Lean Facilitator Archives | Continuous Improvement Blog

Taking the Plunge into 5S

Published April 6, 2018

Lean Thinking

For some people accomplishment comes from the words, “our work here is done,” however, I believe that accomplishment can also come from, “we’ve only just begun.”

As we’ve shared in the past, each year 15-18 Michigan Tech faculty and staff come together in hopes of becoming the newest additions to our facilitator co-hort here on campus. To achieve the title of a “Level 1 Facilitator,” each candidate must attend seven days of training, complete various homework assignments, and participate as either a team leader or a facilitator on a new kaizen with three to four other candidates.

The group I’ve been assigned to has decided that their kaizen was going to be to 5S the Foundry Lab located in the Material Science and Engineering building. A couple of weeks ago, four future graduates, and an already seasoned facilitator, went to the gemba, where work is done. Our tour of the Foundry Lab consisted of Team Leader, Matthew Otte (Material Science and Engineering) walking us through the various workstations and processes for every corner of the lab. Our walk took a little over an hour and a half, and we really only scraped the surface for potential areas of improvement.

Before — This is the top view of the Foundry lab before any changes have been made.

Following this Gemba walk I found myself a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of potential within the lab. I was struggling with imagining where, how and when to start.

One of my favorite things about lean is that it has taught me to become an independent problem solver. When this overwhelming feeling creeped in I remembered that the most important thing with any change is to just start. There’s no rule that says you must jump from current state to ideal state in one step. Continuous Improvement is about incremental changes. It doesn’t matter how big the stride, what matters is the direction.

Considering this, the team and I regrouped, and we decided to start with one single workbench and slowly pick away at other areas within the Foundry.

Before finishing station — This is a before picture of the finishing station workbench our team decided to start with.

Now, these emotions I experienced weren’t necessarily circumstantial, however they’ve been encountered many times by many people and seem to be associated with any sort of change. Commonly, this sense of being overwhelmed is coupled with 5S. I’ve found that in most cases, when 5S is initiated, there’s usually a lot that needs to be done. These emotions can be used as a trigger to take a deep breath, and pick one incremental change at a time.

A Blooming Relationship: Lean and MTU

Published April 19, 2017

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Lean Thinking

It’s been nine years since China hosted the summer Olympics, nine years since the United States elected Barack Obama as the 44th President, nine years since the stock market crashed, and it’s been nine years since Michigan Technological University began it’s lean journey.

In 2008, University President Glen Mroz introduced Michigan Tech to Lean. In relative terms, nine years really isn’t that long, however, not a second was WASTED since the opening of our office, the Office of Continuous Improvement. After nine years, 236+ Kaizens (Improvement Events), 70+ Facilitators, 10 PICs, 2 Directors of Process Improvement, two classes, and one student organization, it is safe to say that our relationship with MTU’s campus is now BLOOMING.

We recently hosted our 2017 facilitator graduation ceremony and introduced 16 new facilitators to our pool! Congratulations to the new facilitators who are: Joan Becker, Debra Charlesworth PhD, Paul Charlesworth PhD, Johnny Diaz, Christina Fabian, Megan Goke, Timothy Griffin, Lori Hardyniec, Kristi Hauswirth, Brian Hutzler, Austin Kunkel, Lauren Movlai, Katherine Purchase, Joseph Snow, Madeline Mercado-Voelker, and Maryann Wilcox. These 16 people come from 13 different departments campus wide, and one has now left the university and is continuing their Lean journey in the community. These facilitators are another chapter of growth for this university and the mission is simple, to IMPROVE. It’s been said time and time again that probably the greatest aspect of Lean is the people and the culture. The culture is one of open-mindedness, collaboration, humility and respect. However, without the people, the culture would fail. We are proud to welcome this group of 16 to our culture.

Our growth on campus has not only impacted the faculty and staff, it has also been growing within our student population as well. On the same day of graduation our office hosted it’s first ever Student Information Session. At this session our PICs taught students a little about what lean and continuous improvement is, along with an activity on personal kanbans. A few days after we hosted our information session, our student organization, Leaders in Continuous Improvement, received the award for the Most Improved Student Organization for the 2016-2017 academic year (how fitting).

