As the vice chair of the Michigan Lean Consortium (MLC), Debra Levantrosser Setman leads the drive to use lean principles to positively impact Michigan’s economy. She firmly believes it is these principles that will encourage innovation and make MI competitive as a business player in the new economy. Residents of Jacksonville, FL have stated they want Jacksonville to be the first lean county in the US and Setman believes MI can be the first lean state.

As the Owner and President of Arbed Solutions, Setman provides advice, counsel and direction to organizations seeking to improve morale, leadership approaches and productivity. She provides advice in the areas of strategic planning, lean thinking and change management. Most recently she was executive director of Strategy Development and Business Improvement at Johnson & Johnson where she advised J&J's 250+ operating companies on applying the lean philosophy in consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Her career has spanned roles across the value chain, ranging from R&D to supply chain to marketing and sales, including transactional areas such as IT, finance, human resources and project management.

Raised in a lean household, Setman has been exposed to lean culture since birth. She has experienced 19 years of professional lean philosophy successes, helping to identify over $6 billion in savings and leading more than 300 kaizen events. Setman has used lean philosophy in health care, manufacturing, law enforcement, insurance, interior design, construction and consulting in over 50 countries.

Setman earned bachelor degrees in German and political science from Michigan State University with minors in health studies and humanities. She received a master’s degree in public administration from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is completing a Ph.D. in organizational management at Capella University. Her dissertation is about lean culture.

Setman was on Governor Granholm’s Government Process improvement initiative (GPii) committee to incorporate lean principles to streamline state government and is on the Board of the School of Management at Marist College.

She has presented numerous times on the topic of innovation and its importance to organizational success. Her current specialty is coaching senior leadership on the behaviors necessary to organizational growth. Setman has taught university courses on globalization, leadership, law enforcement and the government-business relationship at various universities during the past eight years. Her article Lean Thinking from Benjamin Franklin was published in Lean Progress, which demonstrates that lean principles existed long before Henry Ford and Toyota.

Setman lives in South Lyon, MI with her husband and three dogs.