MMT Chats: Project Engineer Applies Lean Manufacturing Principles to Growing Sustainability Role

Katherine Pistorius has been a Project Engineer with Edro Specialty Steels for four years, and is now also a Regional Sustainability Coordinator for voestalpine High Performance Metals. From manufacturing and project engineering to lean manufacturing, Six Sigma and sustainability, Katherine Pistorius has turned her passions into a fulfilling career in manufacturing.

Here are just a few tidbits from this conversation to whet your appetite for our full conversation:

• My job as a project engineer is never the same. I work on a portfolio of short- and long-term projects simultaneously on top of workshops, and team trainings.
• I with the North American region using my lean manufacturing and Six Sigma skills with our community of practices working with team members globally.
• International connections led to interesting industry conversations, and sustainability was continuously coming up.
• Take sustainability and bring it to the front manufacturing.
• As a Regional Sustainability Coordinator, I act as a doorway between communications with all employees in my region and the core team.
• I help to ensure information exchange, collaboration and resources.
• My project engineer position is what I do for sustainability just for a different audience … cutting waste, using energy-efficient technologies, etc.
• Applying lean/Six Sigma principles can also help lower a company’s CO2 footprint – a mutual benefit.
• I will be helping to create roadmaps to help the company meet its target of a 50% CO2 reduction by 2029!
• My goal is to continue to nurture both lean and sustainability in my career!

For the full quick chat, watch above, and for more MMT Chats, click here.

This episode is brought to you by ISCAR with New Ideas for Machining Intelligently.