Lean Advancement Initiative
(LAI)
The Lean Advancement
Initiative (LAI) at MIT and its Educational Network (EdNet)
is a unique and powerful membership-based consortium
focused on lean enterprise transformation. LAI provides a neutral
forum for stakeholders from industry, government, and academia to
learn about LAI’s latest research findings, products, and
tools and share lessons learned and best practices.
LAI Offers:
- unparalleled access to international thought leaders
- unique opportunities to engage with customers, suppliers, and
partners to solve problems and share organizational transformation
experiences
- a portfolio of thought-provoking and highly regarded knowledge
exchange events
- innovative lean products, tools, and methodologies
LAI Vision
Our work is designed to enable enterprises to effectively, efficiently,
and reliably create value in complex and rapidly changing environments.
LAI Mission
We enable the focused and accelerated transformation of complex
enterprises through collaborative stakeholder engagement in developing
and institutionalizing principles, processes, behaviors, and tools
for enterprise excellence.
Background
LAI is headquartered within the MIT Department of Aeronautics and
Astronautics and collaborates closely with the Sloan School of Management.
The program is managed under the auspices of the Center for Technology,
Policy and Industrial Development, a MIT-wide interdisciplinary
research center. LAI’s management team includes executive
board co-chairs Thomas Farmer (President, Pratt & Whitney Military
Engines), Blaise Durante (Deputy Assistant Secretary, Acquisition,
US Air Force), and Sheila Widnall (MIT Institute Professor). Professors
Deborah Nightingale and John Carroll serve as LAI’s Co-Directors
and Richard B. Lewis II is LAI’s Executive Director.
For more than 15 years LAI has accelerated lean deployment through
identified best practices, shared communication, common goals, and
strategic and implementation tools honed from collaborative experience.
LAI also promotes cooperation at all levels and facets of an enterprise
thereby eliminating traditional barriers to improving industry and
government teamwork.
LAI’s industry members are making notable progress in implementing
lean principles and practices in production operations, but it is
clear that lean enterprise transformation requires that operating,
technical, business, and administrative units working collaboratively
toward transformation. As a consequence, LAI is now in its fifth
phase focused on Enterprise Value. LAI is engaged in transforming
enterprises and delivering more value to all its stakeholders than
is possible through conventional approaches.
Enterprise Value Phase Goals
Goals are based on the understanding of the needed stakeholder
value and supporting the overarching goal of accelerating the transformation
of the greater US aerospace enterprise:
- Support the ongoing lean transformation of industry;
- Enable lean value-creating supplier base;
- Support lean transformation of the government;
- Educate and train stakeholders in value-creating lean principles
and practices;
- Improve effectiveness of organizations and all the employees
across the total enterprise; and
- Support member lean implementation efforts by sustaining tools
and knowledge base and by sponsoring outreach events.
Faculty and Staff
Richard B. Lewis II, LAI Executive Director, 617.253.0477 | rblewis@mit.edu
Debbie
Nightingale, Professor of Practice; LAI Co-Director
617.253.7339 | dnight@mit.edu
John
Carroll, Professor, LAI Co-Director
617.253.2617 | jcarroll@mit.edu
Tom Shields, LAI Program Manager
617.253.7333 | shields@mit.edu
Nicolene Hengen, Membership and Communications Manager
617.253.7633 | nhengen@mit.edu
Juliet Perdichizzi, Operations Manager
617.258.7628 | julietp@mit.edu
Tara Eisner, LAI Events Coordinator
617.253.2537| teisner@mit.edu
Kirk Bozdogan, Principal Research Associate
617.253.8540 | bozdogan@mit.edu
Eric
Rebentisch, Research Associate
617.258.7773 | erebenti@mit.edu
Donna
Rhodes, Principal Research Scientist
617.324.0473 | rhodes@mit.edu
George Roth, Principal Research Associate
617.253.8407 | groth@mit.edu
Ricardo Valerdi,
Research Associate
617.253.8583 | rvalerdi@mit.edu
Jayakanth (JK) Srinivasan, Research Engineer
617.253.0672 | jksrini@mit.edu
LAI Members
Government Members
- Secretary of the Air Force, Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Acquisition
- Air Force Materiel Command with participation from:
- Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center
- Air Force Electronics Systems Sector
- Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center
- U.S. Navy, Naval Air System Command (NAVAIR)
- U. S. Army, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition,
Logistics, and Technology
- Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)
- Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)
Industry Members
- BAE Systems, Inc.
- BAE plc (UK)
- Bell Helicopter Textron
- Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
- Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
- Northrop Grumman Mission Systems
- Raytheon Company
- Network Centric Systems (NCS)
- Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS)
- Space and Airborne Systems (SAS)
- Rockwell Collins Inc.
- Textron Systems Corporation
- The Boeing Company
- Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
- Boeing Commercial Airplanes
- United Launch Alliance
- United Space Alliance
- United Technologies Corporation
- Pratt & Whitney Military Engines
- Sikorsky Aircraft
- Hamilton Sundstrand
Academic Members
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Educational Network (EdNet) Members
- Air Force Institute of Technology
- Arizona State University
- Boise State University
- California Polytechnic State University
- Cranfield University, UK
- Defense Acquisition University
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Indiana State University
- ITESM Zacatecas, MX
- Jacksonville University
- Loyola College in Maryland
- Loyola Marymount University
- Macon State College
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Missouri University of Science and Technology
- North Carolina State University
- Northeastern University
- Old Dominion University
- Purdue University
- Saint Louis University
- San Jose State University
- Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
- Universidad Anáhuac de Puebla, Mexico
- Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, Mexico
- The University of Alabama in Huntsville
- University of Bath School of Management, UK
- The University of Iowa
- University of Michigan College of Engineering, Center for Professional
Development
- University of Southern California
- University of South Florida
- The University of Tennessee
- University of Virginia Darden School of Business
- The University of Warwick, UK
- Wichita State University
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Wright State University Rajon College of Business
Program Links: CMP
| Ford-MIT
| IMVP | LAI
| LARA | LSI
| MSL | MITIQ
| T&L
|
