Creating Maximum Efficiency by Going Lean with Ryan Mecham and Tommy Mello

Lean is a continuous-improvement philosophy born from the Toyota Production System: it applies just as much to home service as to manufacturing because it focuses on relentlessly eliminating waste from every process.

Blame the process, not the person. When something goes wrong, ask whether it was a training issue or a standards issue instead of asking 'who do we blame?' — that mindset shift is where real improvement starts.

Use the 5S framework (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain) and tools like Kaizen foam and Kanban reorder cards to create visual, self-correcting systems where anyone can see when something is out of place or needs restocking.

Standard work is the foundation: create a clear standard, adhere to it, and when it breaks down run PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Adjust) and the '5 Whys' to fix the root cause rather than just firefighting the crisis of the moment.

Most companies under-invest in training and, more importantly, retaining trained people — you must build a repeatable process to teach and re-teach every employee as they onboard, or the improvements won't stick.

Small daily improvements compound: taking a little time each day to make one thing better transforms both the business and people's lives, and confidence to keep improving comes from repeatedly proving the process works.

Get out and see lean in action — visit companies and AME regional events; seeing it firsthand is believing, and it energizes teams to start cleaning, organizing, and moving in the same direction.