Lean Six Sigma for Good Podcast
Brion Hurley: Lean Six Sigma for Good
A business podcast dedicated to teaching and sharing how the popular business improvement methodologies of Lean and Six Sigma can be applied to environmental impacts (water, air emissions, solid waste, trash, rubbish, hazardous waste, toxins, and energy) and societal issues (homelessness, government agencies, education, healthcare, gender equality, poverty, etc). These techniques and principles can help businesses, nonprofit organizations, NGO’s, not-for-profit organizations and local communities save money, engage employees and residents, and become better stewards of the environment. Learn more at LeanSixSigmaForGood.com Keywords: Lean, Six Sigma, Environment, Sustainability, Green, Energy Reduction, Energy Conservation, Carbon Footprint, Triple Bottom Line, Eco-friendly, Environmental Sustainability, Water Conservation, Lean Six Sigma, Business Improvement, Process Efficiency, Zero Waste, Waste Reduction, Efficiency, Poverty, Donations, Homelessness, Healthcare
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 19, 2025 • 44min
E123: Driving Lean Leadership into Government with Andrew Rowe
In this episode, I share an interview I had with Andrew Rowe, former CEO and Executive Chairman of AllMed Healthcare Management in Portland, Oregon. After 20 years of leading AllMed through a Lean transformation, he is now focusing his time on bringing Lean and quality principes into the Portland metro area as a community service
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12 snips
Jan 16, 2025 • 44min
E122: Applying Lean at the City of Grand Rapids with Alen Ganic
Alen Ganic, a seasoned Lean and Six Sigma coach with 14 years of experience at the City of Grand Rapids, discusses his journey in improving government efficiency. He shares his hands-on approach to implementing Lean methodologies, leading to significant cost savings and waste reduction. Ganic highlights challenges in organizing Lean initiatives and the importance of collaboration with nonprofits. He also contrasts the unique challenges faced by nonprofits versus government entities in embracing Lean practices, underscoring adaptive leadership and community engagement.
Dec 23, 2024 • 24min
E121: Using Lean Principles for Non-Profits and NGOs – ASQ Lean Division
In this episode, I share a webinar I gave to the ASQ Lean Enterprise Division I share examples of how Lean tools like process mapping, 5S, and Kanban boards helped improve efficiency and effectiveness for nonprofit organizations focused on societal or environmental challenges. I also share my favorite real-world examples from the City of Denver,
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Dec 16, 2024 • 25min
E120: Tackling Green with Lean – Lean Global Connection 2024
In this episode, I share a presentation that the Lean Sustainability Global Network (an unofficial team that I’m involved with) gave at the Lean Global Connection virtual conference in Nov 2024. We share how Lean principles can be applied to tackle pressing environmental challenges and improve processes. For example, Lean and Green expands the traditional
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Nov 27, 2024 • 49min
E119: Applying Lean within Municipal Electric and Water Utilities – Interview with Jennifer Peterson
In this episode, we interview Jennifer Peterson, the manager of Continuous Improvement at Muscatine Power and Water (MPW) in Muscatine, Iowa. She discusses how she got into continuous improvement (CI) and the impact it has had on MPW employees and customers. She highlights the importance of: Jennifer also shares several examples of successful CI projects
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Oct 30, 2024 • 1h 7min
E118: Supply Chains for Good – Interview with C.J. Nord
In this episode, we interview C.J. Nord, a passionate supply chain manager and consultant, who shares her journey towards driving societal change through supply chain. As the founder of Supply Chains for Good, C.J. discusses her extensive career in supply chain management, her recovery from cancer, and how that inspired her skills to launch impactful
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Oct 24, 2024 • 41min
E117: Transforming Healthcare with Lean Six Sigma – Interview with Sarah Cook
In this episode, I interviewed Sarah Cook, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt consultant from Pepper Foster Consulting in Portland, Oregon. She shares her journey from the VA medical center to becoming a performance engineer in healthcare. She discusses the application of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to healthcare, the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare
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Sep 9, 2024 • 50min
E116: Using Energy Treasure Hunts and Energy SWAPs to Engage Employees and Reduce Costs
In March of 2024, the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum (ISBF) and Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) were still separate organizations, and they agreed to host a joint webinar to promote Energy Efficiency and Lean. I was fortunate to connect up with Paul Lemar, Jr. from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), who has
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Jul 16, 2024 • 1h 8min
E115: Using Lean to Minimize Waste Within ESG Initiatives
Continuing our discussion on Lean Six Sigma and ESG, I brought back last episode’s guest, Erin Bauer (Product Development Manager at ASQE) and added a new guest, Beth Cudney. She is a Professor of Data Analytics and the Program Coordinator for Data Analytics at Maryville University. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from North
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Jul 2, 2024 • 1h 11min
E114: Sustainability Benchmarking Studies with Erin Bauer
I had a great interview with Erin Bauer, who is the Product Development Manager at ASQE, which is a trade association created by ASQ to provide benchmarking assistance to corporations within ASQ. One of their key products is the Insights on Excellence® (IoE) Benchmarking Tool. The benchmarking survey results are available to members and nonmembers
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