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Message from the President
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As we head into the end of 2020, I hope this message finds you healthy and safe. While 2020 has been a challenging year for a myriad of reasons; it also pushed us to think outside the box. We all had to make changes in our professional and personal lives to navigate uncharted waters, and we continue to do so. The IISE Annual Conference & Expo and the ELSS Conference were different, as both were held fully virtual for the first time, but nevertheless were worthwhile and of value. The Lean Six Sigma Track at the IISE Annual, sponsored by the OpEx Division, provided current and insightful presentations covering a variety of topics ranging from improving university service operations and student retention to enhancing electronic health record systems to reducing transportation costs for food distribution centers, and many more. We had a lively Town Hall meeting which allowed us to connect with our members and recap the year together, and to have fun with a friendly and entertaining competition.
Our Student Leadership Board organized and hosted panels at both conferences that were geared towards helping our student members better prepared for their future careers. Overall, both conferences were yet again a success in providing valuable resources to our members. A post-conference summary of the ELSS Conference is provided in the following sections of this newsletter.
Moving forward, we will continue focusing on our priorities, including but not limited to, keeping everyone connected and providing platforms to our members for their ongoing involvement and participation. There are plenty of ways you can become engaged with the OpEx community. In case you are not sure where to start, please check out some of the options shown below.
Our Linkedin group and the Operational Excellence community in IISE Connect will also be channels for you to network and to share your experiences and knowledge in the coming years. Moreover, you will be timely informed about the Division news and the upcoming opportunities. If you have not joined already, we would love to have you there.
Wishing all of you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! May the year ahead be kind to us all!
Best Regards,
Nadiye O. Erdil
President, Operational Excellence Division
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IISE Virtual 2021 Conferences
IISE conferences offer world-class programming, networking and on-target topics that will advance your knowledge and skills. Connect with the best minds in the industries we serve and return to work with skills you can put to immediate use. More information here.
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Do You Want to Win an Operational Excellence Award?
We invite you to participate in one of our three division awards.
Operational Excellence Division Best Student Paper Competition
This award, open to graduate and undergraduate ISE students, honors outstanding papers in the field of lean research and practices. This award will be given to a paper submitted to the Lean Six Sigma Track at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo. If you want your paper to be considered for this award, contact the Operational Excellence Division Best Paper Award Committee.
Operational Excellence Division Teaching Award
The division's teaching award is given out annually to honor the services of a person/group of people who have developed curriculum and disseminated courses in the subject area.
Operational Excellence Division Best Practice Competition
This award recognizes organizations for innovative and effective implementation of lean principles and practices that deliver exemplary business performance improvement.
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Have you visited our Crisis Resource Community?
We hope our IISE members and customers are staying safe and following guidelines
during these trying times. The IISE CEO Don Greene has said, "IISE's mission is to serve those who solve the critical and complex problems of the world. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is certainly one of those problems and together, we can get through this while helping others around the globe."
We have opened the Crisis Resource Community on the IISE Connect member engagement platform that will give us a designated online place to share potential solutions and responses to some of the immediate challenges being faced by our colleagues, customers, students, faculty, family and friends from around the world.
Please visit this community and start participating. If you need a refresher, check out the Connect Help/FAQs. Consider including the following in your posts and blogs: - Give a brief overview of your organization.
- Describe your current reality. (What impact is this unprecedented situation having on you and your organization?)
- Include a challenge, opportunity, problem, solution, etc.
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Webinar Update
The OpEx Division sponsored a webinar in collaboration with IISE's Performance Excellence group on Dec 1st. The speakers Tom Devall, Jared Frederici and Scott Sink shared their experiences and expertise on teaching lean at this webinar titled
Teaching Lean: Proven Best Practices for Traditional Applications as well as Transactional Process. In case you missed it, you can access the recording here.
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First Virtual IISE Lean & Six Sigma Conference and Artificial Intelligence Symposium A Success
The 2020 IISE Engineering Lean & Six Sigma (ELSS) Conference and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Symposium is in the books! And, this year's event was ground-breaking for three reasons: (1) it was our first integrated Lean Six Sigma and Artificial Intelligence event, (2) our first virtual ELSS, and (3) our highest attended ELSS in the last ten years.
Congratulations and many thanks to all of our wonderful volunteer Conference Committee members, the IISE staff, presenters, and keynote speakers who made this event possible. Special thanks to Johanna Ficatier and Dr. Elizabeth Gentry who served as Track Chairs and spent countless hours making this year's event a success. And a very special thank you to Carol Le Blanc, CMP who navigated the team through the uncharted waters of converting an in-person conference to a virtual conference in just a few short months!
While the format might have been different this year, as always, the content did not disappoint! This year's event began with the Artificial Intelligence Symposium. Dr. Ben Amaba and Michael Testani assembled global experts in the exciting field of AI who helped us understand the latest innovations and the strong relationship between AI and LSS. Dr. Amaba also provided the opening keynote that left the audience energized. In fact, highlighting one of the benefits of a virtual event, many attendees went back and viewed Dr. Amaba's presentation a second and third time. Day 1 closed with a lively panel session that posed the question "Is AI Our Future?" in which moderators Sushil Shetty and Michael Testani led our panel of experts through an amazing discussion on the future of our profession.
The LSS portion of the conference was also superb. Dr. Victoria Jordan provided the Day 2 keynote presentation, highlighting how Lean and Six Sigma were transforming care at Emory Healthcare. And days 2 and 3 were packed with rich information across industry and academia. Attendees learned from 45 presentations across topics in Industry 4.0, healthcare, supply chain, and many others. This year's program also highlighted innovations in LSS to address the global pandemic and its impact on processes and people.
For the first time we can say if you missed the 2020 conference, it is not too late. You can still experience the fantastic content at your convenience, as the sessions were recorded. Check out the ELSS website to learn more about registering for access to the 2020 conference: https://www.iise.org/leansixsigma/.
And finally, please plan to join us next year from September 20-22, 2021 at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia. Stay tuned to the conference website (https://www.iise.org/leansixsigma/) for more details on the conference program and registration.
2020 Chair, James Swisher
2021 Incoming Chair, Elizabeth Gentry, Ph.D.
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Have you Signed Up for Mentor Match in Connect?
IISE has launched a Mentor Match program. This unique online networking and career development tool helps you find, connect and share experiences with others. Your mentor or mentee can be in the same city or on the other side of the world. Both mentors and mentees fill out a profile to which both parties can search for a match. Once connected they're able to communicate and develop a mentorship. Read more here to participate in this program.
Contact Kathy Gamboa if you have any questions regarding this exciting mentor program.
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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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