Lean Six Sigma Bursts
Brion Hurley
Brion Hurley from Business Performance Improvement shares his takes and thoughts on a variety of topics related to process improvement (specifically Lean and Six Sigma methods), Bursts are rapid improvement activities, so this sounded like a good word to use for these short audio clips. We'll try to keep them under 10 minutes each. Have a question? Use the Spotify app to leave us a voice message, and we might pick your question for our next episode!
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 17, 2025 • 3min
E132: Announcing free course "Applications of Lean in Healthcare"
In the Lean Six Sigma Ecosystem, I have posted numerous courses over the past few months, and quite a few of them are free. If you're not aware, the adoption of Lean in the healthcare industry has been pretty dramatic over the past 20+ years.I took some of the best healthcare-specific Lean training videos I've used in my Lean Six Sigma courses and compiled them into one online course, called Applications of Lean in Healthcare The course includes 27 lessons (over 3 hours of online learning).You will learn how Lean has been applied at:Harbor-UCLA MedicalVirginia MasonMiami Children'sWashington HospitalBahri Dental GroupRiverside UniversityCleveland Clinic.You will also learn how these improvement tools have been implemented specifically in healthcare:8 Wastes5SDaily and Tiered HuddlesSpaghetti DiagramsValue Stream MappingModel cellsTakt time2-bin kanban system3PTraining within Industry (TWI)Six SigmaThis is such an important topic that we wanted to make this training FREEWant to take this free course?Sign up for a free accountNavigate to the Courses section and select "Applications of Lean in Healthcare"Complete the courseDo you have friends and family in healthcare or the medical industry?Please share the course link or forward this email to them. This might be the training that has a significant impact on their career.Learn more about BPILean Six Sigma Ecosystem is now live! Visit https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/ to access free courses and templates, or upgrade for premium content and coaching programs7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelWant to get certified in Lean Six Sigma, but not sure where to start? Visit help me choose a certification to decide what will be best for your careerNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Dec 10, 2025 • 9min
E131: The Big 3 Quality Improvement Tools for the Food and Beverage Industry
The following is the summary of the December 3rd webinar I presented called "Quality Improvement Tools for Food and Beverage Manufacturing"I just edited the webinar and turned it into a course in Lean Six Sigma Ecosystem. Although it is geared towards the food and beverage (F&B) industry, it is open to those from any industry looking to improve quality, reduce variation and increase the success of meeting customer specification and tolerances.You will learn about these 3 tools:Statistical Process Control (SPC)Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)Capability Analysis (Cp/Cpk vs Pp/Ppk)To sign up for this course, go to https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/c/the-big-3-quality-improvement-tools-for-the-food-and-beverage-industryLearn more about BPILean Six Sigma Ecosystem is now live! Visit https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/ to access free courses and templates, or upgrade for premium content and coaching programs7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelWant to get certified in Lean Six Sigma, but not sure where to start? Visit help me choose a certification to decide what will be best for your careerNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Oct 22, 2025 • 6min
E130: The Importance of Process Logs in Problem Solving
In this podcast, I share details about a tool that I call "Process Log" but maybe you've heard it called something else.It's an approach to documenting changes, observations and other activities that happen in a work area on a daily basis, so you can reference them in the future. I also recommended checking out the Root Cause Analysis course, where you can learn about the 6 M'sYou can sign up for the course at https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/c/advanced-root-cause-analysis/ Learn more about BPILean Six Sigma Ecosystem is now live! Visit https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/ to access free courses and templates, or upgrade for premium content and coaching programs7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Oct 16, 2025 • 9min
E129: History of Lean (part of new LSS White Belt course)
In this podcast, I share a module from the new Lean Six Sigma White Belt course I have recently released for free on the LeanSixSigmaEcosystem.com platform.This module describes a quick history of Lean (or Toyota Production System) and how it evolved from the US to Japan and back to the US.You can sign up for the free course at https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/c/lean-six-sigma-white-beltLearn more about BPILean Six Sigma Ecosystem is now live! Visit https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/ to access free courses and templates, or upgrade for premium content and coaching programs7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Sep 23, 2025 • 13min
E128: TQM at the State of Iowa began in 1992?
