Ken LePage, BSME
MLC Member Liaison
membership@michiganlean.org
Associate Vice President,
Process Excellence (Px)
St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital
Ken is currently the Associate Vice President of Process Excellence (Px) for St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, M
as well as a Board Member on the MLC Board of Directors responsible for Membership.
Ken is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He began his career
at the Nippondenso Company. He then joined Ford Motor Company, where he took the design and development of the D4 fuel injector from
a clean sheet all the way through production.
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Rick Fleming
Ad Hoc Board Member
Director,
Michigan Shingo Prize
The Right Place
Richard currently works with The Right Place, Inc. to help promote the Shingo Prize in Michigan and assists organizations with the process
of transformation to a lean operational philosophy. He has provided manufacturing companies and service firms with lean enterprise consulting,
training, and opportunity assessments for more than 20 years. His expertise has been used by leaders to achieve product and process
enhancements that result in improved productivity, quality, and service. Richard has worked with manufacturers, banks, pharmaceutical
companies, hospitals, non-profit organizations, and utilities.
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Jason Schulist currently serves as Director of Continuous Improvement at DTE Energy, where he oversees the deployment of DTE’s Lean Six
Sigma continuous improvement methods. Jason helps guide DTE’s executives and over 90 full-time continuous improvement personnel in
capturing bottom-line savings and improving safety, customer satisfaction, and quality performance.
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Chris Wilson recently retired as director of Operational Excellence for Amway Corporation with more than 20 years of leadership,
domestic and international experience. His extensive supply chain operations background was a perfect fit for him to introduce
lean/continuous improvement to Amway.
He has helped create a learning organization where thousands of Amway employees are using problem-solving techniques to improve the
way they do their jobs, while the company has significant cost savings. Well integrated into the Grand Rapids business community, Chris
has helped local non-profit organizations implement these lean techniques into their work practices.
He resides in Ada, Mich.
Mr. Sutherland is currently a Lean Six Sigma Coach for the Operations Department of Housing in HUD. Mr. Sutherland chose to retire from Ford Motor Company after many years of service and devote himself to his passion for teaching and mentoring Lean systems. Mr. Sutherland has won numerous awards for production and quality improvements as both an engineer and manager at Ford Motor Company.
Phil Berry
MLC Membership Liaison
membership@michiganlean.org
Senior Director,
Continuous Improvement
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Phil Berry is Senior Director of Continuous Improvement for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Berry is responsible for leading the
company’s next steps on the Lean/Continuous Improvement journey. Berry’s Continuous Improvement team facilitations are leading operational
performance improvements in both process efficiency and customer satisfaction.
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Willie Brown, Jr.
Ad Hoc Board Member
adhoc@michiganlean.org
Retired development engineer, GMC
Lean consultant
Self-employed
CERTIFICATIONS AND AFFILIATIONS
- Lean Manufacturing Certified
- Six Sigma Green Belt
As a retired General Motors senior supplier development engineer, he was responsible for Lean Management training for more
than 150 Tier I original equipment and aftermarket automotive suppliers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Today, he uses his vast
manufacturing and quality experience to help businesses, non-profits and educational institutions apply Lean. He also serves as
an independent consultant to Oakland University located in Rochester, Michigan, where he trains public school administrators across
the U.S. on how to strategically reduce expenses and eliminate waste through Lean thinking.
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Dedicated to bringing Lean 5s to facility departments around Michigan, Renae is also a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council West Michigan chapter, and currently Chair of the Board of Directors and the Chapter’s Green School Advocacy Committee Chair. She has been with Nichols (a distributor of custodial and packaging supplies) for 17 years in various positions and three years ago moved into to a new role within the company as Vice President of Sustainability .
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