Friday, April 10th, 2026
AT A GLANCE
- Upcoming Events
- Spring Cleaning Your Processes: How Lean Helps You Clear the Clutter and Improve Flow
- Earth Day Spotlight: Lean & Sustainability; A Natural Partnership for Earth Day
- Precision Meets Process: Reducing Digital Clutter: CO Engineering Team Case Study
Welcome to the April edition of the Colorado Lean Network newsletter!
With spring just around the corner, this month we’re focusing on “Spring Cleaning Your Processes” — a Lean‑inspired look at how clearing clutter, eliminating waste, and refreshing workflows can create space for better flow and better thinking. You can jump to the article, explore our Earth Day spotlight, check out this month’s Colorado Case Study or grab the 5S Spring Cleaning checklist to start tidying your processes today.
April also brings our Virtual 5S Event, along with our Monthly Lean Coffee — two great opportunities to connect with fellow practitioners and share what you’re cleaning up this season. Coming up in May is a stellar event that will dive into how to quantify the impact of Lean efforts and beyond!
Interested in hosting an upcoming Colorado Lean Network event, presenting on a topic with us, or sharing a tool you’ve found helpful?
Visit the Lend A Hand page here!
A live, hands-on improvement event for our Lean community
Join us for a live, interactive, FREE demonstration of Lean thinking in a digital environment. In this session, we’ll apply Digital 5S to the Colorado Lean Network website—sorting, organizing, and streamlining our online workspace together in real time.
This will be a hands-on, facilitated working session. Participants will actively take part in the 5S process while we provide structure, guidance, and support throughout. You’re welcome to contribute directly or simply observe as the improvements unfold.
What to expect
- A brief overview of 5S and its application to digital systems
- A guided walk-through of our website as a virtual Gemba
- Participant-driven sorting, labeling, and organizing of content
- Facilitated decision-making and real-time improvements
- Practical ideas you can apply to your own digital workspaces
Whether you want to roll up your sleeves or watch the process in action, this session offers a unique opportunity to see 5S applied collaboratively, transparently, and with immediate impact.
🗓️ Wednesday, April 22nd
⏰ 12:00 – 1:00 PM MDT
💻 Sign up on Eventbrite to receive a link, (no registration fee required!)
Check out our website ahead of the event:
https://coloradoleannetwork.org/
REGISTER HERE!
Quantifying Your Impact
Want to better demonstrate the value of your improvement work?
Join us for an interactive workshop led by Jessica Shoemaker, where you’ll learn how to confidently quantify the impact of your efforts.
In this session, you’ll learn how to:
- Identify and calculate hard savings, soft savings, and cost avoidance
- Apply simple, practical methods to measure impact
- Document and communicate results to showcase your contributions
Walk away with tools and examples you can immediately apply to highlight the financial impact of your process improvements.
Wednesday, May 20th
1:00 – 2:30 PM MDT
Sign up on Eventbrite to receive a link, (no registration fee required!)
Join the Colorado Lean Network for our free monthly Virtual Lean Coffee – a relaxed, engaging space for Lean enthusiasts and practitioners of all experience levels to connect, learn, and share ideas. Each session is discussion-based and participant-driven, but there’s no pressure to speak – you’re always welcome to simply listen in and learn. Whether you’re brand new to Lean or a seasoned practitioner, you’ll gain fresh perspectives, practical insights, and peer learning in a supportive, low-stakes environment. Come curious, bring questions if you’d like, or just tune in and absorb.
Wednesday, April 8th 12:00 – 1:00 PM MDT
Sign up on Eventbrite to receive a link!
Spring is the perfect time to refresh not just our homes, but our processes. In Lean, “spring cleaning” isn’t a once‑a‑year activity — it’s a mindset rooted in waste elimination, visual management and continuous improvement.
We’re highlighting two powerful tools that help teams create clarity, reduce waste, and improve flow.
1. 5S — The Ultimate Spring-Cleaning System
5S is a structured method for organizing workspaces so work can be done safely, efficiently, and with less frustration.
The 5S steps
- Sort — Remove what’s unnecessary
- Set in Order — Give everything a home
- Shine — Clean and inspect
- Standardize — Create consistent practices
- Sustain — Build habits that last
Why it matters
- Reduces motion waste
- Improves flow and safety
- Makes abnormalities visible
- Builds ownership and pride in the workspace
Expert tip: Take before and after photos to show progress, and use Current State / Future State analysis to capture improvements that may not be immediately visible.
2. Waste Identification — Clearing What’s Holding You Back
Lean defines eight types of waste (DOWNTIME). Spring is the perfect time to go looking for them:
- Defects
- Overproduction
- Waiting
- Non-value-added processing
- Transportation
- Inventory
- Motion
- Extra (unused) talent
A simple walk-through — or Gemba — of your workspace, physical or digital, can reveal surprising opportunities to simplify, clean up, and improve how work flows.
5S Template
For a high-level 5S template created by the Colorado Lean Network team, click here!
Earth Day reminds us that small, intentional actions can create big impact. Lean and sustainability share a common goal: reducing waste.
How Lean Thinking Supports Environmental Stewardship
Less waste = less environmental impact
Reducing defects, overproduction, and excess inventory lowers material use, energy consumption, and overall footprint.
5S builds sustainable habits
Organized workspaces reduce unnecessary motion, energy use, and resource consumption.
Continuous improvement promotes long-term thinking
Lean encourages teams to conserve resources, reduce scrap, and design smarter, more efficient processes.
Earth Day Challenge for CLN Members
- Choose one area — your desk, shared drive, or team workflow — and apply one step of 5S each week. Small improvements add up.
- Add a plant to your desk or workspace to brighten your environment and support a greener mindset!
How a Colorado Engineering Team Reduced Digital Clutter by 40% Using 5S Tools
A Colorado engineering team found themselves drowning in digital clutter — outdated files, duplicate folders, and inconsistent naming conventions. Searching for documents took too long, and onboarding new team members was frustrating.
The Approach
They applied 5S to their shared drive:
- Sort: Deleted 18 GB of outdated files
- Set in Order: Created a clear folder hierarchy
- Shine: Removed duplicates and archived old versions
- Standardize: Adopted naming conventions
- Sustain: Set monthly “digital clean‑up” reminders
The Results
- Search time reduced by 40%
- New employee onboarding improved by 25%
- Team satisfaction increased
- Fewer errors and inconsistencies from outdated documents
Spring cleaning isn’t just for physical spaces — digital clutter counts too.
To see this in action step-by-step, join us for our Virtual Event: Lean in Practice-Digital 5S Working Session, click here!
As we embrace the spirit of spring cleaning, remember that clearing clutter — physical or digital — makes room for clarity, creativity, and continuous improvement. Whether you’re applying 5S, celebrating Earth Day, or joining this month’s events, we hope April inspires you to refresh your processes and lighten your load.
Here’s to a cleaner, clearer, more sustainable month ahead.
Thank you for being part of the Colorado Lean Network. We look forward to connecting with you at our April events!
