Leadership Team

Nathan Sprague has been working with organizations focusing on Organizational Effectiveness, Lean Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma for Service, Lean Six Sigma for Manufacturing and Transactional Organizations, Lean and Six Sigma for New Product Development, and Statistical/Technical Analysis for over 30 years.

His private sector experience includes both large and mid-size service, manufacturing, healthcare and energy organizations.  His public sector experience with the U.S. Federal government is extensive, and includes engagements with the Department of Defense, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He has held key leadership and continuous improvement positions with Haworth, the HON Company, Rexam and DESA LLC, and has worked as a subcontractor (Senior Consultant) for George Group Consulting and Accenture.

He holds a B.S. in Industrial Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Western Kentucky University.  He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and received his Lean on-the-job training from the renowned Shingijutsu Consulting Group.  He also holds a current clearance from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Rex Groves has been in the Quality Improvement field since 1995.  He has worked in the Lean Six Sigma arena for most of that time at various consulting locations.  He has received two Master Black Belt certifications from Six Sigma Qualtec and Accenture and his Lean Certification from Trident Leverage.  He has extensive experience in Discrete Modeling of processes using the leading simulation software.  Rex also has clearances from both the Department of Defense and the Transportation Security Administration.

Rex began his career as a research scientist in Physics at General Electric and eventually developed an interest in manufacturing methods. He was a manufacturing manager and quality manager at PCC Airfoils. After obtaining his Black Belt certification from General Electric, he joined the consulting world working for world class consulting firms such as the George Group and Accenture. His experience in Lean Six Sigma has taken him to industries in 15 countries such as Northern Ireland Electric, Panasonic and Owens Corning.  Over the past 5 years, he has led Six Sigma efforts in all 4 branches of the US Military as well as other Federal Agencies such as TSA , the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Postal Service. His modeling experience has helped the US Army to optimize the effectiveness of US forces domestically and in Theater.

Dr. Sutherland has worked as a statistical consultant since the 1960s. He is a founding faculty member of Hampshire College, a project-based experimental undergraduate institution which is part of the five-college system (Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and University of Massachusetts). In the early 1980s, Dr. Sutherland helped found the Statistical Consulting Center of the University of Massachusetts and served as its Director for 26 years. He was also instrumental in delivering Six Sigma inside GE throughout the 1990s.

He currently provides Six Sigma training for a variety of clients both in the U.S. and Europe. His clients include the aerospace, banking/finance, environmental, insurance, lab and quality testing, and manufacturing industries. He also provides statistical consulting in technical issues such as complex data analysis, experimental design, design of sampling plans, supply chain QA, laboratory test procedures, and environmental fieldwork.

Dr. Sutherland holds B.S. from Antioch College and a PhD from Harvard University.  He has an impressive list of publications in both professional journals and texts.