Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year! As we close 2022 and walk into 2023, I think we had a good year with the IISE Annual and Lean and Six-sigma and Data Science conferences, multiple webinars, participation on LinkedIn and IISE Connect. Your participation adds value to everyone in the division. A brief overview of highlights from 2022:
- LSSDS: 67 sessions, 3 keynotes, 1 deep dive, 1 special presentation, a panel session, a poster session, and the OpEx Town Hall
- LinkedIn: 35 posts (Jun to Dec), 4591 views (Jun to Dec)
- IISE Connect: 8 posts (Jun to Dec)
I am excited for 2023. The IISE conference sub-committee is reviewing 40+ abstracts that have come in. If you submitted an abstract, you should hear from the conference organizers soon (or you may have heard already). We are working on some exciting webinars this Spring – be on the lookout for these! If you are interested in conducting a tutorial or workshop at the 2023 annual IISE conference, please reach out to me at steve.vijayan@nemours.org.
Just like I did in my previous email, I would like to encourage you to look for ways to participate in our division throughout the year. There are many ways in which you can get involved, contribute, engage with and benefit from members in our division (which is 2500+ strong and is the oldest division!). Here are some ideas to contribute and engage using IISE Connect and IISE Operational Excellence Division LinkedIn group:
- Share an insight/aha moment that will benefit OpEx members
- Ask for advice from seasoned practitioners and academia
Here are some ideas for our quarterly newsletter/webinars:
- Share recent articles you publish
- Present your research findings in a webinar
- Share awards or recognition, media coverage
- Spotlight your ISE career journey/story than can inspire new ISEs
- Share a successful project in a webinar
- Start a virtual/in-person book club
2022 also ended with the unexpected loss of Dr. Rupy Sawhney. Rupy was actively involved in architecting performance goals for our division and was also the incoming chair of the IISE annual conference sub-committee. I will personally miss him as a dear colleague as will many of you.
Finally, it’s still not late to make a resolution or two. One of my resolutions in 2023 is to walk for at least 30 minutes every day. I would urge you to also pick at least one area of your life (professional or personal) to improve on this year.
We would like to hear from you. If you have any ideas for our division, please feel free to reach me at steve.vijayan@nemours.org or anyone else on the board.
Cheers!
Steve Vijayan
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Member Spotlight
Dr. Tres Bishop
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Dr. Bishop, tell us a little about yourself, your IE journey and your Lean journey.
My name is Dr. Tres Bishop, and I am a quality, continuous improvement and industrial engineering enthusiast. I am an active leader, educator and researcher in the field with a primary focus on the practitioner experience. My goal is that as I and the teams that I lead develop solutions to thorny problems in highly regulated fields, such as healthcare, aerospace and defense, medical devices, pharmaceuticals or food processing, we ensure that gains are sustained and that we communicate the results and the process for how we solved the problems to the greater quality, continuous improvement and industrial engineering community as much as is practically allowed according to regulatory or business guidelines. Along the way I’ve placed an emphasis on educating myself as much as possible. I’ve earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees and related certifications in the engineering and operations management realm with the motivation to acquire the skills to help organizations, teams and people fundamentally get better. I’ve been fortunate to develop strong and meaningful relationships with people associated with those efforts but none more so than my family. I’ve been married to my lovely wife Lindsey for 10 years and we have been blessed with 2 sons who challenge me every day to be a better person and are showing early signs of wanting to join the industrial engineering community. We currently live near the coast in the Jacksonville, Florida area.
For those of us who attended the 2022 LSSDS Conference, we appreciated the opportunity to hear your insights on change management and lessons learned from unsuccessful Lean Six Sigma implementations. What are some of the key takeaways you had from this year’s LSSDS Conference?
I really enjoyed seeing everyone this year. Due to the pandemic, in-person events have been extremely limited and are just now starting to return. For me, there is just something different about gathering together on site to share best practices and learn from each other. The OpEx division is growing but still small enough to build significant connections. The key takeaways that I had this year were twofold. Firstly, I am interested in the next phase of lean six sigma. It seems that experts have started to coalesce around data science as that next phase. Encouragingly, we are in the early days of truly understanding and applying data science for operational excellence projects. I enjoyed hearing the various projects at the conference that focused on those topics and I’m working to apply those lessons to my own efforts. Secondly, there seemed to be a focus on how to implement lean six sigma in organizations and not enough lessons learned from actual implementations both good and bad. I’m hoping to see more of that in the future and optimistically make a contribution.
As an OpEx thought leader, what is your best piece of advice that the rest of us can learn from?
The best advice I can give is to get started. Far too many people let great get in the way of good. Part of the beauty of process improvement efforts is that they are cyclical (think the PDCA cycle) and build up over time. It is like investing in that way, a little now will have huge pay offs in the future. So, what are you waiting for? Get started now. Perhaps you are confused about where to get started? Contact me; I can help.
Tell us about some of the work you're currently engaged in professionally.
