Mark  Nash Author of Evaluating Organization Development
FEATURED AUTHOR

Mark Nash

President
Pinnacle Partners West LLC

Mark is a Lean and Six Sigma expert dedicated to assisting manufacturing, health care, distribution, government, and service organizations, as well as colleges and universities, improve their processes in search of operational excellence.

Biography

Mark A. Nash has over 30 years of process improvement experience, both as an internal and external consultant/engineer, in manufacturing, distribution, government and healthcare.  This diversified background allows Mark to work outside the box looking for process solutions many people cannot visualize.

Currently serving as President of Pinnacle Partners West, Mark still spends a significant amount of time working directly with clients on lean manufacturing initiatives/training, Six Sigma project management/training, or conducting operational excellence assessments.  When not directly working with clients, Mark strongly influences how Pinnacle Partners' consultants are matched to client needs.

Mark most recently was employed as the Operations Manager for Pelco Products, Inc., the largest manufacturer of traffic signal hardware in North America.  During Mark’s tenure at Pelco, he led the company through many successful process, quality and cultural changes. Pelco was recognized by Quality Magazine as the 2010 Quality Plant of the Year,  and was named a two time finalist for the Institute of Industrial Engineers' IIE Lean Best Practice Award in 2011 and 2012.

Prior to joining the Pelco team, Mark served as managing director for an international process engineering firm.  Mark was a member of Iomega Corporation’s process improvement team which was named a finalist in the large manufacturer category of the 2000 RIT/USA Today Quality Cup competition.  He has presented at numerous conferences around the world including ASQ Six Sigma, IIE Lean Management Solutions, American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine, NE Shingo Prize Conference, and Lab Quality Confab.  Additionally, Mark has served as an adviser to the University of Central Oklahoma’s Center for Strategic Improvement.

A multi-skilled Six Sigma Master Black Belt and lean manufacturing expert, Mark has been a certified NIST/MEP Lean trainer, partnering with the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance to provide Lean Manufacturing.  Additionally, Mark has facilitated more than 400 Lean workshops and has facilitated kaizen events for more than 50 organizations worldwide.  He is a senior member of the American Society for Quality, and a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

Mark has written numerous articles for Quality Magazine, has been published in IE Industrial Engineer magazine, and The Bulletin of the Royal College of Pathologists (United Kingdom).  He is coauthor of the 2006 Productivity Press book, Using Lean for Faster Six Sigma Results: A Synchronized Approach, the 2008 Productivity Press book entitled Mapping the Total Value Stream: A Comprehensive Guide to Production and Transactional Processes, and the 2012 CRC Press book entitled The Right Measures: The Story of a Company's Journey to Find True Indicators of Its Success and Values.

Education

    B.S. in Administration Management, Phillips University, Enid, OK, 1981

Personal Interests

    Backpacking, Hiking, Photography

Websites

Books

Featured Title
 Featured Title - The Right Measures - 1st Edition book cover

Articles

The Business Times of Edmond, Oklahoma

Local Businessman Pens Business Novel


Published: Sep 01, 2012 by The Business Times of Edmond, Oklahoma
Authors: Van Mitchell
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing, Healthcare

The story behind the story of The Right Measures, a book by Mark A. Nash and Sheila R. Poling.

Quality Magazine

The Secret to Sustaining Six Sigma


Published: Sep 01, 2012 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Sheila R. Poling with Mark A. Nash
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing, Healthcare, Statistics

Combating the common business practice of "once and done" is an overwhleming endeavor in most organizations. When implemented properly, Six Sigma is intended to avoid this cultural headache. This article explains the cultural challenges and solutions to ensure that the focus is not lost over time. The article addresses ways to maintain your Six Sigma efforts at the organizational, departmental and project levels long term.

Quality Magazine

Supply Chain Quality Begins With You


Published: Aug 01, 2011 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Mark A. Nash and Sheila R. Poling
Subjects: Business & Management, Healthcare

A seven step article for Supply Chain professionals looking to improve quality throughout the supply chain.

Quality Magazine

Case Study: Lean Six Sigma Delivers for Pelco Products, Inc.


Published: May 04, 2010 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Sheila R. Poling
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing

A case study article highlighting the use of Six Sigma tools by Mark A. Nash and his team at Pelco Products, Inc.; the Quality Magazine 2010 Quality Plant of the Year award recipient.

Quality Magazine

Quality's 2010 Plant of the Year Recipient Talks Green (Podcast)


Published: Apr 13, 2010 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Mark A. Nash
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Environmental, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing

Mark A. Nash discusses Pelco Product, Inc.'s green efforts in a podcast for Quality Magazine.

Quality Magazine

Quality Plant of the Year: Quality Starts on the Floor


Published: Mar 01, 2010 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Michelle Bangert
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing

A feature article showcasing the lean improvements undertaken by Mark A. Nash and his team at Pelco Products when the company was named Quality Magazine's 2010 Quality Plant of the Year.

Quality Magazine

Process Mapping for the 21st Century


Published: Aug 01, 2009 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Mark A. Nash and Sheila R. Poling
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing, Healthcare

An introductory article on the use and power of Value Stream Mapping. Compares the technique to traditional process mapping concepts, and provides a vision of how businesses can accelerate their process improvement efforts using VSM.

Quality Magazine

Improving Quality Through Lean Concepts


Published: Dec 01, 2007 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Mark A. Nash and Sheila R. Poling
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing, Healthcare

An introductory lean article focused on Quality At The Source; one of many lean manufacturing tools.

Quality Magazine

Strategic Management of Lean


Published: Apr 01, 2007 by Quality Magazine
Authors: Mark A. Nash and Sheila R. Poling
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing, Healthcare

This article discusses the need for a stratgeic plan prior to jumping headlong into a lean transformation. Why do you want to use lean? How much involvement does management really want employees to have? What results are you looking for? Without the answers to these and many more questions, lean may just become another "flavor of the month".

IE Industrial Engineer Magazine

Six Sigma Speed


Published: Nov 01, 2006 by IE Industrial Engineer Magazine
Authors: Mark A. Nash, Sheila R. Poling, and Sophronia Ward
Subjects: Business & Management, Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing, Healthcare

The article focuses on the reduction of production cycle while decreasing task time or eliminating rework through Six Sigma. Such approach is believed to produce fast results by using the basic Six Sigma management structure define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC). However, despite producing fast results, the number of resources required is believed to be low. Thus, each item is advised to be focused by adding black belts or limiting the project's scope and depth