Connecting the College Classroom to Industry and Nonprofit – WLEI Podcast

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, they discuss how universities are connecting students with for-profit and nonprofit organizations to practice and apply hands-on lean learning experiences. Dennis Wade from Oakland University and Lisa Eshbach from Ferris State University (both schools in Michigan) go into details about their background in industry, how each of their […]

Providing more meals for impoverished people – Lean Global Connection

Cara Gabris, Director of Distribution at the Houston Food Bank, and Monte Mitchell of the Lean Enterprise Institute of North America, discuss a six-month project to improve the food bank’s kitchen operations. The project aimed to increase meal production to 10,000 meals daily while maintaining quality and timeliness.  The goal was to get consistent results by ensuring […]

Interview with Brion Hurley about Lean Six Sigma Book Series – Distracted Driving Podcast

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 […]

Video: Applying Lean Thinking and Process Improvement to Nonprofits and NGOs Case Studies

This short video highlights four different examples of nonprofits and NGOs applying Lean principles and concepts to social challenges in the local community. St. Bernard Project (New Orleans, LA) Learn more at https://planet-lean.com/lean-construction-new-orleans-katrina/ Food Bank For New York City Learn more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EedMmMedj3M Free Geek (Portland, OR) Learn more at http://www.sustainableengineer.org/free-geek-named-2021-excellence-in-sustainable-development-award-winner/ Project C.U.R.E. (Houston, TX) […]

How Toyota Kata Helped a Food Bank Double Food Processing with Half the Staff and Space

Hugh Alley is an experienced lean practitioner and industrial engineer, who has experience with the Toyota Kata method of improvement. He has recently applied this approach to a nonprofit food bank in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada, based on the KataLab approach developed in Montreal by Jean-Marc Legentil, Marc-Olivier Legentil and Sylvain Landry. He explains […]

Continuous Improvement at Kitchens for Good and San Diego Humane Society – Process Palooza 2021

Hear inspiring stories of nonprofit organizations in the Greater San Diego area, specifically from Kitchens for Good and San Diego Humane Society on how they’ve adopted and embraced a continuous improvement mindset. The San Diego Humane Society, an open-admission shelter, is creating a more humane world by inspiring compassion and advancing the welfare of animals […]