Latest news with #LeanSixSigma
Business Insider
17 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Insider
I worked at Tesla for 7 years. I quit because I couldn't support Elon Musk any longer.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Trae Cervantes, who worked as an engineering technician at Tesla until March 2025. It has been edited for length and clarity. I started at Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada as a production associate in 2018, and I worked my way into a role as an engineering technician. I held at least four different positions during my time at Tesla. I was drawn to Tesla because I needed a way to improve my situation. Leading up to Tesla, I wasn't doing super well. I'd gone through a divorce, I got arrested for drinking and driving, and I was working two jobs to make ends meet. One of my best friends was working there and he told me to apply. When I got the job, I quit the two jobs and immediately got a better paying role with more time off. The reason I stayed is because they kept treating me well. I was getting paid the most I'd ever gotten in my adult life. No education, no real skills to speak of, and Tesla offered me opportunities to take charge of my life and grow my career. I started out on their production line for the Model 3 and I moved up from there. When I started out, it was grueling work. It was pushing heavy things up and down aisles. I was on my feet for 12 hours a day, but they also give you three to four days off a week to recover. It was a physically demanding job, but it didn't bother me. I knew that if I demonstrated a good work ethic I could work my way up, and that's what I've done. Every few years I was able to move up, from production associate to technician to eventually lead and engineering roles. A month into a new role, it was March 2020, and we were all furloughed. It was a big freak-out moment for me. Nobody was telling us what was going on, and I felt like I was going to lose my job. But we were back to work five weeks later and I learned to work around the new COVID safety standards. I felt like I really took ownership of my area, and I eventually became a lead for that team. To do it, I really had to show my value — I had to leverage my skills and build the relationships and rapport. That's what you have to do at Tesla — the skills aren't enough, you also need the relationships, and you need to show you can pick up the slack because things are always changing there. In 2023, they provided me an opportunity to go to school through a program at a local community college. They helped me get a certificate in advanced manufacturing. I took nine courses between January and May, all while I was still doing my normal duties, and I even made the Dean's list. Later on I got another certificate, a green belt certification for Lean Six Sigma. 'A cult of personality around Elon' I never drank the Elon Musk Kool Aid. When I started at my orientation, they talked about his controversial tweets. They said it's gotten him in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but they were mostly joking about it, like his behavior was okay because of who he was, what he does, or however much he's worth. There's always been that kind of mindset at Tesla, a cult of personality around Elon. I remember when he smoked weed on the Joe Rogan Experience, seeing so many T-shirts referencing it at the Gigafactory. I'd thought some of the things he'd done were wrong, like the Thai diver incident, but I believed in the mission. Then all of a sudden, he jumped into a capacity where he could impact my daily life. His involvement in Twitter, his involvement in the election, all of that was detracting from the company's mission. I didn't realize how much it mattered to me until the last couple of months. When Musk started throwing his money around in politics — that was a big thing for me. What I took issue with the most was the giveaway for prospective voters. It seemed so morally wrong. I didn't want to be associated with that. I started actively looking into his history, and the company's. The stock price and how we're making money — none of it made sense to me. That was another reason I wanted to get out. There are a lot of empty promises that haven't been fulfilled, like Full Self-Driving or the lower-cost EV. When I first left, I gave myself a hard time When he lifted his arm and did that Nazi salute, I was disgusted. (Editor's note: While discussing the incident with Joe Rogan, Musk said, "Hopefully, people realize I'm not a Nazi.") Last year, I started to be ashamed to tell people where I work. I chatted with a couple of folks at Tesla and I explained to them why I believed that that was a Nazi salute, and most of the time they just heard me out. Near the end of my time at Tesla, I started bringing up politics because I'd kind of got to a point where I didn't really care. I started