Profit, no loss

By Dick Hughes  

FEBRUARY 18, 2010 11:22 a.m. (0)

With the economy in bad shape, Ed Young and Terry Dailey last year independently signed up for a course at Greenville Technical College for certification as Six Sigma Black Belts.

Not the high karate rank, mind you, the management processing one that borrows the hierarchical ranking.

From that experience, they grew to respect one another, as Young put it, and formed a consulting company, Profit Partners, to work with small and mid-size companies in all sectors that want or need to become more efficient and profitable.

Dailey, 53, of Central, and Young, 51, of Greer, joined forces after completing the Six Sigma course at Greenville Tech, one of three institutions in the nation certified to teach the management approach embraced by such heavyweights as General Electric and Caterpillar.

Six Sigma, which has been around in concept for decades and as a specific discipline for 20 years, seeks zero defects by making processes as mistake-free as possible and using statistical models to analyze systems and measure performance.

Dailey used as an example the difference between early and late generations of computers. With early models, you had three or four different cables that could fit any one of three or four different plugs. Today, a cable is only going to fit one way.

“Both of us have backgrounds in this area but never took the time to get certified,” said Dailey. “Well, the bad economy gave us the opportunity to get certification. “

They are aware they are entering a business that is highly competitive in the best of times, but made even more so by the many people who turned to consulting when they lost or left corporate jobs in the recession.

Young, who has a degree in industrial engineering technology from Clemson, has held management positions at Ryobi, WestPoint Stevens and TRW.

Dailey, who has a master’s in applied statistics from Purdue University and a bachelor’s in economics from State University of New York, was an executive at Sealed Air Corp. and was plant manager for Cryovac in Seneca.

In addition to being certified in Six Sigma, both are certified in “lean manufacturing,” a methodology that seeks to eliminate anything from the manufacturing process that does not add value to the product.

“Whereas a lot of our competition is strong especially in lean manufacturing, that’s just one aspect of the management tools we bring to the table – like statistics, processing tools, knowing how to manage your P&L, seeing opportunities for improvement,” said Dailey.

Young knows first-hand about the challenges businesses face in shocks beyond their control. Shortly after he started a computer business in the late 1980s, Japan gained control of the chip market and jacked up prices by a factor of 10.

“There was a huge shakeout in the computer business. The entire industry changed literally in 30 days.”

“A lot of smaller companies don’t know how to work through that type of scenario,” Young said. “We both have been through the scenarios. We really know how to deal with some of the challenges they are going through right now.”

Young and Dailey believe their experience and expertise in processes offer multiple ways to help companies solve problems and effect change.

As Young put it, “The reason that makes us distinctive is that we don’t have one tool so we’re out there with a hammer looking for nails. We’ll look at the problem and bring to bear the best approach, which may be a combination of tools so the company gets what it needs.”

What counts, he added, is that “after we’re done that company has more cash in their bank than when we started.”

Young and Dailey are starting small, keeping their overhead to a minimum with only the two of them as employees and working out of their homes.

“Obviously,” said Dailey, “we’ve got to develop a reputation and credibility. A part of the business plan is to grow to a size where eventually we contract out work with non-employees that would be part of our organization. The first step is to contract expertise that supplements ours. As we continue to grow, we’ll have junior employees within our organization.”

Young added, “We know we can’t be all things to all people. We know that at the end of the day if we try to something we’re really not good at, it is not good for us or the client. If we make money off a transaction or not is not as critical as that the client gets what he needs.”

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