In March of 2024, the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum (ISBF) and Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) were still separate organizations, and they agreed to host a joint webinar to promote Energy Efficiency and Lean. I was fortunate to connect up with Paul Lemar, Jr. from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), who has Continue Reading ..read more

Continuing our discussion on Lean Six Sigma and ESG, I brought back last episode’s guest, Erin Bauer (Product Development Manager at ASQE) and added a new guest, Beth Cudney. She is a Professor of Data Analytics and the Program Coordinator for Data Analytics at Maryville University. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Continue Reading ..read more

I had a great interview with Erin Bauer, who is the Product Development Manager at ASQE, which is a trade association created by ASQ to provide benchmarking assistance to corporations within ASQ. One of their key products is the Insights on Excellence® (IoE) Benchmarking Tool. The benchmarking survey results are available to members and nonmembers Continue Reading ..read more

Faced with increased production volumes for processed vegetables, this Dutch company realized the need to improve its processes by developing people skills. In September 2023, the leadership team participated in a Black Belt course with Lean Management Instituut. The next step was to involve front-line staff through an Orange Belt course. Here are some of Continue Reading ..read more

I had a great interview with Aleshia Jordan a few weeks ago, to discuss how she transitioned from finance to Lean and Six Sigma consulting, and how she is now taking her Master Black Belt skills and over 20 years of experience into her firm Virtualocity, LLC to help organizations, nonprofits and individuals in their Continue Reading ..read more

ISO 50001:2018—Energy management can help your organization create an approach to assessing its energy practices through PDCA and continuous improvement tools. While many organizations suffer from the unexamined and wasteful costs of energy consumption as part of their hidden factory, many don’t have trained staff to help assess and reduce these costs. Unfortunately, they miss Continue Reading ..read more

A company aimed to increase mattress production efficiency, eliminate component overproduction in the sofa manufacturing process, and significantly reduce workplace accidents. In addition, they were looking to  increase sustainability and business growth by implenting Lean. They focused on optimizing glue usage and electricity consumption. They reduced material waste by 2%, eliminated excess components by 95%, and Continue Reading ..read more

Norwegian furniture manufacturer Haugstad Møbel expanded its lean transformation and employee engagement efforts towards the future. They were able to transform their culture and unlock the potential of sustainable product growth through a program to teach the next generation how to re-sell, re-furbish, and re-use furniture. Circular HUB is a learning factory where kids aged Continue Reading ..read more

Making a real difference in your organization can be a struggle, but there is a way to leverage powerful tools and strategies to drive positive change, while also boosting your own career development. In this episode, I introduce you to Sarah Tilkens, a former biologist turned operational excellence leader, who cracked the code on impactful Continue Reading ..read more

Sally worked many years in the hospitality industry applying Lean Six Sigma, and she shares ..read more