working on my resumé. I spoke with my wife, my very close friends, and I explained the reason I wanted to leave. My wife just wants me to be happy. A lot of my friends are really, really pissed off at Musk, just like I am. They were all excited for me to leave the company. I have a pretty good support system. I changed my profile on Teams to a meme of Musk. I resigned that day. When I first left, I gave myself a hard time. I didn't have a job lined up, and I could have stayed longer or waited to get laid off and gotten severance at least. But then I started thinking about the layoffs last April, and I remember sitting in the building, seeing people send out text messages and Teams messages and wondering if they had a job. There were people who didn't find out until they got to the security gate at the factory. Why would I want to go through that? Between that and then the day when Trump bought a Tesla on the White House lawn, which happened the same day I gave my resignation notice, I felt more resolute in my decision. When I met with my supervisor and put in my notice, I told him, "I have to leave. I can't do this anymore. It's getting to a point where I feel like I'm compromising myself morally by walking through those doors every day." I'm not going to lie, I cried a little. Seven years is a long time and Tesla wasn't always a bad thing for me. What I would tell people is, if you're sitting in my shoes, and you feel uncomfortable, go for it. Do what you think will help you sleep at night. There are plenty of good people at Tesla. I didn't leave the place because of the company. I left because of the face of the company.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Unfixable FEMA puts the ‘disaster' into ‘disaster recovery'
We thought reform was possible. We were wrong. We were brought to Puerto Rico to fix FEMA's broken disaster recovery processes after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. Our team of seven Lean Six Sigma experts — decorated military officers and retired executives — had more than 150 years of combined experience in process improvement across 60 organizations in more than 20 countries, including war zones. FEMA was the only organization our team unanimously deemed unfixable — not because the mission was complex, but because of its toxic mix of incompetence, lack of accountability, and calcified dysfunction. FEMA's three-part mission was extremely simple: assess damage, calculate costs, release funds. Yet two years after Hurricane Maria, only 5 percent to 8 percent of cost estimates had been completed. Recovery had stalled. And instead of admitting failure, FEMA inflated $1.5 billion in project estimates to mislead Congress. At FEMA's Joint Recovery Office near San Juan — with 2,000 to 3,000 staff — the public Wi-Fi password had to be changed because so many employees were streaming Netflix. Damage assessments were routinely fabricated. 'It's easier,' one staffer told us. When we reported it, investigators asked, 'Did anyone take the money?' We said no. They lost interest. It got worse. FEMA approved leasing $46 million in pumps that could have been bought for $4 million. A whistleblower who reported this later died under suspicious circumstances — his body was cremated without an autopsy, despite requests for a forensic review. FEMA's response? Nothing. At the core was FEMA's unique DEI mandate: 80 percent of positions had to be filled locally, regardless of qualifications. Only 25 percent of residents were fluent in English, and fewer than one-third held college degrees. This created a woeful mismatch between mission needs and personnel. The federal coordinating officer had told us, 'I wish I had retired execs who just want to do the right thing.' We recruited just such a team, but we were then sidelined during our time in Puerto Rico from July 2018 to June 2019, largely due to discrimination. Merit was irrelevant. FEMA handed its critical improvement program to a young woman who epitomized quota-driven hiring. Enrolled in law school, she unabashedly prioritized classes over work, failed our Lean Six Sigma training, tried to steal test material, and colluded with the prime contractor to dilute requirements. We reported her, but she was protected. We faced relentless discrimination for being 'the straight old white guys.' Some managers mocked us in Spanish. FEMA's Equal Employment Opportunity office 'lost' our complaints five times. The lead counselor was fired the day before the investigation was set to begin. Discrimination was later confirmed by FEMA's Office of Professional Responsibility, but the findings were suppressed for six years. When we filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the report, FEMA redacted it entirely — including the page numbers. We brought our findings to Congress and the Inspector General but were ignored. Freedom of Information requests were stonewalled. FEMA's