LCI leaders Martine Loevaas, Tom Strome, and Rachel Chard with the Most Improved Award.

These three events all happened within the last week, highlighting the success lean is having at the university.

With our culture expanding and the amount of people involved rising, I know our university will soon be flourishing with Lean, and our students will be leaving here with skills that they not only learned in lecture and lab, but also from the environment that they are being surrounded by. This environment will provide everyone immersed in it with skills that companies, coworkers and employers are looking for such as team collaboration, problem solving, and again RESPECT for everyone. Lean and Continuous Improvement has proven over and over again that it is a way of life, a way of change, and a way of growth that anybody can take and adapt into their lives, and it has proven this to all that have hopped on board with our journey.

It’s been nine years since Michigan Technological University began it’s lean journey, and it is our DREAM that the blooming culture we have will flourish, and in nine years we’ll be able to look back on this time in our journey and have no words but “wow,” and no emotion but delight.

Farewell Post – Elizabeth Wohlford

Published April 13, 2016

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Events
News

It has been a great journey over the past two years as a process improvement coordinator (PIC) and as graduation is just two weeks away this will be my last post. I have really enjoyed working with so many different people and being a part of real changes across campus.

Since starting in July 2014, I have helped out by being a Lean facilitator for 3 on-campus events and a PIC for 14 campus improvement events across 5 departments at Michigan Tech. These events have helped campus save over 400 hours of time for Michigan Tech’s staff, and over $4,000.00 in waste, along with alleviating countless amounts of stress all around. The projects have ranged from helping employees 5S their workstation, to aiding the Van Pelt and Opie Library staff in standardizing the archive binder process, to helping student organizations like the MTU FilmBoard come up with standardized processes for their equipment set up. I have also been able to assist in 5 office projects ranging from informational wall posters which can now be seen outside our office, to marketing videos that including a cameo appearance by Michigan Tech’s President Glenn Mroz!

I first learned about Lean from my co-op with Kimberly-Clark in one of their manufacturing mills located in Ogden, Utah, and I have been able to take it with me as far as Boston when I met up with John O’Donnell for the second time at the Lean Enterprise Institute headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A selfie of that visit can be seen below (I have blogged about it before). I love Lean because it not only promotes order and information transparency, but also underlines having respect for people.

I would like to thank the entire Office of Continuous Improvement for the time and patience they poured into me upon my arrival, as I was becoming more fluent in my understanding of a what a Lean culture really is. After graduation I will be trading Houghton, Michigan for Seattle, Washington, all the while spreading the Lean spirit that I have learned to love over these past two years. Best of luck to the newly hired PICs–I have full trust that you’ll continue down the great pathway this office is on and fall in love with Lean as much as I have.

Lean in Their Own Words

Published July 30, 2015

By Ruth Archer

Lean Thinking

This is the third installment of Lean in Their Own Words. At the April graduation ceremony for our new Lean facilitators, the graduates each said a few words about what Lean means to them. Many of them have given me permission to share their thoughts with you. This week, we’ll hear from Todd Van Valkenburg, Senior Programmer/Analyst in IT’s Enterprise Application Services.

“What does Lean mean to me now that I’ve gone through Lean facilitator training? At the end of every class day, and much to my dismay, Ruth had each of us get in front of everyone and give a quick presentation of what resonated with each of us. At the end of that first day, what popped into my head was the adjective “HEALTHY,” as in a healthy problem solving process. And that word has stuck with me throughout the class.”

“The Lean approach to Continuous Improvement is HEALTHY because: 1) At its core, it’s a non-blame, respectful approach to problem solving. Contributions are taken seriously and all voices are heard. 2) The process encourages people from different departments, backgrounds, skill levels, and experiences to come together to work on common objectives. 3) This approach relies on teamwork, learning from each other, and developing skills that each participant can bring back to his/her own department to share. And finally, 4) we are addressing problems/opportunities head on by carving out the time to really look at them instead of dealing with them later or hoping that they will just go away.”

