OU's Pawley Lean Institute partners with Lean Learning Center

The Pawley Lean Institute has partnered with the Lean Learning Center as it pertains to the Lean Lab housed in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department (ISE) at Oakland University.

The partnership includes a $60,000 pledge by the Lean Learning Center as part of the funding requirements for the Lean Lab.

“This pledge is just another piece of the ongoing growth of Lean at Oakland University and our programs that benefit our Lean centric students,” said Dennis Wade, director of the Pawley Lean Institute. “In particular, this is a building block with the Lean Learning Center as we continue to expand activities at OU. I am so pleased to see our teams continue to work together.”

The Lean Learning Center has been associated with the Pawley Lean Institute over the past seven years. This has allowed students at Oakland University to participate in Lean training at no cost, and, in conjunction with the ISE Department, the Lean Learning Center has developed a Lean Green Belt Exam for students that have taken ISE coursework.

“We have been so engaged with various activities with Oakland University; this pledge just cements our desire to continue to support OU students in a variety of engagements,” said Bill Artzberger, a member of the Pawley Lean Institute Advisory Council and a partner with the Lean Learning Center.

The new agreement will allow for marketing/branding opportunities, instructional training to be coordinated with Lean coursework at Oakland University, as well as the Lean Learning Center running its coursework in the Lean Lab on campus.

“The integration of academics with industry professionals is a win for our students that are learning Lean principles and applications via their OU coursework,” said Robert Van Til, Pawley Professor of Lean Studies and ISE Department Chair. “I believe the coordination of future endeavors of the relationship between Oakland University and the Lean Learning Center will expand over time.”