THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505090093
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
WHEN MARK D. BANUS and Joe R. ``Chip'' Stilwell Jr. were facing Navy retirement and unemployment at the same time, they decided to use resources they had acquired during their last year or two of the military.
They started a resource consulting company called Stilwell & Associates of U.S.A. Inc. They counsel corporations and businesses on quality management practices - essentially the same type of work they did on the carrier Enterprise.
``There is a potential in every organization to make improvements,'' said Banus, 50, a former A-6 pilot who retired as a commander last year. ``We are trying to help the organization make more money by taking its resources and relocating them in areas more effectively.''
Banus was the front man for quality management, a process that identifies waste and rework in the Navy, and was the first on the Enterprise to implement some of the business management theories of pioneer W. Edwards Deming.
When Banus was called to duty elsewhere, Stilwell, 44, took over his quality management project on the carrier.
Within months Stilwell, also a former Navy aviator, and his men had reduced the time it took to turn around one piece of paper from 7 to 12 days to 1 1/2 days.
What Stilwell and his men did to reduce the days a piece of paper was passed around was to chart out each step in the paperwork process. During their charting, they found several steps that were rework or unnecessary.
According to Stilwell, he ``took the tools and handed them to the sailors.'' The ``tools'' in this case, being charts and graphs.
``Basically it's a way of doing things with less waste, or more for less,'' said Stilwell, who retired as a lieutenant commander in 1994.
When Banus and Stilwell's consulting business opened last May in One Columbus Center, the men already had a client waiting.
Another customer was Bryan Beecroft, an owner along with other family members of the men's clothing stores, Beecroft & Bull.
``When I first met Chip, he came into the store asking my advice on how I would dress him for a particular situation,'' Beecroft said.
Beecroft and Stilwell spoke at length about the consulting company and Beecroft soon decided his own company needed the service.
``I thought, wait a minute. What they're doing may benefit us. It's like knowing what you want a house to look like, but not knowing how to build it,'' said Beecroft.
``For managers and employees, it was a way to let them know my company, or our company, is dedicated to improving itself and that we're not going to be complacent.''
Stilwell and Banus have helped the clothing company come up with some long-term goals for improvement. Beecroft said he has seen ``communication throughout the company get better. And a sense of mission has already begun.''
Stilwell and Banus say they will only take on clients who are willing to cooperate with them and be receptive to their suggestions.
They even interview potential clients to be sure they can be effective within their organizations and will have access to top management as well as other employees.
The consulting company can be hired for short-term projects or long-term improvements. Companies have hired the men to find the problems, to solve a known problem and to help management and the employees find the way to solve the problems themselves.
For example, they went into a company, found out all the steps currently being taken for manufacturing and then asked employees what steps could be deleted or what steps were not beneficial to the customer and were only beneficial to employees who were used to doing things a particular way.
Basically, they review a process, ask why it's done that way and come up with a way to redo a process to make it a more valuable part of a business' operation.
Banus, vice president of the consulting firm, was the deputy director of the Navy's Total Quality Leadership School.
Both men had planned to become commercial airline pilots until an admiral casually suggested they use their skills in the commercial world as consultants.
They talked to their wives, swapped their leave time for pay and retired. They hired an accountant and a lawyer and opened for business, all with very low overhead.
``The hardest thing for us, at the time, was building a network,'' said Banus, a Boston, Mass., native.
Stilwell, who comes from North Carolina, said, ``From a personal standpoint, though, doing this kind of stuff, helping an organization is really satisfying. When you see the lightbulb come on, that's really neat to watch.''
Banus added. ``We try and teach people to fish rather than giving them the fish.'' MEMO: Stilwell and Associates of U.S.A. Inc. can be reached at 490-7872. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
In their new business, Joe ``Chip'' Stilwell, left, and Mark Banus
counsel corporations and businesses on quality management
practices.
by CNB