EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced a new office that will implement the EPA Lean Management System (ELMS). The Office of Continuous Improvement (OCI) was created to oversee the execution of ELMS agency-wide. ELMS “is a system that will enable the Agency to track important Agency actions to ensure [that EPA will] respond and resolve challenges quickly and thoroughly using Lean principles and tools.”
The goal for a Lean management system was outlined in the agency’s strategic plan for FY 2018-2022. Lean “is a set of principles and tools designed to identify and eliminate waste from processes while maximizing customer value and return on taxpayer investment.”
Serena Mcllwain has been selected as OCI’s first director. Previously, Mcllwain was the Assistant Regional Administrator and Director of the Environmental Management Division at EPA Region 9 in San Francisco and has more than 30 years of federal government experience.