Albertsons Inc. has started a major roll-out of a companywide Six Sigma quality program designed to reduce management layers, increase leadership spans, improve customer focus, drive new format leadership and formalize its quality program.

Six Sigma Academy will assist in the training and implementation program. Leading the Six Sigma effort for Albertsons will be Jim Gentile, who has been named senior vice president of Six Sigma quality. Gentile, a 33-year veteran of the company, is currently president of its Northern California division. In his new capacity, he will become a member of the company’s executive council.

"Six Sigma has the potential to move Albertson’s to an all-new level of productivity and customer service in our industry," says Larry Johnston, Albertsons chairman of the board, CEO and president. "We are excited to be the first food and drug retailer in the world to launch a companywide Six Sigma effort. Over the next 36 months, we plan to deploy hundreds of Black Belts into every corner of the company as we re-engineer our major processes in every function and discipline. The world has witnessed how Six Sigma can transform industrial giants like GE, AlliedSignal, 3M and others. We believe it holds the same exciting potential in food and drug retailing."

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