Freedom of Information office withheld records — even from Congress. That's not incompetence — it's obstruction. After exhausting every avenue — facing retaliation, smear campaigns, and sabotage — we filed lawsuits. Seven are now active, three of them naming FEMA. They were filed just before the statutes of limitations expired, only because FEMA's Whistleblower Protection Unit, Equal Employment Opportunity office, and Freedom of Information teams delayed resolution for years. Legal costs now exceed $700,000 — and we haven't even set foot in court yet. The strategy is attrition: Bury the truth in paperwork and delay. It is now 2025, and Puerto Rico's recovery remains incomplete. Its power grid is fragile. Two near-total blackouts in six months confirmed what we already knew: FEMA failed — and still is failing. In a real national emergency, FEMA will not be the answer. U.S. Northern Command, the National Guard, the Defense Logistics Agency, and hardened continuity-of-government military sites like Cheyenne Mountain and Raven Rock are the real backstops — not FEMA bureaucrats. Even in routine disasters, FEMA doesn't do the heavy lifting during the response. That falls to the Army Corps of Engineers, local EMS, and the Red Cross. In recovery, FEMA behaves like a bloated, poorly run insurance company — slow to pay, hostile to oversight, and incapable of learning. We have kept fighting because this isn't about FEMA's image. It is about lives. Americans are being failed by a $33 billion bureaucracy that delivers PowerPoints instead of progress. FEMA doesn't go to where the work happens, embrace problems, or fix them. Rather, it hides failures, punishes dissent, and rewards mediocrity. In FEMA's culture, the nail that sticks up doesn't just get hammered back down — it gets audited, reassigned, or made to disappear. It embodies the very things the Lean Six Sigma management approach was intended to eliminate — overburden, waste, and unevenness. If FEMA were a company, it would be bankrupt. If a military unit, it would be relieved of command. Instead, it limps along—propped up by Cold War nostalgia and D.C. inertia. President Trump has spoken of dismantling it. He cannot do it soon enough. He should devolve emergency operations to the states via block grants. Let the military handle large-scale logistics. Bring back transparency, urgency, and accountability. It can't happen overnight, of course, but it must begin. States must be gradually and strategically weaned — both operationally and financially — from FEMA's central role in disaster recovery. This phased approach should prioritize high-aid, high-frequency states, based on disaster frequency and severity. States facing similar risks should form regional pacts to share resources and coordinate surge response. This starts with honest assessments of each state's disaster history, capacity, and capability gaps. It includes inventories of personnel, materiel, and clearly defined responsibilities. States should formalize mutual-aid agreements to offset localized shortfalls. And FEMA reservists should be retained in a modified form to provide flexible, rapid-deployment surge staffing when disasters exceed state capacity. We used to joke that if you sent FEMA managers out to get you a Big Mac and a Coke, they'd come back with a kitten, a pincushion, a harmonica — and not a single receipt. When the next real emergency hits, FEMA won't save anyone. Americans deserve better than the bureaucratic cosplay we witnessed when we tried in vain to fix. It is not ending FEMA, but continuing to fund FEMA that is radical. Barry Angeline, a retired business executive, led the FEMA Lean Six Sigma effort in Puerto Rico. Col. Dan McCabe (U.S. Army, Ret.), two-time Bronze Star recipient, served as a senior consultant for FEMA Lean Six Sigma in Puerto Rico. Both are federal whistleblowers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Unfixable FEMA puts the ‘disaster' into ‘disaster recovery'
We thought reform was possible. We were wrong. We were brought to Puerto Rico to fix FEMA's broken disaster recovery processes after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. Our team of seven Lean Six Sigma experts — decorated military officers and retired executives — had more than 150 years of combined experience in process improvement across 60 organizations in more than 20 countries, including war zones. FEMA was the only organization our team unanimously deemed unfixable — not because the mission was complex, but because of its toxic mix of incompetence, lack of accountability, and calcified dysfunction. FEMA's three-part mission was extremely simple: assess damage, calculate costs, release funds. Yet two years after Hurricane Maria, only 5 percent to 8 percent of cost estimates had been completed. Recovery had stalled. And instead of admitting failure, FEMA inflated $1.5 billion in project estimates to mislead Congress. At FEMA's Joint Recovery Office near San Juan — with 2,000 to 3,000 staff — the public Wi-Fi password had to be changed because so many employees were streaming Netflix. Damage assessments were routinely fabricated. 