Innovators@Google: Kaj Ahlmann

Kaj Ahlmann visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to talk about using SIx Sigma practices in wine making business. This event took place on September 10, 2009, as part of the Innovators@Google series.

At Six Sigma Ranch, Vineyards and Winery, Kaj Ahlmann uses Six Sigma tools and practices to realize his vision of creating consistently great wines. From soil analysis, planting, farming and harvest to sorting, fermentation, storage and promotion, the Six Sigma approach enables Ahlmann to regulate the wine making and marketing processes by monitoring data and refining it every step of the way.

Speaker Info:

Kaj Ahlmann provides independent services related to reinsurance, insurance and asset management. He currently serves on the boards of Deutsche Bank Global Insurance Asset Management, Cyrus Re , the American Institute for CPCU, RLI Corporation, and Six Sigma Academy.

Ahlmann served on the board of Erie Indemnity from 2003 to 2008. From 2001 to 2003, he was Chairman and CEO of Inreon, a global electronic reinsurance venture created by Munich Re, Swiss Re, Internet Capital Group, and Accenture. He was Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of E.W. Blanch Holdings from 1999 to 2001. From 1993 to 1999, he was Chairman, President and CEO of Employers Reinsurance and served as a director of the parent organization, GE Capital Services.

Kaj and his wife purchased a 4,300 acre ranch in Lake County, California in 2000 and named it Six Sigma Ranch. They celebrated the release of the first wines under the Six Sigma label in 2006.

Kaj applies the Six Sigma method to regulate the grape growing and winemaking processes by monitoring and refining data at each stage. But the most important consideration is the voice of the consumer. Data is constantly being gathered about consumer preferences and used for guidance in the winemaking process. When people see the Six Sigma name on the bottle, they know that the wine is truly a marriage of science and art, observes Ahlmann.

Category:

Education

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• Innovators
• atgoogle
• google
• Kaj
• Ahlmann
• wine
• six
• sigma
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