Alana Cates, the owner/operator of Accelerated Profit Solutions graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Chemical Engineering, putting her skills to work upon graduation at DuPont Canada. Two years later, she was selected as one of the first Six Sigma Black Belts for DuPont Canada Nylon Specialties at Kingston Site. Not long into this role, she received a surprising call from the CEO with a tough question. It turned out that Six Sigma results were being analyzed at the Black Belt level, and her results were far beyond the other 15 Black Belts.
"What are you doing differently?" he inquired. She was hard pressed to answer, since she didn't know what everyone else was doing. With a slight crack into the source of her personal genius, she set about answering this question. Finding and following facts was part of the answer.
Ten years later, with many experiences across a wide variety of businesses, in sector and size, she has continued to develop continuous improvement ideas that work, based in practical application and scientific research.
The discovery of her true passion - helping people lead easier and better lives - has caused a thick buildup of dust on the pile of darkroom equipment amassed to follow her other passion. In an age where digital has replaced darkroom, passion and purpose is becoming more important than paycheque, and an embrace of art and design is outpacing function, the equipment sits, the decision has never once been second-guessed.
Alana Cates, the owner/operator of Accelerated Profit Solutions graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Chemical Engineering, putting her skills to work upon graduation at DuPont Canada. Two years later, she was selected as one of the first Six Sigma Black Belts for DuPont Canada Nylon Specialties at Kingston Site. Not long into this role, she received a surprising call from the CEO with a tough question. It turned out that Six Sigma results were being analyzed at the Black Belt level, and her results were far beyond the other 15 Black Belts. 