Daily News

Patty Stefanelli Joins Vann Group to Lead Performance Improvement Division

SPRINGFIELD — The Vann Group announced that Patty Stefanelli has joined the organization and will lead its newly launched Performance Improvement Division. This division was created to help organizations in any industry work toward more sustained levels of operational excellence by embracing Lean thinking and continuous improvement. In her role, Stefanelli will be focusing on creating awareness of the benefits of these concepts throughout the Pioneer Valley.

“There is a misconception that Lean is only for manufacturing companies, but Lean principles can be applied to every process within every organization, regardless of industry, size, or function,” she noted.

Before joining the Vann Group, Stefanelli worked for the city of Springfield in its Information Technology department, and as an independent consultant helping organizations with their operations and IT. She has extensive technical and business knowledge, as well as project-management experience. She has led large, organization-wide initiatives from ERP and time and attendance system implementations to Lean process improvement initiatives, such as streamlining hiring processes or the order fulfillment processes in shipping departments. She has an MBA, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, and TWI Knowledge certification.

Lean is a way of thinking and operating that focuses on creating more value for customers with fewer resources. Simply put, it allows organizations to do more with less. Continuous improvement is based upon the idea that any process, product, or service can and should be improved. It focuses on having all employees contribute small, incremental improvements, which when made consistently over time can have significant impacts on performance.