Using Quality to Save Lives in Guatemala

Schoenbeck (far left) with a group of volunteer firefighters during a weekend shift.

During the day, Harold Schoenbeck works in the logistical division of the Cemaco Group®, one of the biggest retail brands in Central America. An ASQ member since 2005 and Six Sigma Black Belt, he has master’s degrees in business administration and industrial engineering. However, it is in his spare time that Schoenbeck demonstrates Quality for Life—as a volunteer firefighter. 

For the last five years, Schoenbeck has been working with the national fire department of Guatemala, “Bomberos Voluntarios de Guatemala.” While his initial role was to reduce insurance claims by 25 percent for two major companies in the region, Schoenbeck saw the need for further fire safety education. He decided to create a training program for volunteer industrial firefighters that includes 120 hours of hands-on fire and rescue training. 

Focusing on prevention over detection, Schoenbeck used the Six Sigma DMAIC cycle when creating the training. The program has been so successful that it has become an ongoing initiative in both companies. Furthermore, it accomplished the target of minimizing the external cost of poor quality—including occupational safety hazards, industrial safety, and work-related diseases—from 42 percent to 13.5 percent.

Because of Schoenbeck’s passion and commitment to quality, more than 100 industrial firefighters have graduated from the fire safety program to date.  Among those, 15 have gone on to graduate from the national fire school in Guatemala. They save lives, and serve in their communities as volunteer firefighters. It’s very clear that Harold Schoenbeck is not only committed to quality on the job, he is committed to quality for life.

If you have a story about how you used your passion for quality to make a difference in people’s lives, we’d like to hear from you as part of our Quality for Life initiative.  Please submit stories to qualityforlife@asq.org. Also, be sure to visit our blog at http://www4.asq.org/blogs/quality-life/. Look for more inspiring stories in upcoming editions of ASQ Weekly.