EC 054: Lean and Sustainability at Portland Business Alliance Sustainability Roundtable

In this podcast, I share the audio from a presentation I gave to the Portland Business Alliance (our local Chamber of Commerce). They have a Sustainability Roundtable each quarter, and I was asked to talk about my application of Lean to sustainability efforts. You can watch the video below to see the slides that accompany
iowa football waste sort dumpster dive

EC 053: Six Sigma Project to Improve Stadium Recycling

In this podcast, I share the audio from a presentation I created about a Six Sigma project I setup and facilitated a few years back. The project helped improve the recycling program at the University of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. You can watch the video below to see additional photos and information that does not come

EC 052: Integrating Sustainability Into Your Lean Six Sigma Program Initiative at Dallas AME

In this podcast, I gave this presentation at the AME Annual Conference in Dallas in October 2016 called “Integrating Sustainability Into Your Lean Six Sigma Program Initiative” I discuss adding green into improvement initiatives, how to communicate sustainability to existing improvement personnel, how existing tools can be modified to consider environmental impacts, how organizations and

How “walks”​ can help reduce the environmental footprint of your company

My first job out of college was working for a large aerospace company as a full-time process improvement specialist (called a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt) to help the company solve problems and save money. Most of my work involved improving the quality and speed of manufacturing a product. As I started to learn more

EC 047: Lean and Energy Efficiency with Kjell van Zoen of Energy 350

In this podcast, I share a presentation given by Kjell van Zoen, who was a lean consultant and small business owner, and who now runs the Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program for Energy 350. He explains how there are strong overlaps in SEM and Lean principles, and how he is applying his lean skills to

EC 048: How 8 Wastes Impact the Environment

In this podcast, I share a snippet of a talk from the Master Brewers Association of America Northwest District Spring Meeting. I spoke as part of Lean Portland, along with Matt Horvat and Maria Grzanka. The full presentation is available on podcast and video. Links EPA Toolkit (reference for slide) Master Brewers Association of America

EC 046: Process Improvement Nonprofit Volunteering

In this podcast, I share a webinar that I gave to the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (as a board member of the Sustainable Development Division). The webinar is titled “Process Improvement Nonprofit Volunteering with Local IISE Chapters” I share some background on our Lean Portland group, and how it is connected to the

EC 045: Lean Startups for Social Change with Michel Gelobter

In this podcast, I share a webinar that I setup with Michel Gelobter, author of “Lean Startups for Social Change“ The webinar is titled “Experimenting Our Way to Meaningful Change” He discusses the Lean Startup approach, and how it can be used to quickly and efficiently improve social, environmental and community issues (homelessness, climate change,

EC 044: Lean Principles in the Building Reuse Industry (BMRA)

In this podcast, I share a webinar that I gave with Matt Horvat of Lean Portland, and Kelly Stevens from The Rebuilding Center. We were asked to talk about our experiences applying Lean to the building reuse industry, which includes work over the past few years with The Rebuilding Center and Habitat for Humanity Restore