Riverwood Associates is a leading provider of Lean Six Sigma training for businesses and individuals. We serve a variety of industries including manufacturing, service and healthcare. Our trainers are industry practitioners with more than 25 years of experience in the practical application of Lean Six Sigma methods and techniques. Riverwood Associates training programs are interactive, combining instruction with actual problem-solving applications. We provide training that enables participants to build problem-solving skills, streamline operations in their businesses, and increase profitability, quality, and customer satisfaction.
“Habasit has been a client of Riverwood Associates since 2013. We have utilized their resources to support our continuous improvement programs both with educational programs and direct problem solving events.
Developing a team and/or process of problem solving is very challenging. Every company that is serious about the "Lean Journey" and eliminating waste needs a skilled resource, internal or external, to coach, facilitate and mentor. Peter is a true professional and is truly dedicated to his craft in helping companies identify opportunities for improvement and supporting the journey of operational excellence. I strongly recommend Riverwood Associates to any company that is committed to progress, eliminating waste and dedicated to business excellence.”
Mike Creech
Head of Operations
Habasit North America
“We have been looking to make a culture change towards a continuous improvement, problem solving, Six Sigma-based culture. This (training) event, which included 20 key employees was our first step towards this culture change. For many employees, this was their first exposure to Six Sigma or a Kaizen event. As many employees who participated will tell you, the tools presented such as project chartering were very useful and eye-opening to some. The knowledge that there are tools that can be used to tackle what may first appear as large-scale problems made an impact. A survey we completed internally after the event tells us that all of the employees felt the event was a positive experience and many want to pursue additional training in continuous improvement…this event was a good first step in the culture change we are striving to achieve.”
Amy Campbell
Quality Assurance Management Representative
Metso Minerals (Columbia, SC)
“Riverwood Associates’ Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Green Belt workshops are a great asset to any company or person looking to increase their knowledge and add value. Peter has a unique way of making the subject matter simple, easy to understand for all areas of the workforce, not just for manufacturing-based companies. I really liked how the Green Belt class continues from where the Yellow Belt class left off.”
Mark Downey, Green Belt, CQA
Quality Manager, ORAFOL Americas
ASQ Chair, Section 1519—Savannah
“After several months interviewing Lean Six Sigma consulting practices around the country, we selected Riverwood Associates as our external partner to assist us with Lean Six Sigma training, certification, and mentoring. Peter was selected based on his vast Lean Six Sigma experience and for his ability to transfer his extensive knowledge to our employees having broad professional and education backgrounds.
Peter has helped us to significantly increase our Lean Six Sigma capabilities in a relatively short period of time and has also become a trusted advisor to our management team. He brings a real passion for helping companies with their journey and has always been extremely professional in our dealings with him. We sincerely appreciate Peter’s efforts to support our business and look forward to working with Riverwood Associates in the days to come!”
Tony Hollis, PE
Director – Technology & Innovation
SC Logistics (Lakeland, FL)
“Peter Sherman of Riverwood Associates conducted a 3-day kaizen event for 15 members of Scandinavian Tobacco Group Lane LTD (Tucker, GA) in 2015.
The Yellow Belt training provided valuable problem solving skills, tools, and templates for our team to improve the operations. The customized nature of the training and exercises enabled the team to more readily grasp the Lean Six Sigma concepts and tools. Moreover, the Kaizen event significantly helped us to operationalize the training.
We very much enjoyed the experience.”
Mr. David B. Yarbrough, CSCP, CHMM
Vice President Operations
STG Lane LTD
“I appreciated the practical application of Riverwood Associates' Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt curriculum -- running through the tools with the participants and making them experiment with the LSS techniques first-hand. I was also impressed with how easily they were able to keep the session at the level of complexity that matched the challenges that participants would face as early-stage practitioners.”
Albino Feijo
(Former) Director, Operational Excellence
The Coca-Cola Company
Atlanta, GA
“Riverwood Associates has conducted the following Yellow Belt / Kaizen Events and Green Belt certification training for EmployBridge:
- Pre-Screening Process Kaizen, Jan 12-14, 2015, Atlanta
- Request-to-Fulfill Process Kaizen, April 13-15, 2015, Chicago
- Centralized Services Kaizen June 29 – July 1, 2015, Indianapolis
- Payroll Process Kaizen, Dec 16-18, 2015, Dallas
- LSS Green Belt, Jan 25-29, 2016, Tampa
- Credits & Collections Kaizen, June 1-3, 2016, Dallas
- Payroll Billing Adjustment Kaizen, Sept 19-20, 2016, Dallas
We have been very pleased with the content and delivery of the Lean Six Sigma training and we value Peter’s knowledge and presentation.”
Mr. Mark McComb
Vice President – Shared Services
EmployBridge
“We brought in our parts management team from around the country for Yellow Belt training and a Kaizen event. Participation in the webinars in advance is great in that you get exposure prior to the actual training and are able to digest information at your own pace. Being able to retain copies of the webinars was an unexpected plus. The Yellow Belt training is outstanding and is tailored to provide all the necessary information at a pace you can grasp and retain. What really turned into a home run for the team was the Kaizen event that followed. It allowed everyone to see how the training they received the day before fit into their world. Everyone was thoroughly engaged, and I can’t say enough about how Peter submersed himself into our business in order to relate to everyone ‘in our language’. The webinars, Yellow Belt training and Kaizen event are a complete package that provided our managers with the tools and clarity to make meaningful changes in their daily operations.”
