Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
The Ohio State University South Centers has been chosen by the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) to support the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The MEP program provides easy access to the university researchers, facilities, equipment, and students in support of small and medium-sized businesses.
MEP Program Highlights
LEAN MANUFACTURING SUCCESS STORY
"The exciting part of the MEP sponsoring the Lean Six Sigma training at the Buckeye Hills Career Center and the Athens-Meigs ESC (Project Rise) is that we trained teachers in the methodology who will then train high school students.
The MEP also sponsored a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt training for high school students in the Engineering Technology program at the Pike County Career Technology Center (CTC). The Pike County CTC had offered this in the past to students in the program but their consultant was no longer available and they lost both time and money due to the pandemic. The OSU MEP stepped in and sponsored two Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt workshops. We completed these workshops in September 2021 training and certifying 23 high school students as Yellow Belts, effective team members for the Lean Six Sigma problem-solving methodology and basic tools. This has generated additional interest from high school students. The Pike County CTC has requested a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt workshop for the 23 students that completed their Yellow Belt in September as well as another Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt workshop for 21 additional students. Students are required to lead an improvement project that demonstrates measurable results to earn their Green Belt. Students earning these credentials are prepared to enter the workforce and solve problems for their employer. This is what employers want, people that can solve problems. PACCAR (Kenworth) utilizes Lean Six Sigma for team-based problem-solving."
Brad Hollingsworth, P.E.
Master Black Belt
Hollingsworth Consulting LLC
