After earning a BS in Manufacturing Engineering at UC Berkeley, Andrew worked two years at 3Com helping to start and bring to full production their first surface mount printed circuit board assembly line.
Andrew got an MS in Technology & Policy and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. His doctoral research was part of the Lean Aircraft Initiative.
Andrew worked 11 years for Lockheed Martin, mostly as Process Improvement Lead on the Atlas rocket program, where he trained staff and leaders in LSS and facilitated improvement projects.
Andrew worked 18 years in the humanitarian and development sector with international NGOs World Vision and Medair. He has consulted with the UN CTBTO, the Red Cross, and the ITC. He lived three years in Nairobi, Kenya and is a global leader in the application of Lean Six Sigma in NGOs and developing country contexts.
Andrew has also partnered with the Humanitarian Operations and Supply Chain Management (HumOSCM) Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich to co-create and co-teach an annual seminar on HumOSCM.
Andrew engages both CEOs and front-line staff in a friendly and humble way to bring about personal and organizational transformation that leads to long-term, sustainable prosperity for all stakeholders.
Aerospace
11 Years of Experience
In his 11 years of experience in the aerospace sector, Andrew Parris co-led process improvement on the Atlas and Titan rocket programs in Lockheed Martin as part of the Operational Excellence program.
He supported the development of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Perfect Product Delivery Vision of Excellence and continuous improvement strategy that contributed to 100% mission success of the Atlas rocket.
He trained staff and leaders in Lean Six Sigma concepts and tools, facilitated cross-functional improvement projects, and coached teams to strengthen problem solving, standard work, and performance management in high-reliability manufacturing environments.
Other Service Sectors
18 Years of Experience
Across 18 years in the humanitarian and development sector, Andrew Parris has trained, facilitated, and coached Lean CI in international NGOs and UN organizations.
As Senior Process Advisor at World Vision (USA & Kenya), he established and led Process Improvement in the East Africa Region.
Colleagues he trained reduced costs by $1.5M per year, lead time by 60%, and defects by 72% on targeted processes.
As Process Excellence Manager at Medair (Switzerland), he trained and coached colleagues and partners from Switzerland to South Sudan and led Medair’s alignment to the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS).
Through his business, Go Lean and Grow, he has trained and coached Quality Champions for the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Laos, Nepal, Iraq, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
He has trained about 1,600 people with his one-day Process Excellence Energiser and 340 with his five-day Lean Green Belt training.
Hardware & Electronics
2 Years of Experience
For two years, Andrew supported the set-up and ramp-up to full production of an automated surface-mount printed circuit board (PCB) assembly line at 3Com.
He performed capacity studies, supported quality control, wrote and improved operating procedures, trained operators, solved day-to-day production problems, and drove practical process improvements to stabilize and scale output.