Jamie McElvaney
Director – Aircraft Spares
ExpressJet Airlines (Atlanta, GA)
“I want to thank you and Peter for your partnership with Medac. As you know, we now have over 30 staff Yellow Belt certified and two senior staff certified as Green Belts. The experience with Riverwood has been nothing short of exceptional. Peter is undoubtedly a terrific teacher and facilitator – the courses are executed in a way that people participate, are engaged, and get the most out of the training. You are a great organizer and always do everything possible to help us make the most of the training opportunities. We fully expect Medac to grow and improve our business as a result of partnering with Riverwood. Thanks again!”
Mark S. Weinstein, FACHE
SVP, Operations
Medac, Inc.
Augusta, GA
“I’d like to thank Riverwood Associates for the LSS training they provided to me and my staff. We have added a valuable tool to our continuous improvement process and as a bonus my staff is energized and looking for new improvement opportunities. We look forward to continuing our training in the near future.”
Robert Saulnier, RN, MSN
Chief Executive Officer
Columbus Specialty Hospital
Facilitated Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Green Belt certification training to a core team of 10 senior staff. The Green Belt was customized to Effingham’s needs and included a project that was selected from several candidate projects. The Kaizen event involved streamlining the Supply Procurement process time for patient requests. Deliverables included a Project Charter, Current State Map, Root Cause Analysis, Future State Map, and a 30-60-90 day project plan. The 11 minute turnaround time for patient requests was reduced to 5 minutes, realizing $372,000 of expense savings per year.
“Peter Sherman of Riverwood Associates conducted Lean Six Yellow Belt Certification training for 67 team Memorial Health professionals on March 22-23, 2016.
The training gave team members an understanding of the fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma principles and methodology. It was evident from his sessions that he had put a great deal of effort into customizing the training, tailoring it to the specific needs of our organization
We were extremely satisfied with his knowledge and delivery and will keep him on our list for future endeavors.”
Janet Jonah, RN, MHA, MPH
Vice President Quality and Patient Safety
Memorial Health
Savannah, GA
“Peter Sherman of Riverwood Associates conducted Lean Six training certification training for our hospital. This included:
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training for 25 hospital staff in December 2015.
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training for 10 hospital staff in January 2016.
The training was well received and we already see results from class participants putting their training to use. We intend to use Mr. Sherman for future Lean Six Sigma training needs and support.”
David B. Morey
Sr. Performance Engineer
Performance Excellence Department
Phoebe Health System (Albany, GA)
“Peter Sherman of Riverwood Associates conducted a variety of Lean Six Sigma certification training for South Georgia Medical Center in Jan of 2015.
This included Lean Six Sigma Champion training for 11 executives, customized Yellow Belt training for 36 hospital staff and a Kaizen Event around reducing COPD 30-day Readmissions.
The training provided valuable skills and tools for our team to more effectively and efficiently delivery healthcare to our community. This training was also critical to the creation of our Performance Excellence Program, which utilizes Lean Six Sigma methodology to improve the patient experience.”
Curtis Walker
Manager, Performance Excellence Quality Improvement / Patient Safety
South Georgia Medical Center (Valdosta, GA)
“I am proud that our whole organization participated, not just management [in Riverwood Associates Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification training]. This is a testament not only to the high-quality standards Bethesda expects of its employees, but also to our staff’s commitment to improving processes for our students, alumni and their families.”
Dr. David Tribble
President
Bethesda Academy
Savannah, GA
“One of our goals was to create a framework for effective problem solving. A common language to unite the organization to achieve lasting results. Riverwood Associates conducted a 1-day customized Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification training for 20 members of my senior management team, myself included. The training equipped the team with the core LSS tools and critical problem-solving skills. This was followed by a 2-day Kaizen Event to improve our registration and admissions process. We defined the problem, created a project charter, mapped the current state, identified and quantified the gaps, and performed root cause analysis. This was followed by a future state map and a 30-60-90 day implementation plan.
As a result, we have revised policies and are implementing new processes and procedures. Our district is benefiting from the training Riverwood Associates delivered. Their professional, timely and gracious demeanor created a safe environment where all participants were engaged. We appreciated the support of Riverwood Associates.”
Wanda Creel, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Gainesville City School System
“Our Superintendent identified operational process improvement as one of his key initiatives for our district but coming up with a standardized, methodical approach to accomplish that hadn’t yet been identified. Lean Six Sigma seemed to be a perfect tool for our needs so we challenged Riverwood Associates to lead our entire District leadership team through the LSS Yellow Belt workshop. Riverwood delivered a solution that met our needs, as Peter Sherman led a practical and effective Yellow Belt session with our team. Now we have a common framework, vocabulary, and shared understanding that we can use to engineer new processes and optimize existing ones. Thanks to their expert training, we now have tools to remove wasted resources and focus them back into our core instructional mission.”
Ron Pleasant
Chief Information Officer
Muscogee County School District (Columbus, GA)
Riverwood Associates trained 25 high school students at Newton College and Career Academy as certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belts (Oct 27, 2014).
“The (workshop) was a super productive single day learning experience that did an excellent job of instilling a solid baseline into the Lean Six Sigma body of knowledge. I came away with new insights into project-focused frameworks that I was able to put to work right away…Overall, I was really impressed with the instructor, Peter Sherman, who did an expert job of transferring a wealth of process improvement skills and knowledge to the participants.”
Tom Cranmer
Chief Technology Officer
Richland School District Two (SC)
“Riverwood Associates did a great job for my team and others throughout our organization. We continue to use the concepts and tools that were learned during our trainings, webinars, Kaizen event, etc. Even those on our team that are not process oriented now understand the principles and are better able to participate in projects with those that are more process oriented. We are able to do using the same vernacular - a common starting point. The training was done is such a positive manner that the perception of process management is very positive, as well.”
Ian O’Brien
Vice President, Supply Chain
American Cancer Society
Atlanta, GA
