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Continuous Improvement Newswire Stories

Small Changes Lead to Big Wins

Making relatively small changes to one aspect of your business operation can make a big impact on productivity, your bottom line, and your culture. That’s the lesson learned by Tri-City Electric, which saved an estimated $20,000 after spending just five hours with CIRAS project manager Emily Betz. She was called in to help the company … Continue reading Small Changes Lead to Big Wins

Reflecting on the ILC Kentucky Lean Tour

Members of the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) waited four years for the ILC Kentucky Lean Tour but by all accounts, the trip was worth the wait. “I’ve read the books and studied the practices but the presentations and tours gave me insights on how to apply lean principles that I couldn’t have gotten any other … Continue reading Reflecting on the ILC Kentucky Lean Tour

Continuous Improvement Vital to Company’s Success

For companies new to continuous improvement (CI) or in the early stages of building a CI team, Tony Hogan has five pieces of advice: choose momentum over perfection; get comfortable in the gray; know what problems you’re solving; bring everything back to business metrics; and make progress visible. “Leave lots of space for learning,” said … Continue reading Continuous Improvement Vital to Company’s Success

11th Annual ILC Conference Provides Education & Community

The Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) continues to draw large crowds to its annual conference. More than 95 companies and organizations were represented at the 11th annual event held October 24 and 25; 300 people participated in-person and online. The goal of the conference was to reconnect attendees with each other, share practical suggestions for improving … Continue reading 11th Annual ILC Conference Provides Education & Community

Using Continuous Improvement Strategies to Recruit, Retain Workers

  A growing number of companies are working with the CIRAS Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) on continuous improvement strategies that empower employees to be problem solvers, sending the message that workers are appreciated and valued. Nearly 50 million workers quit their jobs in 2021 in a trend that some have called the Great Resignation. A recent … Continue reading Using Continuous Improvement Strategies to Recruit, Retain Workers

Understanding Government Bid Process Pays Off

A family-owned welding business founded 39 years ago in southwest Iowa used its ongoing relationship with CIRAS to further its understanding of the government bid process. As a result, they’ve recently been awarded two contracts from the USDA Forest Service totaling more than $256,000.  Gregory Welding, located in Sidney, had previously completed their System for … Continue reading Understanding Government Bid Process Pays Off

Staff Update: Meet Emily Betz

Emily Betz has joined CIRAS as a project manager specializing in process improvement. Emily has over 10 years of experience using Lean principles to help companies solve their business challenges. She has helped hundreds of organizations examine their processes to gain efficiencies and improve productivity. Emily has worked in multiple sectors including manufacturing, construction, finance, … Continue reading Staff Update: Meet Emily Betz

ILC Annual Conference Announces Keynote Speakers

The Iowa Lean Consortium’s (ILC) Annual Conference, the state’s largest event for continuous improvement professionals, will return this year on October 25, 2022 at the Meadows Event Center in Altoona. This year’s ILC conference will be a hybrid format, allowing participants to attend sessions, network, and engage with vendors in-person or virtually. The keynote addresses … Continue reading ILC Annual Conference Announces Keynote Speakers

Iowa State’s Polymer and Food Protection Consortium Is on the Move

The Polymer and Food Protection Consortium (PFPC) recently shifted its packaging processing function to the Biocentury Research Farm near Boone, having outgrown its original facilities on the Iowa State campus. The larger space will enable PFPC to continue expanding its services in food safety research to support companies.  With initial and ongoing support from CIRAS, … Continue reading Iowa State’s Polymer and Food Protection Consortium Is on the Move

Hybrid ILC Conference Draws Record Number of Businesses

A record-breaking 120 companies and organizations were represented at the 10th annual CIRAS Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) conference October 26 and 27. More than 320 people participated in the event either in person or online. The conference featured two keynote speakers and more than a dozen breakout sessions. “We were very pleased by the response … Continue reading Hybrid ILC Conference Draws Record Number of Businesses

ILC Annual Conference to be Largest Ever

The Iowa Lean Consortium’s Annual Conference will be coming to all corners of the state this fall, as CIRAS expands its efforts to make Lean management techniques more accessible in an Iowa facing severe concerns about workforce availability.

