The following webinar was hosted by the IISE Sustainable Development Division, as part of their mission to help align Industrial and Systems Engineers with organizations working on the UN Sustainable Development goals. In addition to covering details of the project, here are some key takeaways. Student capstone projects and research work provide excellent real-world experience […]
by Brion Hurley In June 2020, former University of Iowa football players raised concerns about the mistreatment of Black players in the program. As a former player at Iowa, this news impacted me personally, and I’ve been following this story since it first came out. Just to be clear, I am white, and was born […]
Written by Brion
by Brion Hurley The Lean Government Exchange is an annual one day event of government officials, stakeholders and advocates implementing lean principles (primarily members of the Iowa Lean Consortium, but open to all). I last attended the inaugural Exchange in June 2017 in Des Moines, Iowa. Due to the pandemic, I was actually able to […]
Written by Brion
Former NFL Kicker Nate Kaeding talks to Jess Schamberger, Vice President of Operations at Goodwill of the Heartland about her background, along with the programs that Goodwill provides to create training and employment opportunities to help those overcome barriers to independence Jess has previous experience running the contract manufacturing business for Goodwill, which handles light assembly […]
Written by Brion
Pat O’Connor has done volunteer work for many years. In this article, he shares lessons learned from his current volunteer work as a Chairperson of The Avenue of the Flags Program (a community fundraiser run by volunteers) and as the Head Usher at his local church. He implements Lean Six Sigma skills such as 5S, […]
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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 […]
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by Brion Hurley In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mark Novak quickly joined a disaster relief trip to help rebuild communities in Mississippi. He soon found out there were many frustrating aspects of the process that needed to be addressed; supplies were scarce or late to arrive, communication of problems were accomplished too late in the […]
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The City of Ankeny, one of the fastest growing cities in Iowa, prides itself on providing high quality municipal services, excellent customer service and sound fiscal management. The City of Ankeny wanted to make their accounts payable process more efficient because it was cumbersome and included many steps. These steps involved a number of different […]
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The Iowa Lean Consortium’s (ILC) two annual awards for 2017 both went to the University of Iowa in recognition of numerous campus efficiency efforts, which saved money and staff time and greatly reduced error rates. ILC named the UI’s Transparent Inclusive Efficiency Review (TIER) Implementation Team as winner of the Iowa Partners in Efficiency Award, and […]
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When approached to take the position of repairing sewing machines in the IPI-Mitchellville Textiles Shop, I jumped at the opportunity. I love to work with my hands and make operations flow smoothly. Not long after I started, I ran into a problem that did not meet our lean standards of waste. This is my story […]
Written by Brion