Upcoming Events
February 11 | 12 – 1 p.m. | Zoom Webinar
Lean Into AI Series
AI is everywhere, but for many operational excellence and continuous improvement practitioners, the real question is simple: Can AI actually help with the work I do every day?
In this highly interactive Lean Into AI session, Jim Perry will lead a live, crowd-sourced exploration of real operational use cases submitted by participants. Ahead of the session, attendees are invited to share a manual process they currently perform, anything from data cleanup to reporting, documentation, analysis, or workflow coordination. During the webinar, we’ll select several submissions and walk through live mini-demonstrations of what’s possible using today’s AI tools.
The goal is not perfection or polished automation, it’s practical learning, curiosity, and confidence. You’ll see how AI can augment problem solving, reduce friction in everyday work, and open new ways to experiment safely and thoughtfully.
This session is designed to:
- Build practical AI literacy for operational excellence practitioners
- Demystify what AI can and cannot realistically do today
- Reduce fear and uncertainty through hands-on examples
- Spark ideas for small, low-risk experimentation in your own organization
- Connect continuous improvement thinking with emerging digital capabilities
Come ready to learn, ask questions, and imagine what’s possible when human problem solving meets intelligent tools.
For best results and to support realistic, practical demonstrations, selected participants should be prepared to share redacted or anonymized sample files, screenshots, or relevant process details, along with the tools they currently have access to. This allows demonstrations to reflect real working environments whenever possible. If needed, comparable tools may be used to illustrate the approach and underlying concepts.
Speakers
Jim Perry is a seasoned data and technology leader with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation for Fortune 100 companies. His expertise spans artificial intelligence (AI), data strategy, and enterprise technology implementation, helping organizations become data-driven, customer-centric, and operationally efficient.
As an Adjunct Lecturer at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, he teaches courses in AI Prompt Engineering and Data Mining, equipping professionals with practical skills to leverage AI for business impact. He also advises companies through his private consulting practice, where he helps teams integrate AI to improve efficiency, speed, and decision-making.
Steve Pereira, emcee, is obsessed with making tech human and leveraging it to deliver continuous value. Steve has spent over two decades improving the flow of work across organizations. He’s worked through tech support, IT management, build and release engineering, and as a founding CTO for enterprise SaaS.
He serves as lead consultant for Visible Value Stream Consulting, as a board advisor to the Value Stream Management Consortium, Chair of the OASIS Value Stream Management Interoperability technical committee, and co-founder of the Flow Collective to bring flow-focused professionals together. Since 2017, he has been developing and facilitating Flow Engineering to make flow improvement in large organizations accessible, collaborative, and actionable.
Host Organizations
This series is part of the collaborative work of leading OpEx consortia under the shared initiative Future of People at Work:
- Catalysis
- Central Coast Lean
- Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership (GBMP)
- Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI)
- Ohio State’s Center for Operational Excellence (COE)
- Shingo Institute
- Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC)
This initiative represents an unprecedented collaboration among leading improvement-focused organizations dedicated to building better ways of working together. Together, these networks are reimagining work and continuous improvement for a new era of technological change.
February 25 | 8:30 – 11 a.m. | In-Person Tour
Join the Center for Operational Excellence and experience operations in action at Honda’s East Liberty Auto Plant!
Honda’s East Liberty Auto Plant (ELP), established in 1989, spans 1.9 million square feet and employs around 2,800 associates. It produces the CR‑V, Acura RDX, and MDX, with annual capacity of 240,000 vehicles. ELP pioneered North American adoption of low‑emission water‑borne paint and laser welding, and was the first to implement Honda’s flexible New Manufacturing System. Its stamping shop features a 5,700‑ton servo press and 200 new robots supporting both steel and aluminum forming. As part of Honda’s EV Hub investment, ELP now supports mixed production of ICE, hybrid, and EV models.
This experience will include an informational overview of Honda, ELP plant history and products, and operational excellence tools utilized in the plant. Following the plant tour, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session with plant leadership and engineers.
This tour will be led by on-site hosts, including Amy Steed, ELP Tour Leader, Production Management Department. Selected participants will be responsible for arranging their own transportation—keep in mind that the travel time from Columbus is typically 45-60 minutes.
This is a limited-capacity, in-person only event. Due to an overwhelming response, the interest form for this experience is now closed. Selected participants will receive an email by February 9. Please direct any questions to Wendy Douglass at douglass.162@osu.edu.
Save the Date
March 11, 12 - 1 p.m. | Creating Positive Organizational Change Habits Webinar featuring Dr. Bryan Cutliff, CEO of Synergyze Business Consultants (Virtual)
March 25, 12 - 1 p.m. | People, Purpose, Process: The Lean Six Sigma Trifecta Webinar featuring Dr. Beth Gersper, LeanOhio Liaison for Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (Virtual)
April 7-9 | COE Summit 2026
April 22, 12 - 1 p.m. | From A La Carte to All-in: Adopting the Full Lean Operating Model Webinar featuring Will Eby, Theresa Kennedy, and Andrew Robbins, Nationwide (Virtual)