Iowa Lean Consortium Newswire Stories

At the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) Annual Conference in 2023, an exhibitor told Tracy Schuster, ILC program director, that they had never seen so much hugging at a conference. “People enjoy this conference because they connect with friends and meet like-minded people who understand the challenges they face in their work of improving people, processes, … Continue reading Leadership, Change Speakers to Headline ILC Annual Conference in 2024

We are excited to announce that Emily Betz has been appointed Assistant Director of the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) and Process Improvement Project Manager. In this role, she will assume expanded leadership responsibilities, guiding the strategic direction of the ILC. Tracy Schuster, Executive Director of the ILC, shared, “Emily’s new role accurately reflects her leadership … Continue reading Emily Betz Takes on Expanded Role with the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC)

Go to Gemba with the Iowa Lean Consortium Those experienced in Lean methodology will connect with the word Gemba, which reminds leaders to go and see where the work is done and to talk to people doing the work. Going to Gemba is a core tenet of Lean philosophy, and now the ILC is using … Continue reading New Lean Tour Format Offers Lessons for Hosts and Attendees

We are excited to announce a new collaborative opportunity for ILC members. Starting July 1, 2024, CIRAS will assume the mission of the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum (ISBF). This integration will provide ILC members access to enhanced sustainability and process improvement programs; we believe continuous improvement and sustainability are inherently interconnected and complement each other … Continue reading New Opportunity for ILC Members

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

 Are you eager to find inspiration and keen to explore techniques to drive continuous improvement and growth for you and your company? If so, we invite you to secure your spot for the 2023 Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) Annual Conference on October 26 at the Meadows Conference Center in Altoona.  This event will unite hundreds … Continue reading Are You Ready to Learn and Improve? Register Today for the ILC Annual Conference

After multiple pandemic-related delays, several members of the CIRAS Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) finally made it to Kentucky, and by all accounts the trip was worth the wait. “It was a very well-rounded experience with classroom training, tours, and social and networking time,” said Ryan Swartz, vice president of operations at  Medical Solutions. “I’ve been … Continue reading Kentucky Lean Tour Worth the Wait

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

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

It’s been a wild and wooly economy the past three years, but CIRAS is looking forward to the upcoming year with new ways to help Iowa businesses manage oncoming challenges. “2023 is going to be a year where we learn a lot about where the economy and industry is going in the next three to … Continue reading CIRAS Looks Forward to 2023

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

Registration remains open for the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) Annual Conference on Tuesday, October 25, at the Meadows Event Center in Altoona. The conference is the state’s largest event for continuous improvement professionals. It includes pre-conference workshops and tours on Monday, October 24, followed by a full day of keynote speakers, networking opportunities, and break-out … Continue reading New Ticket Options Available for ILC Annual Conference

The annual conference of the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) is scheduled for October 25. A hybrid event is planned to ensure easy access for all interested members and organizations. The event will be offered in person at the Meadows Event and Conference Center in Altoona; breakout sessions and keynote addresses will be livestreamed. The hybrid … Continue reading Save the Date: ILC Annual Conference

  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

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

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 Prison Industries (IPI) credits membership in the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) with broadening opportunities for the people it serves. IPI is a division of the Iowa Department of Corrections that provides training to incarcerated men and women. IPI staff are ILC members through the State of Iowa’s organizational membership.  “The networking relationships we’ve developed … Continue reading IPI Finds Benefit in ILC Membership

The Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) is seeking presenters for breakout sessions for the 2022 Annual ILC Conference, which will be held Tuesday, October 25, in Des Moines. The ILC Annual Conference draws hundreds of continuous improvement practitioners and teams from all sectors of our economy. We are seeking presentations that engage, inform, and provide actionable … Continue reading Call for Breakout Presenters – 2022 Annual ILC Conference

Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) members can still renew their membership for 2022. Members of the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) have the opportunity to learn through tours, workshops, webinars, and networking events. In addition, the ILC has increased the offerings in the on-demand library, which includes past webinars, workshops and conference breakout sessions from previous years. … Continue reading Act Now! There is Still Time to Renew Your ILC Membership

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

What do the best places to work have in common? Five companies recognized as being among the best employers in Iowa credit their adoption of Lean with helping them create a culture where workers simply love to work. The Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) gathered the five companies together for an online event earlier this year. … Continue reading Lean Culture Helped These Companies become Best Places to Work

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 … Continue reading Gilcrest/Jewett Gains Efficiencies through Lean Techniques

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?

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

Tim Miller has joined CIRAS as a manufacturing engineering project manager.   Tim has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Cincinnati, as well as a graduate certificate in system design and management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He comes … Continue reading CIRAS Staff News: Meet Tim Miller

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.

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

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.

This month, the Iowa Lean Consortium is offering you a week’s worth of intensive learning – and you won’t even have to leave your desk.

Written by Tracy Schuster
ILC Program Director

The ILC’s 2021 Webinar Week begins on January 19 – the day after Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday – and includes four days of intensive presentations covering various aspects of Lean. The webinar topics will include:

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.

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!

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 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.

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.

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

Time is running out to register for the Iowa Lean Consortium’s Virtual Annual Conference, a new cyberspace version of the ILC’s popular yearly event for continuous improvement practitioners throughout the state.

The goal for 2020 is to provide another quality, daylong learning and networking opportunity – but this time, in a format that can be accessed without leaving your desk.

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.

In case you missed it, we want to remind you that leadership is changing hands at the Iowa Lean Consortium.

Tracy Schuster took over as program director of the Iowa Lean Consortium in May.

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.

CIRAS Director Ron Cox today announced two changes designed to help the center improve its ability to serve Iowa businesses during challenging times.

Effective immediately, Teresa Hay McMahon is stepping down as program director of the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC). McMahon instead will take on an urgent new assignment expanding CIRAS workforce-related programming under the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s University Center program.

Tracy Schuster, assistant director of the ILC and a part of the consortium team since 2012, will take over as ILC director.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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! 

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?)

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.

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?

Iowa is out of people.

Almost every company I talk to, regardless of size, industry, or location, says that finding good people is their number one issue. The few exceptions are expert Lean practitioners—such as members of the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC)—who tend to look at the issue differently: If every single person in our business was better at seeing, communicating, and solving problems, they ask, wouldn’t it help our workforce needs?

So, you think Lean won’t work for you?

What if we showed you how it works behind bars?

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.

A new year means it’s time for a new beginning and new resolutions about how we’d like to improve. Would you like to talk about that? Are you looking to connect with other Lean practitioners and share ideas about continuous improvement? 

If so, we think you should put “attend an ILC Lean coffee” on the top of your 2019 resolutions list. 

New years are a time for new beginnings and new resolutions. Perhaps you should take a few moments this holiday season and renew your membership in the Iowa Lean Consortium?

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

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.

It’s the dawning of a new era for the Iowa Lean Consortium, and Teresa Hay McMahon is focused on a new world of service.

McMahon, executive director of the ILC since 2015, just finished leading the consortium through a new phase of its evolution. On July 1, the ILC formally moved under the CIRAS umbrella as part of a merger that’s intended to give both entities more resources to achieve their goals.

David Fierke still remembers the 30-year public works employee who looked him in the eye at one of the city of Fort Dodge’s first Lean events in 2009 and asked what Fierke, the then-relatively new city manager, really thought he was going to teach a veteran about filling potholes.

Probably not much, Fierke acknowledged. But after Fort Dodge employees spent several hours that day looking for waste in the city’s pothole-filling process, they nevertheless managed to make it better.

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.