My most recent role was Director of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at DaVita Labs. Our primary focus there was to build a compelling strategic vision for the organization which aligned with corporate goals. Additionally, we built a continuous improvement training program for the laboratory that just recently launched. I was the primary architect of the program that blended online and in class lectures with experiential hands-on activities. It was really a lot of fun and well received. On the academic side I am just wrapping up teaching this semester’s Operations and Supply Chain Management for Florida Atlantic University’s EMBA program and look forward to restarting in the Spring. I’m now ready for my next challenge in industry and I’m currently exploring various options.
What are you looking forward to the most in the future for OpEx and why?
It’s tough to just choose one. I am extremely interested in what we can learn from a more rigorous study of both lean six sigma implementation successes and failures. In my mind they are 2 sides of the same coin. Another area of interest is how data science merges with lean six sigma and what this means to organizations with regards to how they prepare for and take advantage of such efforts. Data science has a clear progression to machine learning and artificial intelligence generally. It will be interesting to see how these efforts, which in my opinion are some of the most exciting and impactful in the world, will meld together to impact society at large. I believe that we in the quality, continuous improvement and industrial engineering community have the unique skills and abilities to make a significant contribution.
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In Memory of Dr. Rupy Sawhney |
Dear OpEx Division Members,
As many of you have likely already learned, the OpEx Division recently lost one of our own. Dr. Rapinder “Rupy” Singh Sawhney of the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) passed away on December 7, 2022. Rupy was an outstanding educator and researcher. His enthusiasm for learning and helping others was infectious. Rupy served in multiple leadership roles within IISE and the Operational Excellence Board over the years and most recently served as a Director for the OpEx Division and as incoming chair for the Lean Six Sigma & Data Science Conference (2023). Rupy also led the effort to revamp operational goals for the OpEx division during his 2022-2023 term. Rupy’s research won the best paper award at the IISE Lean Six Sigma & Data Science Conference in Atlanta in 2022.
Rupy led the Center for Advanced Systems Research and Education (CASRE) at UTK. UTK Dean Matthew Mench notes “His focus on engineering better outcomes in the workplace led to the development of the Sawhney Model, a globally recognized method of improving both productivity and the health of workers, further cementing his legacy for putting people first.”
Everyone who met and worked with Rupy would agree that the OpEx Division and our profession overall are better for having his keen intellect and kind soul. I know that we will all miss him greatly.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made to the American Cancer Society or the Sikh Sangat of East Tennessee. Dr. Sawhney’s obituary can be viewed here.
Sincerely,
IISE Operational Excellence Division Board
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Connect with us on LinkedIn |
Did you know that the IISE OpEx Division has a LinkedIn group to facilitate collaboration with fellow professionals who are passionate about Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence? We welcome all OpEx Division members to join our LinkedIn group: IISE Operational Excellence Division.
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Call for Nominations: OpEx Board of Directors |
The Operational Excellence (OpEx) Division Nominating Committee is making a call for nominations for President-Elect (three-years term) and 4 dynamic directors (two-years term) whose terms will begin June 1, 2023. All nominees must be current, regular members of the OpEx Division. Students are not eligible.
Participating in a leadership role for the division is a challenging, yet at the same time, very rewarding experience. Each year, we attempt to maintain a broad distribution of board members with a balance between academia, industry and government representation. Generally, the time commitment is three to five hours per month. Board members are expected to be an active participant in board conference calls and to participate in various initiatives, some of which are led by committees working in partnership with the full board.
Contact Johanna Ficatier, nominating committee chair, if you have questions about the positions and responsibilities. Please consider giving back to your profession through a division leadership position.
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2023 OPEX AWARD NOMINATIONS |
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Call for Nominations: IISE Operational Excellence Division’s Teaching Award |
Eligibility Criteria
- The candidate must be a member of IISE.
- The course for which they are being recognized must be an operational excellence process improvement) course within an industrial engineering department or a closely related program (examples of closely related programs include systems engineering and engineering management, examples of course titles might be lean manufacturing systems, lean system modeling and simulation, lean logistics, lean supply networks, lean practice and management, just-in-time production system, lean Six Sigma, total quality management, process improvement, etc.).
- Course materials for which they are being recognized must have been developed and taught by the candidate for at least two times or more.
- The awardees for the past five years are not eligible to apply for this award.
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Evaluation Criteria
The following criteria will be used by the judges in evaluating the applications submitted. Applicants are encouraged to provide supporting documentation to demonstrate their contributions in these areas.
- Leadership: demonstration of creating or fostering leadership and excellence in the teaching of operational excellence (process improvement) techniques and tools.
- Design and Content Quality: the appropriateness/relevance of the course content to educating the target audience.
- Applied Learning: the development and use of materials to empower students to apply and implement operational excellence (process improvement) techniques through the use of games, hands-on simulations and assignments/projects, etc.
- Innovation: use of innovative approaches to teach the principles and practices of operational excellence (process improvement) systems.
- Student Satisfaction: evidence that teaching of operational excellence (process improvement) concepts are of value to department, student and community as shown in the course evaluations and statements from students.