The Annual Conference, traditionally the ILC’s largest and most extensive yearly opportunity for Lean advocates to network and learn, was shifted online in 2020 because of the pandemic.

This year, as the world restarts itself in the wake of COVID-19, availability of people has become the number one discussion topic among Iowa leaders. How do you support growing businesses while Iowa’s population growth continues to be lower than the national average and statewide unemployment already is rapidly approaching pre-pandemic levels? How can you grow if there simply are no more people?

ILC Annual Conference to offer Virtual, In-Person Options this Fall

The Iowa Lean Consortium’s Annual Conference will take a step closer to its familiar format this fall – but this time, it will be as part of a new hybrid model designed to accommodate a variety of different comfort levels related to COVID-19. The Annual Conference, traditionally the ILC’s largest and most extensive yearly opportunity … Continue reading ILC Annual Conference to offer Virtual, In-Person Options this Fall

Come Tell Your Story at ILC’s 2021 Annual Conference

Do you have a Continuous Improvement story to tell? If so, we want to hear about it.

The Iowa Lean Consortium is pleased to issue a call for presentations for our 2021 Annual Conference to be held on October 26-27.  This will be a hybrid event, with the main conference taking place Prairie Meadows Events & Conference Center in Altoona. There will be satellite locations throughout the state for smaller gatherings, and there will be a virtual option.

Gilcrest/Jewett Finds Success in Bringing Lean to Lumber

A 165-year-old Des Moines lumber company has gained new efficiencies, better customer service, and a tangible reduction in injuries after its employees embraced continuous improvement. Rick Kyser, operations manager at Gilcrest/Jewett Lumber Company, said company leaders have seen a massive cultural shift since the lumberyard took its first steps toward Lean management at the end … Continue reading Gilcrest/Jewett Finds Success in Bringing Lean to Lumber

Thank You for Renewing your ILC Membership

The Iowa Lean Consortium would thank all of our members who have renewed for 2021. We’re extremely grateful for your support and for recognizing the value we provide.

Act Now: Last Chance to Renew your ILC Membership!

Iowa Lean Consortium members need to act before January 15 to renew their memberships for 2021. After that date, membership benefits will begin to be removed for anyone who hasn’t yet renewed.

There’s Still Time to Renew your ILC Membership (or Join Today)!

Membership in the Iowa Lean Consortium is a gift that keeps on giving, with year-round training opportunities in continuous improvement — and now, more choice in how you use your membership. Join today!

ILC Virtual Annual Conference Builds Lean Leaders

Good leadership should be purposely developed in yourself and others by building strong relationships with those on your team, an Iowa-born Army colonel told more than 200 Iowa business leaders in October.

Col. Candice Frost was the keynote speaker for this fall’s first-ever Annual Virtual Conference by the Iowa Lean Consortium. The event, customarily the largest single educational event put on by the ILC, was held online in 2020 for the first time due to COVID-19.

Mary Greeley Medical Center Uses Lean as Bridge to Baldrige

Mary Greeley Medical Center capped a 10-year journey in 2019 when the hospital became Iowa’s first-ever organization to receive the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award.

It happened, in part, because Mary Greeley used Lean techniques to trim waste from hospital activities and create a more efficient, more patient-centered environment.

Reminder: It’s Time to Renew your ILC Membership!

The Iowa Lean Consortium announced changes to its membership model in mid-September. The new model is intended to give your organization more choice when it comes to your ILC membership. All the details were explained in an email that was sent around September 18 to the contacts we have listed for ILC organizational members. If you missed that email, you can read the contents here.

Current members need to review the new model and complete a new application for 2021.  You can choose to pay via invoice or credit card during the application process. Renewals are due by January 15, but we request that you renew now so that we can effectively onboard everyone before the new year begins.

