March 11, 2025
What began as simple inquiry in 2019, has developed into a full-blown partnership between Oakland University’s Pawley Lean Institute and the Jabil Corporation.
Jabil reached out to Oakland University after seeing an announcement between the Pawley Lean Institute at Oakland University and the Lean Enterprise Institute. The announcement was regarding a student community service internship at Humble Design in Pontiac. Humble Design is a nonprofit that furnishes homes for individuals and families transitioning out of homelessness. It was the first community service organization to take advantage of the student internship program with the Pawley Lean Institute.
Since 2019, the Pawley Lean Institute has been providing unique opportunities for OU students to work with mentors — including OU professors and industry lean experts — during their paid Community Service Lean Internships. Initially, Jabil provided workforce support to the implementation of projects developed by the students. Jabil personnel assembled and anchored heavy-duty pallet racks at the Humble Design warehouse in Pontiac, as well as constructing a large rug storage system.
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Oakland University students Pradhum Niroula |
“Jabil has a commitment to Lean and given the community service initiative being located in Pontiac, it seemed like a natural fit for us,” said Anthony Celini, operations manager for Jabil’s Auburn Hills facility.
Jabil Inc., a manufacturing solutions provider with a strong commitment to Lean, provides manufacturing services for medical device and agricultural industries. That led to Jabil providing mentoring resources to work in conjunction with an OU professor mentoring students on specific projects.
Student projects at Fleece and Thank You, Rose Hill Center, Forgotten Harvest, and Pontiac Lighthouse have been mentored by Dr. Jennifer Wenson, a visiting associate professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, and Jabil Auburn Hills Plant Lean Six Sigma Manager Wesley King.
“Students get tremendous benefits from our mentors, and Jeni and Wes work particularly well together,” said Dennis Wade, director of the Pawley Lean Institute. “It allows students to look at bottlenecks, issues, problem solving, and Lean tools with both an academic and industry viewpoint. I think there are times when Jeni and Wes learn from one another and the student work is better having these two lead the student teams.”
Students work as a two-person team over a 10-week period of time. They meet with their mentors throughout the project for advice, next step dialogue, and in preparation of a midpoint and final student led presentation.
Professor Vijit Pandey, chair of the Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) Department at Oakland University, agreed.
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| OU students and Jabil personnel work on rug racks at Humble Design |
“It has really been fun watching our students grow under these mentorships,” he said. “The quality of the completed work and recommendations have been outstanding; the program has exceeded our expectations. Students deal with roadblocks and challenges they wouldn’t traditionally see in a textbook, case study, or classroom.”
“Wes and I are mentoring on a specific lean project and aiding our student teams on their journey to problem solve,” Wenson said. “It is a joy to tap into the power of Lean to assist the student team to get them where they wanted to be on the project itself.”
“I think mentors are important and helpful in order to assist students in bridging the gap between classroom content and real-world applications,” King said. “The problem solving is challenging and there are roadblocks to address, proactively giving the students Lean tools to apply to project leads to great recommendations by the student teams.”
Pandey adds, “Students working on community service projects will gain experience, add value to their resumes, and potentially see the value of these service organizations that are enhancing our community. We hope they will embrace these organizations on an ongoing basis beyond their Oakland University experience.”
Jabil’s support went beyond providing the manpower support required to implement recommendations and the mentoring of students. Jabil has also been one of the funding partners for the students participating in the Lean Community Service Internships. Other funding partners include the Bosch Foundation, the Lean Enterprise Institute, AT&T, AIC Equipment, and the Mark and Paula Doman Foundation.
To date, 23 projects (including summer internships) have been completed with students earning $115,000 since 2019.
Jabil has also participated in Senior Design Projects with the ISE program, as well as hired Oakland University students for internships at its Auburn Hills location.
“This is a win-win for all parties involved,” Wade said. “Oakland University lean students are getting practical field experience, adding value to their resumes, and earning money to address college expenses. Community service organizations are gaining value through lean thinking and the completed projects. And a sponsoring organization is able to address to its community service outreach and vision. Having partners providing support to multiple endeavors, like Jabil, is why the Pawley Lean Institute is successful.”
For more information about Jabil Inc., visit www.jabil.com.
To learn more about the Pawley Lean Institute, visit www.oakland.edu/lean.
For more information about Oakland University’s Industrial and Systems Engineering programs, visit www.oakland.edu/secs/departments.ise.