“I’d like to conclude today with some imagery that also represents what Lean means to me. First, imagine that I’m working alone on solving a complex problem that impacts a few departments on campus. I am NOT using the Lean principles of continuous improvement. Now, further imagine that the challenges, obstacles and constraints I face are gusts of wind pushing against me causing me to literally lean. I could lean too far one way or the other, lose my balance, and fall right over. Now here’s the second image. Instead of working alone, imagine that I’m working right alongside a few others folks in those departments trying to solve that very same problem. This time, we ARE using the principles of Lean. We interlock arms and form a circle. Now, as these gusts of wind hit the group, some of us may lean but the others in the team provide the support and counter-balance to spring us back upright and put us right back on track. To me, this imagery demonstrates that working as a team and applying Lean principles is a very healthy way to solve problems at Michigan Tech.”

Todd working on a training exercise Take a look at the list of our campus facilitators. Any one of them would be happy to talk with you about Lean and continuous improvement!

Lean in Their Own Words

Published July 17, 2015

By Ruth Archer

Lean Thinking

This is the second installment of Lean in Their Own Words. At the April graduation ceremony for our new Lean facilitators, the graduates each said a few words about what Lean means to them. Many of them have given me permission to share their thoughts with you. Here is what Gina Goudge, Manager of Business Operations and Student Employment for Career Services, had to say.

“When I asked my boss, Steve Patchin, if I could sign up for Lean Facilitator Training, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. Lean was all about organization, right? I’m organized, I create checklists, I already know all about Lean!

This will be a breeze, I thought…maybe I’ll pick up a few new tools! Well, I was so wrong, because Lean is so much more.

As I embarked on my Lean journey (and it has been a journey!) I quickly realized Lean was going to push me, force me to move outside of my comfort zone, force me to work on my presentation skills, to face my fear of public speaking!

So as I stand here, facing my fear, I’d like to present my elevator speech…what I believe Lean is and is not.

Lean is NOT about being skinny or “cutting to the bone.” Lean IS about having the right resources to ensure we are providing the best quality product or service. Lean IS a way of approaching and thinking through any problem, system, or situation.

Lean is NOT just a few tools to use. Lean IS an entire toolbox of management practices to help you streamline a process and continuously strive for improvement.

Lean is NOT mean. Lean IS respectful toward everybody–a no fault/no blame game that locates the flaw in the system when an error occurs rather than the individual.

This is why I’m so excited to become a Lean Facilitator. I get to share with others a new way of thinking, a new mode of operation, empowering them with the Lean tools and strategies to constantly question their status quo, inspiring cooperation, respect, change and growth both personally and professionally.”

When you see one of our Campus Facilitators, be sure to ask them about Lean!

Lean in Their Own Words

Published July 9, 2015

By Ruth Archer

Lean Thinking

At the April graduation ceremony for our new Lean facilitators, the graduates each said a few words about what Lean means to them. Many of them have given me permission to share their thoughts with you. In the first entry of this series are the comments from Pattie Luokkanen, Manager of Resource Access and Discovery Services at the Library, and trained Lean facilitator.

Pattie said….

“One of my early encounters with Lean was when I took part in a 5s Blitz.
I was new and didn’t really know what it was all about. I was so surprised to find that the people in the workshop all had some messes to clean up, like cluttered supply cabinets and messy desks. Here we were confessing that we had a problem, but then we were shown how to clean up the mess and keep it that way! We were assigned a coach to help us with this. My coach was Kathy Wardynski. She was a great coach, not only guiding me through my clean up project but also Pattie Luokkanen graduation telling me other things that can be done with Lean on campus. It was a great experience for me and opened my eyes to other possibilities with Lean and left me wanting to know more.

What I like most about Lean is that it is positive. It’s a positive approach to problem solving. I believe that you can inspire great ideas and creative problem solving in a positive environment. I love the fact that an important ground rule for continuous improvement events is that it takes place in a mutually respectful, blameless environment. That is powerful!”