In this podcast, I share one of the articles I found from October 1992 about a government efficiency program at the State of Iowa, called Total Quality Government.I read through the article and share my thoughts about how it morphed into their modern improvement program. This article can be found at https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/new-tpm-management-techniques-might-mean-better-government-1992/Series on State of Iowa government efficiency: https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/new-tpm-management-techniques-might-mean-better-government-1992/"Reinventing Government" book: https://amzn.to/4mHCS7LWhat is TQM? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_quality_managementLearn more about BPILean Six Sigma Ecosystem is now live! Visit https://www.leansixsigmaecosystem.com/ to access free courses and templates, or upgrade for premium content and coaching programs7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Sep 4, 2025 • 8min
E127: What is Lean Coffee and Unconferences?
In this podcast, I share a short presentation I gave about the concept of Lean Coffee this week. It is an informal meeting structure where participants brainstorm topics and vote on what gets discussed. An alternative to spending time planning and guessing what people want to talk about or learn.I also explain how it differs but is similar to an unconference.You can learn more about the origin of Lean Coffee at https://leancoffee.org/You can also watch a video of this short presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7dkReGPg58Learn more about BPI7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Aug 18, 2025 • 6min
E126: Intro to Nonparametric Statistics (Part 2 of 2)
In this podcast, I share the second section of a course I'm creating for Lean Six Sigma Ecosystem called "Nonparametric Statistics"Nonparametrics are an alternative way of analyzing data, but instead of using means and standard deviations traditionally taught in Green Belt and Black Belt classes, it uses median and quartiles or percentiles. The calculations are simpler, and there are often less assumptions required (like requiring data to fit a normal distribution).If you sign up for a free account on Lean Six Sigma Ecosystem, you'll be notified when the full course is ready.Learn more about BPI7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Aug 9, 2025 • 7min
E125: Intro to Nonparametric Statistics (Part 1 of 2)
In this podcast, I share the first two sections of a course I'm creating for Lean Six Sigma Ecosystem called "Nonparametric Statistics"Nonparametrics are an alternative way of analyzing data, but instead of using means and standard deviations traditionally taught in Green Belt and Black Belt classes, it uses median and quartiles or percentiles. The calculations are simpler, and there are often less assumptions required (like requiring data to fit a normal distribution).If you sign up for a free account on Lean Six Sigma Ecosystem, you'll be notified when the full course is ready.Learn more about BPI7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Jul 16, 2025 • 14min
E124: Using Lean Six Sigma to Reduce Patient Medication Complications (Audio by AI)
In this podcast, I share the summary of a project I worked on almost 20 years, but is still relevant today. A grant was awarded to the Cedar Rapids (IA) community to study anticoagulation management using Lean and Six Sigma. One of the key analysis performed in the project was a Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (R&R) study. We wanted to determine if blood samples taken from a patient on warfarin have the same International Normalized Ratio (INR) results when analyzed in different labs (reproducibility) and when analyzed multiple times in the same lab (repeatability). Results showed a statistically significant difference among labs. The therapeutic range for INR is typically 2.0 to 3.0, yet the data showed a difference in INR of 0.5 among labs on a small sample of 10 warfarin patients, almost 50 percent of the range. By the way, this entire podcast was spoken by my AI voice created by Eleven Labs. Links for this episode:AHRQ Grant Summary: https://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/advances2/vol3/Advances-Hurley_55.pdfEleven Labs (affiliate link): https://try.elevenlabs.io/lp5v7zzfm8mzLearn more about BPI7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
Jul 1, 2025 • 5min
E123: Applying Net Promoter Score (NPS) to a Zero Waste Conference (Audio by AI)
In this episode, I share a clip from the book chapter I wrote for "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba" Volume 1. I explain how I used net promoter score (NPS) to assess the attendee feedback of a fundraising conference I helped organize.By the way, this entire podcast was spoken by my AI voice created by Eleven Labs. Links for this episode:Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1): https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/lean-six-sigma-for-good-lessons-from-the-gemba-volume-1-real-life-stories-and-experiences-written-by-lean-and-six-sigma-volunteers-working-with-not-for-profit-organizations/Eleven Labs (affiliate link): https://try.elevenlabs.io/lp5v7zzfm8mzLearn more about BPI7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnelNeed help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? Let's talk! Schedule a free support callPodcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it’s all there. Download it for free at creativesafetysupply.com/5SBIZ-PI.comLeanSixSigmaDefinition.comHave a question? Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com
