I began developing my approach to lean methodology during my 26-year career with Delta’s Technical Operations Division. At Delta, I saw firsthand that the productivity and job satisfaction of frontline workers was often constrained by the impact of business processes in other areas: management, sales/marketing, strategy, purchasing, logistics, engineering, HR, and invoicing/accounts receivable.
Realizing this—and realizing that no great lean achievements could be made without removing these additional constraints—set me on a life’s journey that continues to this very day. I’ve devoted most of my career to the study and practice of applying lean to business processes. While still at Delta, I began intensively researching the ideas of great process improvement thinkers and combining them with my own experiences and insights to create a proven, repeatable methodology for improvement.
Since 2006, I’ve been teaching this methodology to professionals in diverse industries. I teach as a faculty member in the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business and as an independent consultant with my own business, LeanBP. I’m also a lecturer in UT’s Aerospace & Defense MBA program. Over the last decade, I’ve worked extensively with the U.S. Air Force to improve acquisition and aircraft MRO processes, and I’ve consulted for clients such as Asurion, TeamHealth, Hinckley Yachts, CenturyLink, Southwest Airlines, and Fokker Services.
I have a B.S. in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an Aerospace & Defense MBA from the University of Tennessee. I hold a Six Sigma Black Belt certification and FAA Airframe and Powerplant Licenses.