'It's easier,' one staffer told us. When we reported it, investigators asked, 'Did anyone take the money?' We said no. They lost interest. It got worse. FEMA approved leasing $46 million in pumps that could have been bought for $4 million. A whistleblower who reported this later died under suspicious circumstances — his body was cremated without an autopsy, despite requests for a forensic review. FEMA's response? Nothing. At the core was FEMA's unique DEI mandate: 80 percent of positions had to be filled locally, regardless of qualifications. Only 25 percent of residents were fluent in English, and fewer than one-third held college degrees. This created a woeful mismatch between mission needs and personnel. The federal coordinating officer had told us, 'I wish I had retired execs who just want to do the right thing.' We recruited just such a team, but we were then sidelined during our time in Puerto Rico from July 2018 to June 2019, largely due to discrimination. Merit was irrelevant. FEMA handed its critical improvement program to a young woman who epitomized quota-driven hiring. Enrolled in law school, she unabashedly prioritized classes over work, failed our Lean Six Sigma training, tried to steal test material, and colluded with the prime contractor to dilute requirements. We reported her, but she was protected. We faced relentless discrimination for being 'the straight old white guys.' Some managers mocked us in Spanish. FEMA's Equal Employment Opportunity office 'lost' our complaints five times. The lead counselor was fired the day before the investigation was set to begin. Discrimination was later confirmed by FEMA's Office of Professional Responsibility, but the findings were suppressed for six years. When we filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the report, FEMA redacted it entirely — including the page numbers. We brought our findings to Congress and the Inspector General but were ignored. Freedom of Information requests were stonewalled. FEMA's Freedom of Information office withheld records — even from Congress. That's not incompetence — it's obstruction. After exhausting every avenue — facing retaliation, smear campaigns, and sabotage — we filed lawsuits. Seven are now active, three of them naming FEMA. They were filed just before the statutes of limitations expired, only because FEMA's Whistleblower Protection Unit, Equal Employment Opportunity office, and Freedom of Information teams delayed resolution for years. Legal costs now exceed $700,000 — and we haven't even set foot in court yet. The strategy is attrition: Bury the truth in paperwork and delay. It is now 2025, and Puerto Rico's recovery remains incomplete. Its power grid is fragile. Two near-total blackouts in six months confirmed what we already knew: FEMA failed — and still is failing. In a real national emergency, FEMA will not be the answer. U.S. Northern Command, the National Guard, the Defense Logistics Agency, and hardened continuity-of-government military sites like Cheyenne Mountain and Raven Rock are the real backstops — not FEMA bureaucrats. Even in routine disasters, FEMA doesn't do the heavy lifting during the response. That falls to the Army Corps of Engineers, local EMS, and the Red Cross. In recovery, FEMA behaves like a bloated, poorly run insurance company — slow to pay, hostile to oversight, and incapable of learning. We have kept fighting because this isn't about FEMA's image. It is about lives. Americans are being failed by a $33 billion bureaucracy that delivers PowerPoints instead of progress. FEMA doesn't go to where the work happens, embrace problems, or fix them. Rather, it hides failures, punishes dissent, and rewards mediocrity. In FEMA's culture, the nail that sticks up doesn't just get hammered back down — it gets audited, reassigned, or made to disappear. It embodies the very things the Lean Six Sigma management approach was intended to eliminate — overburden, waste, and unevenness. If FEMA were a company, it would be bankrupt. If a military unit, it would be relieved of command. Instead, it limps along—propped up by Cold War nostalgia and D.C. inertia. President Trump has spoken of dismantling it. He cannot do it soon enough. He should devolve emergency operations to the states via block grants. Let the military handle large-scale logistics. Bring back transparency, urgency, and accountability. It can't happen overnight, of course, but it must begin. States must be gradually and strategically weaned — both operationally and financially — from FEMA's central role in disaster recovery. This phased approach should prioritize high-aid, high-frequency states, based on disaster frequency and severity. States