Lean Six Sigma Advisor & Change Coach,manufacturing

Daniel L. Blair

Lean & Six Sigma Advisor Operational Excellence Leader Change Management Expert

*** *. ***** ***. ******, CA • 209-***-**** • ******.*******@*****.***

Certified Six Sigma Black Belt PROSCI Brain Based Coaching

SUMMARY

Lean and Six Sigma Advisor with 25+ years of experience transforming healthcare, manufacturing, and high tech organizations. Expert in A3 problem solving, coaching leaders at all levels, reducing operational waste, and deploying enterprise performance excellence systems. Proven ability to lead large scale improvement programs, accelerate throughput, redesign value streams, and shape organizational culture into one of continuous learning. Known for elevating leaders’ problem solving capabilities and delivering measurable cost, capacity, and quality improvements.

CORE STRENGTHS

●Lean Transformation • A3 Thinking • Daily Management Systems

●Executive Coaching (Brain Based & Humble Inquiry)

●PROSCI Change Management • Coaching Kata

●A3 Problem Solving

●Value Stream Design • Operational Turnarounds

●Root Cause Analysis / Failure Mode Effects Analysis

●Throughput Optimization • Culture Change

●DMAIC • SPC • 5S • 8D • VSM • Kamishibai Auditing

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Wood Ward Inc — Woodward Business Coach III (April 2026 - August 2026)

●Implemented single piece flow in the Integrated Throttle Body (ITB) cell by creating four cells from one in preparation of doubling demand.

●Implemented a flow sequence through final flow test based on the increased demand and the use of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) as the flow test was the process constraint.

●Integrated the Flow Lab into the Daily Management System with visual management of the daily sequence and schedule to allow quick reaction (andon) to daily issues.

●Coached leaders the intent and use of the Daily Management System at Tier Levels

Saint Agnes Medical Center — Lean & Six Sigma Advisor (Sept 2021–Mar 2026)

●Reduced inpatient Length of Stay (LOS) by ~100 minutes by analyzing unit bottlenecks, coaching care teams on flow optimization, and implementing standardized rounding practices.

●Designed and delivered Humble Inquiry / Leader Mindset Workshop for senior executives, strengthening inquiry based coaching culture.

●Improved ED to Inpatient throughput by mapping value streams, removing handoff delays, and guiding frontline teams in A3 problem solving.

●Cut lost patient belongings from 6 per month to 0.3 by standardizing chain of custody workflows and visual controls.

●Improved NTSV Cesarean Section Rate using A3 problem solving

●Increased Patient Satisfaction scores through improving patient safety and models of care with Doctors and Nurses on In-Patient units

●Increased OR first case on time starts by coaching perioperative leaders and reducing scheduling variability.

Sutter Health — LPO Senior Lean Consultant (2014–2021)

●Transformed executive teams into Lean leaders by teaching A3 thinking, leading Gemba coaching, and building problem solving capability.

●Spearheaded deployment of the Sutter Improvement System across Sutter Valley hospitals.

●Used Coaching Kata and humble inquiry to develop leaders’ coaching competency.

●Boosted imaging revenue by $1M+ annually by increasing capacity in Mammography, Ultrasound, and CT.

●Led Rapid Improvement Events (VSA, 2P, Yokoten) resulting in reduced lead times and improved quality.

●Coached Lean Promotion Office staff to elevate enterprise consulting capability.

Sutter Health — LPO Lean Consultant (2012–2014)

●Redesigned multi site radiology processes, reducing patient cycle times and variation.

●Implemented visual management and Kamishibai to increase audit reliability and frontline engagement.

●Co created enterprise Daily Management System as part of cross regional team.

Space Systems Loral — Manager, Process Improvement (2011–2012)

●Generated $800K annual savings by reducing touch labor in BEM and Solar Array units.

●Increased production capacity enabling 66% more contract awards.

●Mentored 12 Black Belts through 30+ projects, yielding over $5M in savings.

●Shifted organizational culture from blame to learning, embedding continuous improvement behaviors.

Cobham Sea Tel — Business Process Engineer (2008–2011)

●Reduced cycle time 50% by implementing single piece flow.

●Eliminated major quality defect, saving $28K/year using 8D problem solving.

●Achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification through organization wide implementation.

●Reduced inventory by $70K and overhauled Material Review Board process.

●Earned Bronze Sir Cobham Award (2009).

Mattson Technology — Manager, Lean & Six Sigma Initiatives (2000–2008)

●Reduced product cycle time over 65% by transforming manufacturing into a Lean model.

●Cut system lead time 75%, delivering $10K cost reduction per unit.

●Delivered more than $20M impact through manufacturing redesign.

●Reduced excess & obsolete inventory by $4M using Six Sigma DMAIC.

Tegal Corporation — Technical Support Engineer (1990–2000)

●Provided advanced support for semiconductor vacuum, RF, gas, and robotic systems.

●Led support teams improving uptime of complex capital equipment.

●Taught maintenance courses for customer technicians globally.

U.S. Navy — Manager, Shipboard Electricians

●Led team of 10 in maintaining electrical and electronic shipboard systems.

●Ensured 100% operational readiness of critical systems.

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

●B.A., Business Leadership — Ashford University

●Certified Six Sigma Black Belt — ASQ

●Certified PROSCI Change Management Practitioner

●NeuroLeadership Institute: Results Trained Coach (Brain Based Coaching)

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