Diego Caputo

Research

My dissertation studies how Lean manufacturing training is designed, delivered and evaluated, and what changes when training itself is built with Lean principles.

The three papers below follow one line of work: what industry needs to sustain improvement, how Lean is taught today and what that teaching wastes, and a platform designed to remove that waste.

The TQM JournalManuscript prepared for submissionMeta-review and industry roundtable2026

Building Blocks for a Continuous Improvement-Driven Operational Excellence Program: A Synthesis of Systematic Literature and Industry Expert Roundtable Insights

Diego Caputo, Caitlin Tran, Ethan Andrews, Allison Ledford, Gregory Harris

Purpose
Continuous improvement and operational excellence are well studied, but the evidence is spread across many separate reviews and is rarely checked against what practitioners say matters. This study asks what industry emphasizes when it builds a CI-driven OpEx program, and where that agrees or disagrees with the academic literature.
Design
Two evidence streams side by side: a review of 22 published systematic reviews on CI and OpEx, found through a PRISMA-guided search, and a structured roundtable with CI and OpEx leaders from cement, automotive, commercial-vehicle and wood-products manufacturing. Each speaker's input was coded against eleven themes for depth.
Findings
The literature talks mostly about methods and toolkits: Lean, Six Sigma, DMAIC. Practitioners talk about the management system that keeps improvement alive: a people-first culture, the right KPIs, sustainment, operator voice, training and standards. Sustainment stands out: central for practitioners, yet covered by only 4 of the 22 reviews.
Practical implications
A five-phase sequence for building a CI-driven OpEx program that starts with culture: foundation building, employee engagement, process implementation, sustainment, and leadership and change management.
ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition 2027Work-in-progress paperSystematic literature review2027

Using Lean Thinking to Evaluate How Lean Manufacturing Is Taught: A Systematic Review and Waste-Based Taxonomy of Training Delivery Methods

Diego Caputo et al.

Purpose
Lean is taught through classes, hands-on games, learning factories, simulations, virtual reality, online modules and company programs. Studies of these methods usually ask whether people learned, not what the training process itself costs. This review applies Lean to Lean training: if the learner is the unit of flow, what waste does each delivery method carry?
Design
A PRISMA 2020 systematic review of Scopus, Web of Science and IEEE Xplore from 2000 to 2026. Of 9,048 records, 104 peer-reviewed studies met the criteria. Each was classified with a two-dimensional taxonomy (physical or virtual, experience-based or not) and coded for the eight wastes. Coding was drafted with AI assistance, verified by the first author and double-coded on a sample by a second reviewer.
Preliminary findings
Physical, in-person formats dominate (games 35%, learning factories 27%), and 48 studies report no evaluation or only learner opinions. Transportation and waiting show up in nearly every design. Remote formats avoid travel, but only 1 of 11 fully remote formats lets learners work with real equipment: a trade-off between access and hands-on fidelity. No study used Lean waste to evaluate training delivery.
Contribution
A map of how Lean manufacturing is taught, a reusable taxonomy of delivery methods, and a waste-based lens that educators and industry trainers can use to choose and improve training designs.
SMTA Pan Pacific Strategic Electronics Symposium 2027Abstract submittedPlatform design and evaluation2027

Extending Experiential Lean Manufacturing Education Beyond the Laboratory: An Immersive Digital Platform for the Electronics Manufacturing Workforce

Diego Caputo, Gonzalo Gil, Tom Devall, Jorge Valenzuela

Purpose
Electronics and automotive manufacturers need people who can run and improve high-volume assembly systems, and Lean is learned best by doing. Hands-on labs deliver that, but they require travel, fixed schedules and floor space. This paper designs training that keeps the hands-on experience while removing those wastes.
Design
The Tiger Motors Lean Education Center, an open web platform built at Auburn under the NSF IUSE: EDU program (DUE-2417082). It brings a 4,000 sq ft Integrated Manufacturing Facility (U-shaped cells, a conveyor line, an AS/RS, kanban and heijunka pull) to any browser through the Lean House: lectures, 360° tours and video of students running the line before and after kaizen, guided 5S and value stream mapping activities, quizzes and a certificate.
Results
Teams from more than 20 organizations have trained with it, including Honda, GE Aerospace and Brose. Across 148 students in 2025-26, quiz scores rose from 50-56% to 80-86% in the 5S and value stream mapping modules (p < .001), and graduate students using video access scored about the same on the final exam as those in the physical lab (80.6% vs. 83.4%).
Practical implications
A reusable waste-to-design mapping for manufacturers and universities that want to scale experiential training without building more labs, including how to capture an existing line in 360° media and sequence content around it.

Presentations

  • 2023

    Lean lab poster: training engineers through simulation and hands-on activities

    Lean Six Sigma & Data Science Conference, Atlanta, GA. Won the student Lean Kahoot challenge.