Sally worked many years in the hospitality industry applying Lean Six Sigma, and she shares her experiences to improve the guest experience. She also shares an example of a project that determined the optimal reward points to get customers to agree to reduced or no housekeeping, which was good for the environment, resulting in less […]
Lean expert Michael Ballé examines the profound connection between lean thinking and environmental sustainability. He states that we can’t achieve much progress towards climate change until we fundamentally challenge the way we think about resource consumption. But Lean thinking and methods can be an effective tool to help us move in that direction. Our current consumption patterns are […]
Written by Brion
Christophe Riboulet, president of Proditec, a French robotics company, discussing his company’s lean approach to sustainable development. He recounts his journey integrating sustainability into Proditec, initially rejecting standardized carbon footprinting methods in favor of a lean-focused, problem-solving approach. He details how a small team tackled high energy consumption, achieving significant reductions through iterative improvements and […]
Written by Brion
Winpack, a leading packaging and film producer, is pioneering an innovative solution to minimize the generation of plastic waste. They operate a dedicated recycling plant in Chile with an impressive annual capacity of 6,000 tons of polyethylene, showcasing their determination to mitigate environmental impact. Alarmingly, approximately 10 million tons of plastic infiltrate our oceans each […]
Written by Brion
I was interviewed by Sean Genovese on his “Distracted Driving” podcast. He is an Industrial Engineer and Lean leader with many years of experience in Aerospace manufacturing. We discuss my work applying Lean Six Sigma to “real” problems like pollution, healthcare, social issues and more in order to have a positive impact on society. We also […]
Written by Brion
The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) handles major transportation hubs and infrastructure within the state, including Logan Airport in Boston, waterfront property, cruise ship terminals and shipping ports. They have undergone a period of extensive reviews of its internal processes and project delivery workflow, and had identified two primary areas where improvements were desired: Internal Operational Efficiency Capital […]
Written by Brion
On April 9, 2021, La Soufrière volcano erupted for the first time in 40 years on the island of St Vincent and the Grenadines. SBP Director Andy Stofleth asked the question: What if the problem could be part of the solution? Perhaps SBP could use this ancient Roman process of using volcanic ash as building […]
Written by Brion
CleanStat is a dashboard developed and used internally within the City of Baltimore. It was the result of an iterative design approach to data solutions, where Sara Brumfield shadowed crews out working in the streets and administrators in the office. It also meant sitting in on meetings and asking the same questions to five different […]
Written by Brion
John Corliss created and established the IISE Sustainable Development Division back in 2012. He shares his 40+ years of experience applying Industrial and Systems Engineering improvement tools and problem-solving methods to the public sector. This focus on government and public sector is often overlooked for new graduates or Industrial and Systems Engineering students looking at […]
Written by Brion
An interview was conducted at the Jan 2021 Happy Hour with Lean Portland. They invited John Ashcraft from Free Geek to discuss their Lean journey to increase their impact on the local Portland community. Their journey started in 2017, and at the end of 2020, they have almost tripled their output of refurbished laptops.
Written by Brion