Tim Gebauer shares his thoughts on applying Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to a thrift store. He feels that one of the first things to do to improve a store is visualizing and understanding how things are really being done now. A VSM can identify the flow of raw donations through the facility. Once they arrive, […]
The James P. Womack Scholarship and Philanthropy Fund (JPW Fund) and the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) teamed up with the primary goal to have two student interns analyze and improve core processes at a nonprofit organization, thus inspiring the organization to implement lean practices by showing them various methods to improve their operations. […]
Written by Brion
Outagamie County in Wisconsin has various processes maintained by various departments to collect information on the vehicle fleet, like titles, insurance coverage and annual vehicle reports. The county wanted to review these processes to determine if the county is accounting for and reporting out this information in accurately and efficiently. The group Value Stream mapped […]
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by Brion Hurley While reading the book, Above the Law by Matthew Whitaker, I learned about the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program that has been deployed in many neighborhoods in the United States to reduce gun violence. “[PSN] is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and […]
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by Brion Hurley Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief nonprofit organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, to help end hunger by 2030. They are working to help impact the UN SDG: Goal #2, Zero Hunger. Based on their implementation of lean, Six Sigma, systems thinking and engineering principles, they […]
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by Brion Hurley Kieran Mohammed started his Lean Six Sigma journey as an operations manager in manufacturing. His early years taught him how performance success relies on the development of and collaboration with people. Along with his experience as a performance improvement consultant and program analyst in government, he has tailored his own unique approach […]
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The Algonquin College Lean effort, which began in 2005, continues to make inroads. An improvement team collected and analyzed data to gain a better understanding of demand patterns. This has allowed the department to maximize their outreach activities without increasing wait times for face-to-face sessions. Each year the College aims to start 12 -15 new […]
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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 […]
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Kimberly Fleming works for the Retirement Team at King County in the state of Washington. The Position Eligibility Worksheet was a huge pain point for everyone involved in the Retirement Position Eligibility program. The team was tasked with creating value stream maps of processes within their department to identify waste. After reviewing the form with the 8 Wastes in mind, […]
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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 […]
Written by Brion