Practical Hands-On Projects Lead to LEAN Results

Late last month the students in Assistant Professor Lee Duerden’s quality class were charged with doing a Kaizen (“a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement of working practices, personal efficiency”) project, in order to demonstrate that they have learned the basics of LEAN manufacturing and the 5S system. LEAN manufacturing focuses on minimizing waste, while maximizing productivity, and the 5S system stands for:

• Sort
• Set In Order
• Shine
• Standardize
• Sustain

The students completed their projects at home then had the opportunity to present their projects in front of industry experts in the LEAN process from AIS, a leading manufacturer of commercial office furniture and seating located in Leominster.

“I personally think that the presentations on Lean were very interesting. I was very impressed by how they incorporated in their presentations the idea of Kaizen in everyday life. I also think they did an excellent job with the format and time,” said AIS Human Resources Manager Erika Kunhardt.

Students showed before and after images of what they worked on with a detailed explanation on how they were able to make efficient changes.

“The projects were perfectly in-line with our curriculum. They were well laid out, they were executed very well,” Mr. Duerden said.