Lean Six Sigma Bursts

In this podcast, I explain a virtual coaching and mentoring program that will be starting next week. Whether you’re rolling out a new project, stuck on data analysis, or facing resistance to change, you need specific help for your unique situation that aligns within your company culture. You’re already solving problems. Now I'd like to help you solve them faster, with less frustration, and more im...

In this podcast, I share the results of a "Lean at Home" project I performed within the last year as part of a training and certification program I piloted with my friends and family. The project successfully reduced our storage costs per month by over 50%, and then 100% within the past few weeks! You can download the project summary here: http://www.leansixsigmahomes.com/wp-content/uplo...

In this podcast, I share the audio from a video of a speech given by former Nebraska governor and current US Senator, Pete Ricketts. He discusses how Nebraska used Lean Six Sigma to improve their services to residents, reduced costs, building space and time. He encourages the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to utilize a similar approach. You can watch the video at https://www.youtube.co...

The following was a clip from a recent presentation, where I discuss how hypothesis testing can help you draw more statistically valid conclusions from data, and avoid misleading or incorrect conclusions. I share two examples. The first was a data set from the Denver Sheriff's Department, where they graphed and analyzed intake use of force incidents, but their conclusions don't seem to mat...

The following was a clip from a recent presentation, where I discuss the importance of data in improvement (seems obvious, yet not always present). I also share the unique situation that happened in the 1948 Presidential Election when polling data was biased towards the candidate that lost. As I dug deeper into this story, I don't see where they specifically mention the phone, but there was a...

In this podcast, I share a successful case study of a Lean Six Sigma training and certification program conducted for a battery manufacturer about 2 years ago. By completing real-life projects, they were able to payback the investment in the training in under one month! Links Manufacturer invests in Green Belt training that leads to significant savings and payback: https://www.biz-pi.com/manufactu...

In this episode, I share a short segment of a recorded presentation I gave to the Continuous Process Improvement Forum hosted within the National Industries of the Blind. They wanted to hear my perspective on AI, so I shared how I've utilized for my consulting work. NIB is a great organization whose mission is to enhance the opportunities for economic and personal independence of people who are bl...

In the 2024 Lean Global Connection virtual conference, our Lean Sustainability community shared some tips and methods to help apply Lean to Green initiatives. In my segment, I explained how Energy Treasure Hunts are a combination of gemba walks and kaizen events, with the goal to identify and reduce energy usage in a facility. This is a great approach that combines my passion for process improveme...

Energy Treasure Hunts can be described as a combination of gemba walks and kaizen events in Lean methodology, with the goal to identify and reduce energy usage in a facility. This is a great approach that combines my passion for process improvement and sustainability. I uploaded a recent webinar I did on Energy Treasure Hunts to AI (NotebookLM), and it generated a fake podcast episode between two...

In the last 2 episodes, I shared best practices in process improvement with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program⁠ in Boca Raton, Florida. At the end of my talk, I discussed how Lean and Six Sigma can be used to improve society and the environment, which I call Lean Six Sigma for Good. I share some examples and discuss my own experiences, hand out copies of Volume...

This is the 2nd part of the list of best practices in process improvement I shared with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program⁠ in Boca Raton, Florida last month. I compiled my top recommendations that they could take back to their company. Daily huddles to review performance and formalize communication Statistical thinking and analysis (separating noise from signa...

This is a list of best practices in process improvement I shared with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program⁠ in Boca Raton, Florida last month. I compiled my top recommendations that they could take back to their company. Focused on building problem solving and waste identification skill set of lowest-level employee Psychological safety to discuss and solve proble...

This is the final part of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, he answers audience questions: 1) How to immerse Lean into the culture? 2) How is he going after employee healthcare costs? (asked by George Koenigsaecker) 3) What are the biggest barriers he is con...

This is part 5 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss the 5 lessons learned from the first 8 years of the Lean journey at Rockwell Collins (1998 to 2006). Senior Leadership alignment Managing change and resistance Course correction...

This is part 4 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss how they expanded on the Core Process Optimization efforts to move to Lifecycle Value Stream Management. This allowed them to address the wastes in the handoffs between major pro...

This is part 3 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss why they brought in some external consultants like John Shook and Denny Mead to try and figure out why all the improvements were not showing an impact on the bottom-line results...

This is part 2 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss how they created and rolled out Lean Electronics program across both manufacturing and the office, and selected Decorah (Iowa) as the pilot site. In the first few years (1998-200...

For the next few podcasts, I'll be sharing clips from a 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. I credit Clay and the "Lean Electronics" program for giving me the skills and experience to make this my passion, allowing me to eventually open up my consulting business,...

In a recent class I taught, we were discussing the Project Charter, which asks you to fill in the baseline data for the metric you're trying to improve. I explain how you need to be persistent to find data, and not to start a project if you don't have any data, especially for a training class, or for your first project. I also answer a student question about how many samples you need for t...

In this podcast, I share a short clip from a recent training class, explaining the benefits of Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training to an organization, but more importantly, why it's important to the people attending the clas personally. If you're interested in taking a Lean, Green Belt or Black Belt course, consider these self-paced affordable courses from OpEx Training: https://www.leansix...

In episode 101, I share an interview clip from John Barnett, former Boeing Quality Manager, as he discusses the culture of quality that might explain the recent airline issues. He was found dead while he was giving a deposition about his former company, but I don't go into those details. I wanted to share my insights about a comment he made that inspection is non-value added, and how I think i...

In episode 100, I share a segment of a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training course I conducted, where I went into details about the Fishbone Diagram and the 6 M's, and I thought you might find it useful. When you are trying to uncover possible causes of a problem, using the 6 M's with a Fishbone Diagram is a great way to enhance your team brainstorming, and methodically narrow down the cause...

In episode 97, we released an excerpt by Elisabeth Swan from "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1)" This is an excerpt from the audiobook version Volume 1. I share the story of running a small nonprofit organization in Portland, called Recycling Advocates (now called Waste-free Advocates). We created a fundraiser conference called Zero Waste Conference, to promote t...

In this podcast, I expand on Podcast #96 , where I talked about the questions to consider in a training and coaching program. I go through 6 different case studies of customized training and coaching programs I've helped develop with clients to meet their specific needs, and how the payback on training is often as short as a few months! If you'd like to get a quote for some training option...

This is an excerpt from the audiobook version of "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 2)" Elisabeth Swan shares the story of volunteering with the Cape Cod Childcare Development nonprofit organization. She discusses getting a call from the CEO to help the organization utilize more Lean Six Sigma Green Belt skills and methods within the organization. In one of the exam...