Michael S. Smith, Sr.

President
msmith@leanCPI.com

Michael S. Smith, Sr., President of Total Systems Development, retired from a distinguished 25 year career in the US Air Force where he led the Air Force Smart Operations AFSO21 (Lean Six Sigma) program as Director, Air Force Transformation Outreach, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force in Washington, D.C.   In addition to his duties as president, he has assisted Air Combat Command in their ongoing lean-continuous process improvement efforts, provided lean-CPI services to several multi-site international clients, and was a featured panelist in the 2011 International Summit on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction, discussing the application of lean processes in hospital design.

During his time in the service, Col. Smith was responsible for developing and coordinating the Air Force's lean-six sigma transformation efforts, recognized as the largest ongoing lean effort today, with approximately 600,000 active duty personnel.  He was a key architect in the design of AFSO21 and the results of the Air Force effort in FY2009 alone generated $1.8 Billion in validated costs savings.  He led the design and implementation of the Air Force Process Council which served as the governance body for all Air Force CPI work.  This governance body was chaired by the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force and included all 4-Star Major Command (MAJCOM) Commanders.  His work with the Process Council produced standardized reporting procedures and reporting formats across ten Major Commands resulting in the ability to measure and aggregate savings across 108 Air Force locations. 

Col. Smith’s work in the Air Force spanned all business and operational areas including supply chain and logistics operations, aircraft maintenance and flying operations, medical and pharmacy operations, cyber acquisitions and training operations.  His focus on standardizing program architecture, methods, and curriculum resulted in a comprehensive suite of training and certification programs that spanned from Executive Leader training to Green and Black Belt certification programs.   Col. Smith was the sole certifying authority for Air Force Black and Master Black Belts; his programs generated over 3,000 Green Belts and 360 Black Belts who were mentored, trained, and are currently producing results for the Air Force.

Col. Smith also served as the Air Force representative for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) CPI activities and governance boards and he was the US Government inter-agency lead to consolidate government-owned CPI training curriculums from the various agencies for use by all.    His work training and teaching CPI principles and methods extended beyond the US with his role as key advisor to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Senior Leadership for the initiation and development of their CPI program. 

Col. Smith received his BA from The Citadel in Charleston, SC, his MSc in Industrial Production-Operations Management from University of Arkansas, and his MA in Strategic Studies from the USAF War College.