facing similar risks should form regional pacts to share resources and coordinate surge response. This starts with honest assessments of each state's disaster history, capacity, and capability gaps. It includes inventories of personnel, materiel, and clearly defined responsibilities. States should formalize mutual-aid agreements to offset localized shortfalls. And FEMA reservists should be retained in a modified form to provide flexible, rapid-deployment surge staffing when disasters exceed state capacity. We used to joke that if you sent FEMA managers out to get you a Big Mac and a Coke, they'd come back with a kitten, a pincushion, a harmonica — and not a single receipt. When the next real emergency hits, FEMA won't save anyone. Americans deserve better than the bureaucratic cosplay we witnessed when we tried in vain to fix. It is not ending FEMA, but continuing to fund FEMA that is radical. Barry Angeline, a retired business executive, led the FEMA Lean Six Sigma effort in Puerto Rico. Col. Dan McCabe (U.S. Army, Ret.), two-time Bronze Star recipient, served as a senior consultant for FEMA Lean Six Sigma in Puerto Rico. Both are federal whistleblowers.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RC Mowers names new CFO and expands sales team
This Green Bay-area robotic mower manufacturer has also added engineering and human resources roles to its growing team GREEN BAY, Wis., May 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- RC Mowers, a leading manufacturer of robotic and autonomous mowers, announced today that it has hired a new chief financial officer, along with key additions across its sales, engineering and human resources departments. The expansion supports the company's continued growth and commitment to innovation in the landscaping industry. "Helping commercial landscaping companies and public agencies solve real business challenges is one of our top priorities," said RC Mowers CEO Michael Brandt. "These new hires bring the expertise we need to keep pushing boundaries and stay at the forefront of autonomous and robotic mowing. We're excited to welcome them to the team." The company has tapped new CFO Dave Kempski to lead its financial strategy and operations by drawing on more than 30 years of financial and operational leadership to drive sustainable growth. Kempski has worked with both public and private technology and manufacturing companies, ranging from startups to global enterprises with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. Kempski has been instrumental in a variety of high-impact areas, including mergers and acquisitions, divestiture transactions, financial planning and analysis, SEC and SOX compliance, equity and debt offerings and system implementations. He was instrumental in building the global finance function for a company that scaled from a startup to S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 status. Nationally, the company has also hired: Mike Brown, director of operations & quality. Brown's 30 years of experience spans production, inventory control, packaging and facility operations. As a Lean Six Sigma expert, he knows how to optimize production flow, minimize waste and enhance reliability through data-driven decision-making. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Brown's background as a mechanic shaped his problem-solving mindset and disciplined leadership style. Jeff Bowden, regional sales manager, Pacific Northwest. Bowden has experience in both equipment and technology sales. After receiving training as a diesel engine, weapons elevator and main propulsion maintenance technician in the U.S. Navy, Bowden started his career as a mechanic. He moved into sales shortly after, however, and has consistently proven to be a top negotiator with a knack for problem-solving. Michael Nichols, regional sales manager, mid-south region. Nichols has spent most of his career cultivating relationships with his clients while driving positive customer service experiences through education and consultation. His track record highlights his dedication to delivering results and plans to elevate RC Mowers' visibility in the mid-south region. Jason Mayosky, regional sales manager, California. Mayosky has more than 10 years of outside sales experience and understands how to maintain relationships to build business development. At RC Mowers, he will implement innovative sales and marketing strategies to increase the company's market share in the Golden State. The robotic mower manufacturer has also hired several positions that will work at the company's main office and factory in Suamico, Wisconsin. These include: Marcus Laabs, mechanical engineer. Laabs has more than five years of experience as a mechanical engineer and wants to help RC Mowers succeed through departmental collaboration. He enjoys bringing new products to the market. Evan Molnar, engineering designer. With