Topic(s)
- People-centric leadership
Overview
During this panel discussion, learn about the advantages of Lean Certification and testimonials regarding the process from actual certification holders and coaches. This informational panel and round table will discuss important topics like program time commitment, skills validation, mentoring and personal experiences related to the Lean Gold Standard Program. Attendees will leave with awareness and clarity regarding all the benefits Lean Certification has to offer.
Key learning objectives
- Awareness of the AME/SME/Shingo Lean certification program.
- Appreciation for the professional benefits of the Lean certification program.
- Understanding of the entirety of the certification journey.
Company
Trane Technologies is a global leader in innovative and sustainable comfort systems, spanning commercial, residential and transport applications.
https://www.tranetechnologies.com/en/index.html
Moderator
An experienced continuous improvement and transformation coach, Joel Hugghins has enjoyed a variety of roles across a broad range of industries. Hugghins has served as a coach, sensei, consultant, instructor, executive and engineer and has been recognized in the Lean community through his articles, publications and conference sessions. Hugghins is a strategic thinker, applying his hands-on experience and proven techniques to prevent rather than correct systemic problems. He holds a mechanical/industrial engineering degree from MIT and is an avid supporter of continuous improvement methodologies. 
Panelists
Audie Penn is the chairman of the Lean Certification Alliance and managing partner of consulting operations at Faro Partners, where Penn provides lean transformation and leadership consulting to global manufacturing clients across multiple sectors. With over 30 years of experience in deploying and sustaining lean practices, he helps organizations achieve profitable and sustainable performance improvement. Penn is an SME-certified lean practitioner at the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels and has received the CPS Executive Director Award for his contributions to the lean community.
Penn’s mission is to coach executives and their teams to achieve enterprise excellence by applying lean principles and tools to their business processes, from administration to marketing, human resource to supply chain, fabrication to assembly, and discrete or continuous operations.
Penn also leverages his manufacturing operations expertise as an operational performance consultant at Audie Penn Consulting, where he provides lean training and leadership coaching to multiple industry segments. He is passionate about delivering value to his clients, not just suggesting solutions but enabling them to achieve their strategic goals. 
Larry Anderson is the Shingo examiner, LCA coach, and a Bronze, Silver and Gold certified lean practitioner with over 40 years of operational excellence experience. He brings many years of experience with organizational assessment to identify best practices to this panel discussion. He is president of the AME Southwestern Region and serves as a Shingo representative on the lean certification oversight and appeals committee. Anderson is also certified as a facilitator for all Shingo Institute workshops. He has a deep understanding of Shingo Model principles and application gained through an 18+ year association with the model. He has performed 20+ assessment site visits, many as the senior examiner/team lead, and numerous application desktop assessments. He has particpated in the Shingo publication review process and assisted two Shingo Institute Medallion recipients. He received a B.S.M.E. degree from Texas Tech University and is a registered professional engineer. 
Jeff Fuchs is the AME Excellence Award assessor, Shingo assessor and president of Neovista Consulting, focusing on operational excellence, lean thinking, leadership, change management and culture. For eleven years, Fuchs directed a nonprofit lean consortium, guiding organizations toward cultures of continuous improvement. Fuchs has thirty years of experience with lean. His work has spanned the automotive, machining, aerospace/defense, pharmaceuticals, biotech, government, solar power, and oil and gas industries. Fuchs has been involved in the AME/Shingo Institute/SME Lean Certification Alliance since its inception. He currently holds Lean Bronze, Silver, and Gold Certifications. He serves on the Lean Certification Oversight Committee and is past chair. He holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from West Point and is a Gulf War combat veteran. He is an examiner for the Shingo Institute’s Shingo Prize, an assessor and council member for AME’s Excellence Award and serves on AME’s Mid-Atlantic Region Board.
Brian Tapajna is a lean practitioner and coach of manufacturing. He is also the lean manufacturing champion of manufacturing and industrial engineering at Newport News Shipbuilding, responsible for the oversight and deployment of a systematic approach to improving suppliers’ operational performance, improving shared business processes, establishing and maintaining relationships, and sharing the mission of shipbuilding and the Navy across the supply base.
Tapajna holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Toledo and an MBA from Baldwin Wallace College. He is Lean-certified and holds a green belt in Six Sigma. Tapajna is an examiner for the Virginia U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award (SPQA) and holds a certification in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) from the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS).
