Alamo Colleges District (ACD), founded in 1945, provides higher education and workforce training to over 77,000 students with almost 6,000 employees at its five community colleges in or near San Antonio, TX. ACD is the first higher education institution to win the award twice, having previously won in 2018. Some highlights of their accomplishments: You […]
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 […]
Written by Brion
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I ordered the book, “Practical Innovation in Government: How Front-Line Leaders Are Transforming Public-Sector Organizations” through Audible. But I was pleasantly surprised, and actually listened to it a second time to make sure I didn’t miss anything. If you work in government, or process improvement, you will definitely […]
Written by Brion
In Abilene, Texas, a team has worked to nearly halve the length of time it takes to move a client experiencing chronic homelessness into housing, from 188 days to 95. The Functional Zero accomplishment came after ending veteran homelessness, reaching functional zero for that population in February 2019. Today, the community announced it had become […]
Written by Brion
The Sustainable Development division of IISE conducted an interview with Brad Miller, who is Senior Professor of Practice in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. He shares his success with teaching students how to apply lean and Six Sigma methods in their homes and at their part-time jobs, including two projects […]
Written by Brion
Project C.U.R.E. (Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment) collects and sorts donated medical supplies and equipment from manufacturers, hospitals, and surpluses. They distribute the supplies and equipment to developing countries based on a needs assessment of the local hospitals and clinics in those countries. Students in the Supply Chain Management program at the University of Houston were […]
Written by Brion
Toyota’s North American headquarters in Plano has a small group of dedicated improvement professionals with a specific set of skills. Their role is to share Toyota’s “secret sauce” with society, which is their Toyota Production System. The Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC) is a 16-person team that shares Toyota’s culture of empowering employees to […]
Written by Brion
A student group at the University of Houston uses Lean concepts to improve the setup process that a services organization uses for weekly outreach volunteer events.
Written by Brion
Heeling Soles is a nonprofit organization that distributes shoes and clothing to those in need. A group of students from the University of Houston found a way to reduce setup and shoe distribution times by 41%, while increasing engagement and customer interaction using Lean. The students were taking a Lean course for their Supply Chain […]
Written by Brion
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) had increasing volumes of records to manage and the cost to store the agency’s records and documents had soared to intolerable levels. Maintaining records at the state’s primary storage and archive facilities meant the way space was utilized had to change, and something had to be done […]
Written by Brion