Episode 26: Building Trust on the Shop Floor - Kim Koning's Lean Six Sigma Playbook
In this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dan Swartwout chats with Kim Koning, Aurorium's Global Director of Operational Excellence and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Kim shares his journey from wrestling mats in Indiana to leading global process improvement initiatives. He also reflects on how lessons from his early career as a plant manager and his MBA in finance shaped his approach to leadership and continuous improvement.
Kim shares why Gemba walks are his favorite part of the day and how they help build trust on the shop floor. Another standout moment is when Kim recounts his “aha” realization—the day he saw Lean Six Sigma as the key to staying competitive. At home, Kim’s audience of eight might roll their eyes at his continuous improvement experiments. But on Quality Time with MoreSteam, his experiments find a much bigger audience.
In this episode, you will hear about:
2:00 - Kim’s background
2:52 - Wrestling with continuous improvement
4:36 - Going to Purdue
5:45 - Plant management
7:24 - Gemba walks
9:27 - Statistics and probability
11:24 - Kim’s thoughts on Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence
20:44 - The Best Practices for Operational Excellence Conference
23:36 - The Master Black Belt Challenge
26:23 - Kim’s “aha!” Moment
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Host • MoreSteam
Dan Swartwout is the host of Quality Time with MoreSteam. A lifelong Central Ohio resident, Dan is a double Buckeye. He earned both a BA and a law degree from The Ohio State University. Before joining MoreSteam, Dan had a long career as a host, comedian, and master of ceremonies. For 17 years, Dan was the studio audience host for the Ohio Lottery game show Cash Explosion. Dan was also the host of CBuzz, which was a collaboration between the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, WWCD 92.9, and the Columbus Dispatch. On CBuzz, Dan interviewed some of the most prominent entrepreneurs in Central Ohio. From 2002-2020, Dan toured the country as a standup comedian. Tracks from his comedy CD have been played over 5,000 times on Sirius/XM satellite radio. Now, Dan brings his experience and enthusiasm to Quality Time with MoreSteam -- it's business and fun, together.
Global Director of Operational Excellence • Aurorium
Kim Koning is the Global Director of Operational Excellence at Aurorium. He brings nearly 40 years of experience in manufacturing and Lean Six Sigma. A certified Master Black Belt, Kim holds a BS in Management from Purdue and an MBA from Western Michigan University. He is known for driving global process improvements and operational efficiency.
