Quality Time With MoreSteam

Steve Adams brings decades of real experience to Quality Time with MoreSteam. He graduated from West Point and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. Eventually, Steve spent thirty years at Procter & Gamble, where he drove improvement on a global scale. Along the way, Steve even got Deming's autograph. Yes, the W. Edwards Deming! Host Dan Swartwout talks to Steve about solving problems and the commitm...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dave Harry joins the show. Dave is well known throughout the world of continuous improvement as "The Process Whisperer." Before becoming a Lean Six Sigma legend, Dave spent years as a US Navy helicopter pilot. He even gave Paul Newman a helicopter ride! (Yes, the Paul Newman.) As Dave explains, helicopter pilots understand Six Sigma better than most peop...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Kim Scibelli joins the show. Kim is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt who leads supply chain and operations at AVS Bio. And after coaching teams through transformations for years, Kim has learned that you can't "pizza party" your way to culture change.

Why do people say they want things to get better but resist when change...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dr. Lars Maaseidvaag joins the show to talk about one of his areas of expertise, process modeling and discrete event simulation. Lars has worked in continuous improvement for over 30 years. He's also from Ann Arbor, Michigan, which creates some good natured tension when he talks to Ohio State graduate (and your host) Dan Swartwout.

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On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, April Thomas joins the show. Most Lean Six Sigma professionals didn't start their careers as hospice social workers. April did.

April is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt whose mission is to be an advocate, a catalyst, and a coach for transformational change. Being a hospice social worker taught her about empathy and helpi...

Brent Godwin of The Lubrizol Corporation steps into the spotlight on this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam. Earlier this year, Brent attended MoreSteam's Best Practices for Operational Excellence Conference (BP4OpX) for the very first time. At the conference, leaders in operational excellence and continuous improvement share best practices during keynote presentations, w...

Dan welcomes back Eric Olson to Quality Time with MoreSteam. Eric is a professor of industrial technology at Cal Poly State University and lead of the Future of People at Work Initiative. In this episode, the conversation shifts focus from AI to workplace dynamics and lean education.

At the start of the conversation, generational difference...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dan Swartwout welcomes Taylor Pack, Senior Manager of Process at the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Taylor started her career working retail at Cracker Barrel. She became a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt through her experience at Bridgestone and the U.S. Coast Guard. Now she uses continuous improvement to help grant more wishes for children with critical illn...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, host Dan Swartwout welcomes Josh Howell, President of the Lean Enterprise Institute. Josh went from Starbucks barista to leading lean transformations at thousands of locations worldwide. Now he's working alongside lean legends Jim Womack, John Shook, and Peter Ward.

Josh shares how his store was randomly selected for...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, host Dan Swartwout welcomes Eric Olsen, Professor of Industrial Technology at Cal Poly State University. Eric spent 20 years in industry with companies like Caterpillar and Hewlett Packard before jumping into academia. Dan started the interview with a bunch of questions about Lean, but the conversation took a sharp turn into artificial intelligence terri...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dan Swartwout hosts two-time Shingo Prize winner Drew Locher. Their conversation covers lean-driven process improvement and team leadership. Drew believes that 80% of continuous improvement is behavioral. So, have you created a safe environment for your team? Do you avoid blame-and-shame language? And because change must be directional and done with purp...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dan Swartwout welcomes Michael Hathaway to the show. Michael is MoreSteam's eLearning Content Manager. Before joining MoreSteam, Michael taught at charter schools in Houston and Columbus. Now, Michael uses the lessons he learned as a professional educator to develop eLearning for continuous improvement professionals. Some educational concepts are univers...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, host Dan Swartwout sits down with Dr. Mary Reich Cooper and Michael Anderson from the Jefferson College of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University. The conversation explores how Lean Six Sigma and operational excellence are put to work in healthcare settings. Michael is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Mary brings experience as a physician an...

What's better than one Lean Six Sigma Black Belt? Two! On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, host Dan Swartwout welcomes Lean Six Sigma Black Belts Raquel Chase-Kelly and James Perry to the show. Raquel and James work for Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Clinics and use process modeling to streamline hospital operations and improve patient care. Process modeling lets you rapidly simula...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dan Swartwout welcomes Dr. Larry Inks to the show. Larry is a Professor of Management and Human Resources at The Ohio State University who previously ran talent management for Cardinal Health. Dan and Larry discuss why one clear goal keeps a team focused. They also explore change management, including the emotional aspects of change, and the differences ...

Step onto the field with host Dan Swartwout as he explores a new playbook for improvement. In this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dan tells the story of the fictional Columbus Tigers, a football team that turns around its losing streak using Lean Six Sigma. (There actually was a Columbus Tigers pro football team about a century ago!)

Football is familiar ...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dr. Jim Cole joins the podcast to share how process improvement has guided his work in both military and healthcare settings. Dr. Cole introduces tools like the Marine Corps Planning Process, OODA loops, and operational risk management. Jim shares how these military methods helped him tackle challenges in civilian healthcare. To that end, Dr. Cole reflec...

On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, host Dan Swartwout talks with Mark Reich. Mark is Senior Lean Coach at the Lean Enterprise Institute and author of the new book, Managing On Purpose. Mark's book is a practical guide to Hoshin Kanri, a strategy deployment system that combines long-term vision with day-to-day execution. Managing On Purpose

In this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dan Swartwout chats with Kim Koning, Aurorium's Global Director of Operational Excellence and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Kim shares his journey from wrestling mats in Indiana to leading global process improvement initiatives. He also reflects on how lessons from his early career as a plant manager and his MBA in finance shaped his approach to le...