E. D. Bullard is a 100-year-old safety equipment manufacturer based in Kentucky. They faced significant challenges when the pandemic hit in early 2020. Demand for respirators and face shields increased 30x per week than before COVID-19, and they had to figure out a way to meet this critical demand very quickly. With the help of […]
Liz McCartney, a middle school teacher, and Zack Rosenburg, a public defense attorney, were living in Washington when Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast. Six months later, they headed to New Orleans to volunteer. The city was still in shambles, with destroyed houses overcome by mold and residents desperate for help. Do they jumped in […]
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
The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was getting underway when Liz McCartney, a teacher, and Zack Rosenburg, a lawyer, walked into the “hippie tent,” a meal center in Chalmette, LA, run by the unconventionally dressed members of the Rainbow Family. The couple from Washington D.C. had driven down to help victims of Hurricane Katrina […]
Written by Brion
Toyota North America’s nonprofit group called Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC) felt compelled to help Houston in the same way it helped New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. TSSC has helped nonprofits become more efficient by applying Toyota principles called TPS, Toyota Production System. SBP (St. Bernard Project), a nonprofit that received help from Toyota […]
Written by Brion
Each season more than 18,000 students attend the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Young People’s Concerts; which translates to coordinating and scheduling approximately 50 school buses, street closures, managing weather complications. CSO invited Toyota to help ensure students’ safety; reduce student dismissal time and maximize the overall experience of students and volunteers. Improvements made: First: reduced […]
Written by Brion
With help from TSSC, the North Texas Food Bank was able to increase the number of families served from 55 to 80 through two major improvements: Create zones for shopping experience Simplified process for volunteers More importantly, they were able to provide better customer experience and reduce waiting time. They also improved the volunteer experience. […]
Written by Brion
Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia (TMMWV) shared their manufacturing know-how and expertise with the Facing Hunger Food Bank in Huntington, West Virginia. The multi-month project was a collaborative effort and now has the food bank poised to operate more efficiently. TMMWV team members helped the food bank’s backpack program increase its efficiency by 600 percent. […]
Written by Brion
The North Texas Food Bank was able to increase the number of families served by 60%, thanks to an unlikely new partner: Toyota and their TSSC support group. The North Texas Food Banks’ Our Community Pantry in South Dallas used to be able to serve only 50 people a day on the four days they were open per week. But […]
Written by Brion
Just like their for-profit peers, nonprofit organizations, including food banks, deal with a lack of timely deliveries and other logistical complications. Since these problems are just like similar issues that plague warehousing and manufacturing, lean and the Toyota Production System (TPS) are ideal strategies to remove these obstacles. Several years ago, The Greater Boston Food […]
Written by Brion