Lean & Leadership 2026 Mitchell Class

September 2, 2026
Mitchell, SD
For Immediate Release:

Today seven professionals from the Mitchell manufacturing community completed the Lean + Leadership for Supervisors program hosted at Mitchell Chamber of Commerce, and facilitated by South Dakota Manufacturing and Technology Solutions (SD MTS).

Participants attended 6 full day classes, 12 training modules in all, over a period of 6 months.  Modules included Lean Manufacturing Principles, Personal Values, DiSC Profile, Listening Skills, Problem Solving, Root Cause Analysis, Coaching and Influence Skills, Motivation and Delegation, Priority Management, and Handling Difficult Conversations.

The graduation ceremony, held at the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce, consisted of presentations by each participant on their course-long project, which was aligned with both influencing skills and process improvement.  The program is aligned with the principles of Lean Manufacturing from the Toyota Product System (TPS).  Emphasis is primarily focused on the Lean principle of Respect for People, and also supports the other two principles of Continuous Improvement and Delivering Value to the Customer. 

All seven graduates were able to show improvements in cost, quality and delivery in their operations.

Pictured are Kate McKinnon from Dakota Pump, Ben Fuerst from Patzer Woodworking, Robert Jokumsen from Dakota Pump, Monte Bordewyk from Innovative Systems Limited, Carlos Miranda from Etria, Johanna Allen from the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce, and Stuart Giere, class facilitator and Business Advisor for SD MTS.  Not picture is Tim Wagner from Dakota Pump.