering and risk management tools. For example marketing and design are not the only departments that need to be involved in...
Quality is not about tunnel vision, a focus only on the reduction of variation in production alone. Quality is no longer just about the product, but the management of all operations and should be integrated into all aspects of a business. Focusing on every aspect of a business requires a systematic look at an organization to discover how each part...
A question that regularly arises is how to sustain quality management or to put it another way, what are the reasons for quality management failing? There have been two significant studies on this issue and their findings cited the following obstacles.
Lack of leadership for quality
Lack of planning for quality
Inadequate resources for...
Standards provide crucial communication, alignment and compatibility at an international, national, industry and individual organizational level. These standards, accessible to everyone from global powers to developing countries, from international corporations to the Mom and Pop small business, provide guidance and infrastructure, state of...
For over 20 years, the National Housing Quality Award has been helping some of America’s best home builders improve their operations and make more money!
Learn how applying for the NHQ Award can help your company:
Increase profitability
Improve customer satisfaction
Sell more homes
Submissions are due April 5, 2013.
This link will...
Studies show that across industries Cost of Quality (Failure, Appraisal & Prevention) is: 2.6-4% of sales revenue.
In the construction industry the Cost of Quality profile is:
70% spent on Failure Costs
25% on Appraisal Costs and only
5% spent on Prevention Costs.
The cost of correcting deviations from construction specification is 12%...
A report last year by the NAHB Research Center found that “increasingly, today’s homebuyers want energy-efficient, low-maintenance, well-insulated and well-sealed homes. Survey data in the last few years has also shown that consumers are willing to pay a premium for these types of homes and that they are typically more satisfied...
The Six Sigma methodology DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) is used to improve an existing process.
Design for Six Sigma is used to design a new product or service.
The methodology used is DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Verify).
Define the goals and customer (internal & external) requirements. What...
It is critical to know what our customers think of living in the homes we build for them and what it was like to be involved in the design and construction process with us. In the case of survey results, this is a lagging indicator but still a track record of how we have done and it is powerful data. The more accurate the data and the faster we...
A recent research study on quality in construction projects established the following Quality Problem Factors as the sources of quality defects.
Quality Problem Factors
Managerial/Stakeholder
Lack of contractor supervision
Poor relationship and partnering among project participant
Reduced Subcontractor responsibility
Inappropriate method of...
The 2012 NAHB study “What Home Buyers Really Want” shows a decided preference for crown moldings. Sixty-two percent of respondents rated crown moldings the third most...
Seattle architect Ross Chapin knows all about designing smaller, smarter homes. Chapin, principal of Ross Chapin Architects, Langley, Wash., has long been a proponent of...
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