Erica Q.
CEO at Poka-Yoke Solutions
Operations
Education: Virginia Tech; Villanova
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Biography
With over 15 years of operational expertise and as the author of Business Process Flow Mapping, Succinctly and the creator of the Poka-Yoke Process, Erica has redefined how businesses streamline their operations.
Under her leadership, Poka-Yoke Solutions has achieved significant milestones, including a key partnership with Trainual, WBENC and WOSB certifications, and recognition as one of the "50 to Follow Women-Owned Businesses" in 2023.
Additionally, Erica has been honored as a "Top CEO and Leader" in both 2023 and 2024.
With a proven track record in building and scaling operations for three high-growth companies before branching out on her own, Erica founded Poka-Yoke Solutions in 2018 and has built it to become a leader in operational consulting.
Erica holds a degree from Virginia Tech and a Master Certificate in Lean Enterprise Solutions from Villanova University. As CEO, her goal is to establish the Poka-Yoke Process as the gold standard in operations change management while driving the company toward tenfold growth.
Passion
Being a part of the evolution, and the process, of companies and people.
Featured Video
I am willing to travel
More than 100 miles
When it comes to payments
I generally get paid for speaking but make exceptions
Topics
Best Story
A family owned $30M/year distribution company which was overflowing with product and took weeks to get orders out of the door. We streamlined their operation by implementing inventory processes and then created and documented their SOPs for the entire company. This work resulted in 86% quicker shipments, saved 107 people-hours per week, easier to track job performance, less turnover, and $347,000 annual savings!
Origin Story
Erica’s corporate career began in a manufacturing facility, where she quickly learned that standards didn’t usually exist and problems normally resulted in arguments instead of solutions. A natural “fixer”, Erica set up procedures and streamlined processes as she went. She moved between four companies doing everything from centralizing operations of company acquisitions to rolling out major software platforms. At each company she saw the same arguments, lack of trust and standards, and communication problems existed regardless of size or industry.
In the midst of building out a global supply chain from scratch for a hyper growth company in Philadelphia, she welcomed her second child. Aiming to break the glass ceiling while defying stereotypes and nurturing her kids, she ended up in the hospital just weeks after her second child turned one. Diagnosed with vestibular neuritis, a direct result from sleep deprivation of a 24/7 working environment, she experienced an unending episode of vertigo leaving her in the care of home healthcare and initially unable to walk or drive.
As she recovered, she used the opportunity to really zoom out on her day-to-day work, and she realized she could take her process skills and begin building a company around them while serving multiple clients.
She left her job and decided to begin building a business-- so she could prioritize her health, be present for her children, and help multiple companies break through the process problems she witnessed. Her consulting practice gradually grew into a process management and operations firm where they provide process and documentation implementation solutions to mid market companies.
Example talks
Improving Business Process & Documentation
What is business process? Discover techniques for optimizing processes to enhance efficiency and productivity in your company. In this session, participants will learn two methods to create the groundwork for process streamlining, which leads into SOP documentation. Attendees will gain practical tools, including defining roles and responsibilities and how to create a blueprint for company processes, to lead their teams to higher productivity and greater accuracy.