# S7E29 Heylands Lowry| Building an Engineering Culture of Continuous Improvement

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2026-07-10
- Length: 39m
- Episode: 29
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement

## Summary

Heylands Lowry, a Lean Master Black Belt who has held leadership roles at Intuitive, Edwards Lifesciences, and Panasonic Avionics, discusses building engineering cultures of continuous improvement. He explains how Lean principles remove waste while Six Sigma reduces variation, using DMAIC as a framework, and emphasizes that cultural buy-in and morale are more critical than tools. Lowry shares specific examples, such as improving yield in heart valve manufacturing at a Singapore plant and reducing a surgeon payment cycle at Intuitive, to illustrate how embedding these practices into daily work drives sustainable results.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=0) Introduction: Heylands Lowry and Career Background
- [7:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=432) Culture vs. Process: The Symbiotic Challenge of Continuous Improvement
- [10:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=644) Reward Systems and the 'Absolute Certainty Principle'
- [16:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=971) Teaching Methodologies: Bloom's Taxonomy and Hands-On Learning
- [19:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=1187) Morale as the Foundation of Engineering Culture
- [23:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=1408) Principles Over Tools: Lean, Six Sigma, and DMAIC Explained
- [29:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=1773) Case Study: Heart Valve Manufacturing and Yield Improvement
- [31:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-10-s7e29-heylands-lowry-building-an-engineering-culture-of-continuous-improvement#t=1911) Leadership's Role in CI Success and Mentorship Advice

## Topics

- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Factory operations & automation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/factory-operations)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Quality & yield](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/quality-and-yield)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Intuitive (company)
- Edwards Lifesciences (company)
- Panasonic Avionics Corporation (company)
- ITT Industries (company)
- Toyota (company)
- Bloom's taxonomy (other)
- Atkins two minute lean (other)
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Building a Culture of Quality](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2022-05-20-building-a-culture-of-quality) (Global Medical Device Podcast)
- [The Three Ways of DevOps](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2022-09-06-the-three-ways-of-devops) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Adapting to Change: Manufacturing Leadership Excellence w/ Dan Burgos](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2022-04-05-adapting-to-change-manufacturing-leadership-excellence-w-dan-burgos) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [Foundation First: Products, Systems, Process & People w/ Bill Kaewert](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-25-foundation-first-products-systems-process-people-w-bill-kaewert) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [Greatest Hits: Top 3 Leadership Lessons from Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2021-05-11-greatest-hits-top-3-leadership-lessons-from-manufacturing-happy-hour) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)

## Citing this page

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