Speaker: Luke Francois & Ed Katje

Luke Francois serves as the Continuous Improvement Engineer at Pella Corporation-Sioux Center, leading efforts to support Pella’s rich lean history of over 25 years. He completed his BS in Chemistry in 2010 from the University of Northern Iowa. After graduation, Luke started his lean journey in Wahpeton, ND at Cargill as the “Change, Communication, and Education” lead on the CI deployment team. He joined Pella Corporation in 2014 as a Department Manager before moving into the CI role. Luke’s passion is creating an inclusive CI environment that produces a positive working environment, while delivering capacity and productivity targets. Luke lives in Rock Valley with his wife Sara and their two children, Calvin and Bo.

 

Ed Katje is the Continuous Improvement Coordinator at Pella Corporation-Sioux Center. Ed has spent the last 16 years leading production teams, coaching CI principles, and teaching lean to team members throughout the company. Ed is a certified as a team leader, trainer, and effective problem solver at Pella. Recently, Ed has focused most of his effort in the areas of standard work and WIP, work flow, logistics, 5S, project management, and CI training activities. Ed has a B.S. in Education from Dordt College.

 

Presentation Concept: 

Lean is more than just theory and ideas, lean must be put into action. All organizations have an improvement engine that is fueled by the experts inside their four walls. The keys to unlocking that potential is tied to engaging team members across all levels. What is the current health of your “Army of Problem Solvers”? At Pella our Continuous Improvement motto is “Everyone. Everyday. Go Beyond.” Creating and sustaining a culture where challenging the status quo is encouraged, mutual respect is present for all individuals, and challenging paradigms to achieve breakthrough solutions is an everyday effort. In this session we will discuss multiple ways to exemplify servant leadership to engage your workforce and celebrate your CI culture.  

 

Potential Learning Objectives: 

1. Engage team members in CI activity

2. Unlock your “Army of Problem Solvers”

3. Unique ways to recognize and celebrating CI Efforts