Visit the Campus Facilitator page on our website to see all of the facilitators here on campus.

Welcome Elizabeth Wohlford!

Published August 29, 2014

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News

The Office of Continuous Improvement has hired a new Student Process Improvement Coordinator. Elizabeth is a third-year Mechanical Engineering major and also does research in the Biomedical Engineering department under Dr. Neuman, is Vice- President of Michigan Tech’s student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and is webmaster for Michigan Tech’s Society of Women Engineers. She brings to the office previous experience in Six Sigma and Lean Practices from previous internships with Johnson Controls and Kimberly-Clark along with a willingness to learn more about the world of continuous improvement.

Here Elizabeth will introduce herself and share some thoughts about her new role:

When I went into my first industry experience as an intern for Johnson Controls I had very minimal exposure to the world of continuous improvement. I was given a process improvement project dealing with automotive door panel scratch testing and tasked with identifying the variables that affected performance. I was able to go through Green Belt training with using the project to learn Six Sigma methodology. While working at a mill for Kimberly-Clark in Utah I was exposed to Lean practices and how crucial it is to have standard processes in the world of mass production manufacturing. When I found out about this open position in the office of Continuous Improvement, I knew it would be a great opportunity to continue the learning process and be a leader in conducting improvement efforts on campus.

Over the past few weeks that I have been working in the office, I have put together a training course for teaching about Lean practices. I will be working on assisting with the coordination, data collection and facilitation of Kaizen Events.

I am grateful to be given this opportunity and look forward to adding value in the office by executing on initiatives that drive Michigan Tech’s campus to the next level.

Collaboration with State of Michigan

Published April 18, 2014

By Ruth Archer

We are pleased to post this guest blog from Theresa Coleman-Kaiser, Assistant Vice President for Administration.

As a volunteer through the Michigan Lean Consortium (MLC), I was asked to work on an improvement project focused on revising the Michigan Department of Education’s (MDE) Scorecard to align more directly with the department’s articulated priorities. My role was that of a Lean facilitator.

The work of planning, data collection, meetings, and a final workshop was done virtually through email, conference calls, and by using Skype. This worked extremely well since I’m located in the U.P. and all the others in Lansing, MI. I initially worked with two representatives from the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget who coordinated and co-facilitated as “boots-on-the-ground” representatives responsible for the continued deployment of the Governor’s initiatives, and with key leadership in the Michigan Department of Education. The work concluded with two larger meetings that included the Deputy Superintendents and/or the Special Assistants from the various areas within the MDE.

The key deliverable was to create a pathway to get from the scorecard in place when we began this work in November, 2013, to a revised future-state scorecard that linked directly to the MDE mission and priorities that have been articulated for 2013-2015. At the conclusion of the final workshop, held in March 2014, the group had established a goal of two metrics for each of their seven strategic goals. Each scorecard metric would represent either a student outcome measurement, or measurement of a process that drove student outcomes. A few organizational metrics, such as employee turnover, were recognized as valuable although not directly tied to priorities.

While some follow-up work will need to be done to determine the final scorecard metrics and receive approval to execute the update, the group left the final workshop with a decision-making framework that will ensure the Scorecard metrics align with strategic priorities, is outward-facing whenever possible to inform the public, drives the desired behavior, and is appropriate at the departmental level.

This work will significantly change the metrics that appear on the MDE scorecard as well as significantly reduce the total number of department-level metrics from the current 27 to between 15 and 20. Many of the existing Scorecard metrics will either be pushed to an Office-level scorecard or eliminated entirely.

Facilitating this improvement work was a great professional development experience for me that provided an opportunity to exercise my facilitation skills and sharpen my thinking on metrics. I had a really fun group of people to work with and greatly enjoyed this volunteer experience.

The MLC partners with the State of Michigan to provide assistance in implementing the Good Government imitative, which is about achieving best-in-class public service through empowered and innovative employees. Elements of good government are service and process optimization, employee engagement, change management, and performance management.

Tag: Lean Facilitator