At the AME Boston 2017 Conference, on October 12th, it was my honor and privilege to induct Jerry Bussell into the AME Hall of Fame. I worked with Jerry for three years as the Executive Director of the Jacksonville Lean Consortium from 2007 through 2010. “It is my honor and privilege this afternoon, to induct the second of two 2017 honorees into the AME Hall of Fame, Jerry Bussell. Jerry, please join me on the stage. The AME Hall of Fame recognizes industry thought leaders

LEI: What advice would you give to a manager or executive who is thinking about starting a consortium? Bussell: Go see. Go look at what&#39

Safariland sees success after relocating acquisition to Jacksonville

In a recent e-mail from Cheryl Jekiel, CEO, Lean Leadership Center, Inc., (Lean Leadership Center, Inc.) she asked the questions, “How would you define culture?” and “How would you define a lean culture? I would like to make an attempt to answer her questions. Since I am not an anthropologist, I would like to describe culture as defined by Jeff Liker and Michael Hoseus in their book, “Toyota Culture”, published by McGraw Hill in 2008. Culture is like a three level pyramid wit

Executive Summary Jerry Bussell is president of Bussell Lean Associates, a lean advisory service for CEOs and their executive teams. He is also executive advisor to Underwriters Laboratories’ Center of Continuous Improvement and Innovation. Jerry recently retired as vice president of operational excellence for Medtronic Surgical Technologies. Prior to this position, he was vice president of global operations at Medtronic Surgical Technologies. Jerry has more than 30 years of

My question to the readers of this article is: “What are you doing to bring your manufacturing processes to that of an assembly line?”

People who have been practicing Lean know that this is a trick question. The obvious answer is five. The Lean answer is six. If all 5Ss are implemented and completed, the sixth S, Safety, is achieved, as a clean, well lit, bright, and organized work area is inherently a safer work area. Most companies and organizations do a good job in implementing the first three of the 5Ss, Sort, Set in Order, Shine. The work areas are well organized and present a good first impression. How

One of the main differences is membership in an organization like SME or AME, is on an individual basis and membership in a Lean Consortium is for companies and organizations. People join organizations like SME, to stay current with the technology in their chosen field, to network, to gain certification, and to further their careers. People in the Quality function join ASQ. Industrial Engineers join AIIE. Chemical Engineers join AIChe, etc. Meetings are usually once a month,

The New England Lean Consortium completed a very busy first half of 2017 with a Lean Leaders Meeting at Rousselot in Peabody, MA. Rousselot is one of the leading producers of Gelatin in the United States. The facility in Peabody is celebrating its 200th anniversary as a viable production plant. The plant was originally a producer of glue, and later re-purposed to a producer of gelatin. Rousselot is a good example of Lean for the process industry. They have implemented a good

On May 12th and 13th, the AME Champions held their May meeting in Portland, Maine. AME is the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (ame.org). The AME Champions are an elite group of Lean practitioners that meet four to six times per year to benchmark and learn from companies that are well down the road in Lean. The Maine meeting showcased three premier manufacturing companies in the State of Maine; Idexx Laboratories, Volk Packaging and Hancock Lumber. Idexx Laboratories