Gemba Goes Virtual as Stellar Response to COVID-19

A Garner-based maker of hydraulic truck equipment has found an unexpected benefit to pandemic-imposed limitations on its factories – by taking a valuable Lean management tool online. Brad Tiedemann, manufacturing engineer manager at Stellar Industries, said the company discovered more efficiency and smoother problem solving after COVID-19 restrictions forced Stellar to create an alternative to … Continue reading Gemba Goes Virtual as Stellar Response to COVID-19

Register now for ILC Virtual Annual Conference

Attention continuous improvement practitioners!

Get ready to take advantage of another quality, daylong learning and networking opportunity, this time without leaving your desk.

Registration is now open for the Iowa Lean Consortium’s Annual Virtual Conference – the ILC’s first attempt at taking its popular yearly educational conference and reformatting it for cyberspace.

Sponsorships Now Available for ILC Virtual Annual Conference

Notice: Here is a perfect opportunity to get your organization’s name and logo in front of hundreds of Lean practitioners.

The Iowa Lean Consortium is searching for companies to sponsor this fall’s Virtual Annual Conference. This is a great opportunity to place your brand in front of continuous improvement professionals who are dedicated to building Lean cultures in their organizations.

ILC Moving to a Virtual Annual Conference this Fall

This is a complicated world we’re living in, but Lean practices require us to say it simply:

The ILC Annual Conference that was scheduled to take place October 27-29 in Des Moines has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, we will deliver a Virtual Annual Conference online on October 28.

ILC Virtual Lean Government Exchange is June 2

The Iowa Lean Consortium’s annual event focusing on continuous improvement in government is moving online.

Lean management techniques have the power to transform a variety of industries, but the process can face different obstacles depending on the industry involved. Government and nonprofit entities face unique challenges within their Lean journeys. The ILC created this event several years ago as a way to help you overcome them.

Pandemic Places Lean Coffees Online

It’s the same Lean Coffee conversation you’re used to, only a lot closer to your kitchen.

Last month, as part of the CIRAS response to COVID-19, the Iowa Lean Consortium was forced to cancel all in-person Lean Coffee events through the end of July. Instead, we’ve moved the discussions online to offer a robust virtual forum for anyone interested in sharing ideas and personal experiences with Lean.

ILC Seeking Presenters for Annual Conference

We’re looking for a few good Lean stories.

The CIRAS Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) is pleased to issue a call for presentations for our 2020 Annual Conference to be held October 27-29 in Des Moines. This conference is the ILC’s largest annual gathering, and we’re pleased to hold it once again as part of our continuing effort to promote the exchange of information and resources among continuous improvement professionals.

ILC Mentors Help Put Lean Training into Practice

John Magnussen, continuous improvement manager for Pella Corporation, likes to compare Lean management techniques to riding a bicycle: getting trained is great; but at some point, you just have to grab the handlebars and go.

“You didn’t learn to ride a bike by reading a book,” Magnussen said. “You went out, and you rode a bike! You can read and train all you want, but until you go and actually practice it, you’re not going to know.”

ILC to Tour Kentucky Toyota in May

Sometimes, you just want to see for yourself.

If you’ve ever had a moment of curiosity about how Lean is practiced at the company that helped create it, then CIRAS has a trip that should fan the flames of your interest.

Avoid the Rush! Renew your ILC Membership!

Now that our Annual Conference has ended, it’s time to being planning for next year:   It’s almost time to renew your Iowa Lean Consortium Membership! 

Cambridge Investment Group Saves Money via Continuous Improvement

A Fairfield financial solutions firm estimates that the company saved more than $1 million in 2018 by using continuous improvement techniques to shave time and lost effort off its work.

Cambridge Investment Group Inc. is a privately controlled financial solutions firm that provides a broad range of choices regarding financial solutions to more than 3,000 independent financial advisors around the country, as well as their hundreds of thousands of clients.

ILC Mentors Help Put Lean Training into Practice

John Magnussen, continuous improvement manager for Pella Corporation, likes to compare Lean management techniques to riding a bicycle: getting trained is great; but at some point, you just have to grab the handlebars and go.
“You didn’t learn to ride a bike by reading a book,” Magnussen said. “You went out, and you rode a bike! You can read and train all you want, but until you go and actually practice it, you’re not going to know.”
But wouldn’t be nice to have someone running beside you as you learned?