experience as both an engineer and group leader, Molnar has experience bridging the gap between the engineering department and the manufacturing floor. He is certified in advanced composites and additive manufacturing with an adept knowledge of CAD, CAM and GD&T. Miranda Coonen, human resources generalist. Coonen began her professional career as a teaching assistant at her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point (USWP). From there, she went on to serve as an office administrator, where she managed everything from budgeting to inventory oversight. She also assisted in and eventually led the hiring process for UWSP's Health and Wellness School and for the payroll department. She will help RC Mowers manage its talent while onboarding new employees. For more information about RC Mowers, visit About RC Mowers Founded in 2018 and based near Green Bay, Wisconsin, closely held RC Mowers manufactures autonomous and remote-operated robotic mowers that solve the biggest challenges and improve opportunities for profitability and growth for landscaping contractors, public works departments, city, county, state and federal parks systems and roads departments, and many more. All of our robotic mowers are designed and manufactured in the United States, have a 30-day buy-back guarantee and come with a 72-hour parts shipping guarantee. We are redefining the business of mowing. For more information, visit MEDIA CONTACT:Heather RipleyRipley PR865-977-1973hripley@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE RC Mowers
Miami Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
SigmaXL Inc. Announces Release of Version 11
SigmaXL Inc., a leading provider of user-friendly Excel Add-ins for Statistical and Graphical analysis, announces the release of SigmaXL Version 11. KITCHENER, ON / ACCESS Newswire / May 2, 2025 / "SigmaXL was designed from the ground up to be a cost-effective, powerful, but easy to use tool that enables users to measure, analyze, improve and control their service, transactional, and manufacturing processes. As an add-in to the already familiar Microsoft Excel, SigmaXL is ideal for Lean Six Sigma training or use in a college statistics course. Version 11 adds Advanced Design of Experiments and Overlay Histograms," said John Noguera, CTO, SigmaXL. New features in Version 11 include: New Graphical Tools Overlay Histograms & Descriptive StatisticsInteraction Plots Advanced Design of Experiments (DOE) Extends DOE functionality to include: Improved 2-Level Factorial/Screening Designs:Expanded catalog with up to 128 design runsUp to 19 Continuous and/or Categorical FactorsAliasing of Effects Report with Interactions to Specified OrderAugment 2-Level Factorial/Screening Design:Foldover DesignAdd Center/Axial PointsReplicate DesignGeneral Full Factorial Designs:1 to 10 Categorical Factors with up to 10 LevelsUse 1 Categorical Factor with Block on Replicates for Randomized Complete Block DesignImproved Response Surface Designs:Expanded catalog with up to 128 design (cube) runsUp to 8 Continuous Factors and 10 Categorical Factors with 8 LevelsCentral Composite Designs with Minimal (2 center points), Uniform Precision or Orthogonal BlocksBox-Behnken Designs for 3 to 7 Continuous FactorsDefinitive Screening DesignsUp to 19 Continuous and/or Categorical FactorsOptimal Designs:D-Optimal (recommended as an efficient general purpose alternative to classical screening and two-level factorial designs)I-Optimal (recommended for response surface designs)A-Optimal (recommended for screening designs)1 to 19 Continuous and/or Categorical Factors (maximum of 10 Categorical Factors with 10 Levels)Continuous Factor linear constraint formulasReport of Optimal Design Diagnostic Metrics and Model Term SE and VIF valuesImproved power calculator with detailed power information (2-Level Factorial/Screening, Augment and General Full Factorial Designs)Fraction of Design Space (FDS) Plots (Augment 2-Level Factorial/Screening for Add Center/Axial Points, Definitive Screening, Response Surface and Optimal Designs)Option for randomized or equally spaced center points (2-Level Factorial/Screening, Definitive Screening and Response Surface Designs)Randomize runs with Seed (Base) as Clock or Specified ValueAnalysis (for all designs) uses Advanced Multiple Regression, with options such as Stepwise/Best Subsets and includes Multiple Response Optimization A free 30-day trial version is available for download from the SigmaXL website at: About SigmaXL is a leading provider of user-friendly Excel Add-ins for Lean Six Sigma tools and Monte Carlo Simulation. SigmaXL customers include market leaders like DHL, FedEx, Hanes, Kimberly-Clark, Motorola, NASA, Sonoco, Southwest Airlines and Western Union. SigmaXL software is also used by numerous colleges, universities and government agencies. For more information, visit or call 1-888-SigmaXL (888-744-6295). SOURCE: SigmaXL, Inc.
