by Brion Hurley Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief nonprofit organization founded in 1998 that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, mobilizing the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030. To date, they have packaged 450 million meals in 74 countries. Related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, RAH’s effort […]
On Thursday May 23rd, the Peak Team hosted the first ever Peak Academy Awards, an event meant to highlight and celebrate over 250 innovators and process improvements across nine different categories from the City and County of Denver, and other agencies that have worked with Peak in the past year. Categories include: Best 6-S Best […]
by Brion Hurley This is an interview with Jess Schamberger, who is the Vice President of Operations at Goodwill of the Heartland in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She discusses some of the lean and Six Sigma improvements implemented in the donation receiving area, as well as the light manufacturing services they provide to local businesses. They […]
As veterinarians, we are attracted to tools and standardization. In the past we had tried to establish some standard operating procedures and we had even given coaching a go, but we had found nothing that had the power to engage people in transforming the business. That’s what we saw in lean. To see if lean […]
by Brion Hurley When Joe Hnat was working for Collins Aerospace in Melbourne, FL, he had an idea to start a garden at his work place. Read about his story in which he shares the setbacks & challenges he encountered while trying to establish and maintain a non-profit corporate garden run by volunteers. He discusses how […]
In the City of El Paso, the time involved in completing irrigation work orders was taking too long, which was resulting in high costs. The City of El Paso strongly believed that by using the Lean Six Sigma methodology, it was possible to achieve and sustain significant and positive results. After a Pareto analysis, these […]
Carleton University hosted two successful pilot projects using the Lean formula that led to immediate improvements in their Graphic Services Department and Admissions Department. The Graphic Services Department wanted to run more efficiently and increase their production. With input and engagement received directly from staff, the employees’ suggestions for change were very successful. After implementing […]
In Louisville, Kentucky, Greg Fischer, businessman and Six Sigma Black Belt, became mayor in 2010. He initiated the transformation of public service through two strategic actions: LouieStat: An organizational performance review program that uses the total quality management approach of plan, do, check, act (PDCA) for problem-solving. Office of Performance Improvement (OPI): A centralized team […]
The Structural Maintenance Yard’s (SMY) electrical shop is one of San Francisco’s parks and recreation centers. Electricians had a hard time finding the materials they needed to do their work because materials were placed haphazardly and lacked identifiable labeling. This disorganization also led to over and under-stock issues. Over a series of several rapid improvement […]
I have long-admired the way Toyota does things, and I have for many years injected plenty of their principles into my educational practice because they focus on continuous improvement (kaizen) and respect for people. I know schools aren’t factories housing production lines but the 14 principles that make up The Toyota Way make a lot […]