ILC’s 2019 Annual Conference is October 29-31

Are you anxious for inspiration? Excited to learn more about techniques that will help your company continuously improve and grow? Then you need to make plans to be in West Des Moines at the end of October.

HNI Helps Improve Muscatine Government, Hospital by Spreading Lean

America’s health care industry was running wild in 2008. Costs were out of control, and Trinity Hospital in Muscatine was struggling to keep up. The small institution lost $6.8 million that year, and it ultimately sought financial stability in a merger with the Iowa Health System.

Trinity’s new corporate parent (now known as UnityPoint Health) spent the next few years finding a myriad of new back-office efficiencies to save money, said Angela Johnson, current executive director of the hospital’s Muscatine campus. But by 2012, it nevertheless had become clear that broader change was still needed in Muscatine.

Genesis Safety Group sees Benefits of Lean Safety

A Davenport maker of robotic systems is rethinking how material flows through its factory after participants in a spring Lean Safety event outlined a list of ways that the company could improve.

ILC’s Lean Healthcare Exchange – a Cavalcade of Continuous Improvement

America’s healthcare industry is a challenging, complicated, and fascinating laboratory where talented people are making regular gains through the benefits of continuous improvement. Want to learn more about it?

The Iowa Lean Consortium hopes to share some of the stories behind those gains next month when it hosts the ILC’s 2nd Annual Lean Healthcare Exchange on August 29 in Coralville.

It All Started Almost a Year Ago…

Happy Birthday to us!

The end of June will mark the Iowa Lean Consortium’s first full year as a part of CIRAS, and we just wanted to give you plenty of warning so you can commemorate that anniversary properly. {Perhaps by attending one of the many Lean Coffee events across Iowa?)

Learn with Us: How to Develop and Coach Problem Solvers

Back by popular demand, author and Lean expert Jamie V. Parker is coming to Iowa in June for two events designed to help Iowa businesses take continuous improvement to the next level.

Lean Coffees – Conversations for Learning and Creativity

Spring is a time of new beginnings – both for you and for your business.

Are you looking for new ideas or a new way to get excited about continuously improving your company? Would you like to take part in regular conversations and share ideas with others about the benefits of Lean?

Learning Opportunities Abound at ILC Events

The nice thing about Iowa Lean Consortium events, according to Sara Richards, is that the useful tips are all around you.

Richards, a continuous improvement manager at Vermeer in Pella, attended two ILC events last year, including a May workshop in Omaha where facilitators Tracey and Ernie Richardson helped participants simulate a “real-life, hands-on” approach to continuous improvement.

Cleaning Cobot is Coming to Miracle Tool America

Dozens of times each day, the skilled workers at Miracle Tools America in Davenport must stop what they’re doing and clean. Making drill bits can be a dirty business, and the tiny water channels that are used to keep tools cool have a tendency to get clogged.

Hence, the company decided to begin experimenting with a new type of employee – one that wouldn’t mind the monotony.

One who is made of metal.

Because You Know We’re Worth It: ILC Memberships are due

Attention: Iowa Lean Consortium members! The renewal process for ILC memberships will operate differently this year. 

Good Managers Solve Problems for People, Speaker tells CEOs at ILC Power Breakfast

Maintaining competitive advantage in a growing business is a lot like finding yourself in a leaky rowboat 10 miles from shore, Jim Lancaster told members and guests of the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC).

Business leaders tend to focus most of their energy on putting out the daily fires, Lancaster said. But a company can easily stagnate if no one works to push the operation toward a distant goal.

Iowa Lean Consortium 2018 Fall Conference – Oct. 23-25

Are you anxious for inspiration? Excited to learn more about techniques that will help your company continuously improve and grow?

CIRAS suggests you make plans to attend the 2018 Fall Conference of the Iowa Lean Consortium. More than 375 Lean and learning-minded professionals are expected to wend their way to a West Des Moines hotel next month for a chance to tour successful companies, learn from innovative speakers, and network with their counterparts from around the state.

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