Track 3: Agile Lean in Government | Room: 1151
Robert Carr, Director of Business Transformation, Department of General Services, Commonwealth
Beverly Hudson, Deputy Secretary of Administration, Department of General Services, Commonwealth

Like many organizations, PA’s Department of General Services (DGS) began its lean journey by introducing basic lean principles and tools into its organization. Exposing roughly 30% of its workforce to these tools through about two dozen training events over 18 months resulted in the launch of dozens of improvement projects. DGS could count our number of trained resources and the number of projects initiated, but we succeeded in providing significant added value for customers in only a few cases. In this session, we will share how we have been working to re-energize lean within the agency. We will review briefly our lean history to date, talk about some key lessons learned over the last year as we began to think more deeply about lean, and use a few real world DGS case studies to show how our actions have evolved beyond training, tools, and projects. While we realize that no prescription exists for how to “practice lean,” we want attendees to gain some insight into how they may evolve lean within their own organizations.
For over 25 years, Robert Carr has enabled individuals and businesses to transform or continuously improve performance. Rob originated and has continued to serve in the role of Director of Business Transformation for the PA Department of General Services (DGS) for almost three years. In this role, Rob leads the agency’s efforts to drive adoption of lean thinking and tools within its daily operations. Prior to joining DGS, Rob served for seven years as a Senior Manager of Service Delivery with Momentum, Inc., an IT and management consulting firm in Camp Hill, PA. In this role, he worked with various private and public sector clients in analyzing business processes, eliciting requirements to inform IT solution designs, and developing and executing implementation strategies. Rob holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Penn State and a Master of Science in Management: Change Management and Human Resources from the University of Central Florida.
Beverly Hudson is DGS’ Deputy Secretary for Administration, overseeing budget and insurance management, print and media services, and real estate. Beverly also serves as the agency lead for the shared services of human resources and information technology. For nearly three years, she has also co-directed the implementation of lean across the agency. Bev has held various positions in the department over the course of the last ten years, including: CIO, Policy Director, Deputy Implementation Officer for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Deputy Secretary for Administration and Procurement, Chief of Staff, and Legislative Liaison. Prior to state service, Bev served as a consultant for a Baltimore-based corporate financial consulting firm, where she managed a privately-held mortgage portfolio, assisted in loan workouts, and provided litigation support. She also worked as the assistant controller for a mid-size Pennsylvania/Maryland law firm. Bev holds degrees from Susquehanna University and Johns Hopkins University.