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Nomination Process
Nominations may be made by a faculty colleague or a student who has taken the course from the candidate. The nomination package must consist of the following:
- Letters of support from the nominator and two other individuals; at least one of the three letters must be from a faculty member in the same department and one from a student who enrolled and completed the course.
- Course syllabus and supporting items such as samples of different instructional materials used.
- Summary copies of teaching evaluations.
- Curriculum vitae of the candidate.
- A one-page reflective statement by the individual being nominated.
All supporting documents in the nomination package should be submitted in One PDF File via email.
The deadline for nominations is Feb 13, 2023. Please email the entire package to Farnaz Ghazi Nezami (fghazinezami@kettering.edu), Associate Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Kettering University. The winner will be notified by March 15, 2023.
Please visit:
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Call for Nominations: IISE Operational Excellence Division’s Best Practice Competition |
The Operational Excellence Division of IISE welcomes applications from organizational teams for the Operational Excellence Division Best Practice Award 2023.
The IISE Operational Excellence Division Best Practice Award recognizes organizations for innovative and effective implementation of Operational Excellence. These could include Lean, Six Sigma, and other innovative methods, principles, and practices that deliver exemplary business performance improvement. This award will promote the successful implementation of OpEx principles by recognizing the best in class industries and sharing their stories with others.
The OpEx award is a very prestigious award for a team and their industry. The award will be announced to the top three teams and be presented at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, taking place May 20-23, 2023.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any team, two or more members, of any organization who want to showcase their successful implementation of OpEx concepts.
- The team must demonstrate innovative uses of OpEx tools and techniques for its measurable outcomes.
- There is no limit on the number of entries from an organization.
- At least one member of the team must be a member of IISE and belong to the Operational Excellence Division.
Awarding Process
- All entries will be pre-screened to select up to four finalist teams.
- All finalist teams will be required to attend the IISE Annual Conference & Expo and present their cases.
- Top three teams will be selected and announced before the Tuesday morning keynote.
Evaluation Criteria
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Innovativeness of application.
- Clear, measurable performance objectives, and how the team met them?
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The approach is simple and straightforward,
- Creative use of tools, techniques, process, and systems,
- The organization realized significant and quantifiable outcomes, such as cost reduction, lead time reduction, quality improvement, safety improvement, etc.
- Demonstrate at least six months of sustained or improved metrics,
- The quality of the presentation including problem statement, clear descriptions, and metrics with visuals.
Submission Process
To ensure consistency in judging, submit your entry via the submission form. Entries should include:
- A completed submission form.
- Support letter from senior executive officers/management of the organization.
- Credentials of team members. (This may include related experience, education, recognition, etc.,)
- Project presentation.
The complete application package is due to the chair of the committee by March 15, 2023. Applicants must send their submissions electronically – preferably as an email attachment. In case of large electronic documents, applicants may upload them in an online repository (i.e. Dropbox) and provide the access to the chair of the committee. Finalists will be notified by April 1, 2023.
Please visit:
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We are excited to share some of our recent events and upcoming activities:
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Presidential Shout-Out: Congratulations to our OpEx Division President, Steve Vijayan, for being published in the December issue of ISE Magazine! Check out Steve’s article titled “Batch-proofing: An antidote to procrastination” at the link here. Thank you, Steve, for sharing your insights with the OpEx Division and broader IE community.
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OpEx Webinar Series: The OpEx Division would like to extend a huge thank you to Dawn Ringrose of Organizational Excellence Specialists. In mid-November, Dawn delivered a webinar on “Creating a Culture Committed to Excellence” as part of the OpEx Division webinar series. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with our community, Dawn! If you are interested in participating in our webinar series as a presenter, please reach out to our Director of Webinars, Michael Parent, at mparent@sixsigma-consulting.com.
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Volunteer Opportunities: If you are interested in serving as a volunteer on the Lean Six Sigma & Data Science Conference Planning Committee or IISE Annual Conference Planning Committee, we would be thrilled to have you. Serving on the committee is a great way to become actively engaged in OpEx Division activities – Plus, it provides an opportunity to network with other members of IISE and the division. If you are interested, please reach out to Carol Johnson at cjohnson@iise.org or Anna Johnston at ajohnston@iise.org.
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Quarterly Newsletter: We are so proud of the contributions that members of our division are making to both industry and academia. As such, we would love to feature the work of our division members in our quarterly newsletter. If you would like to share an article you have published, share recognition you have received, or be featured in a member spotlight for in an upcoming newsletter, please reach out to our Director of Newsletter, Ashley Morrell, at Ashley.Morrell@us.gt.com.
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IISE Annual Conference: Register Now! |
Who doesn’t love a price discount? Put #IISEAnnual2023 at the top of your resolutions list by making plans to join us in New Orleans. Professional and student members as well as non-members can take advantage of huge discount rates when registering by March 11, 2023.
Register at the conference site here.
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Have you considered a corporate membership? If not, why? Companies large and small enjoy the benefits. Include your entire team and receive all the benefits of individual membership, plus lowest rates to attend the Conferences and much more.
Contact Doug Long IISE Global Director for Strategic Alliances for more details.
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