Business Innovation and Lean Center History

How the BILC began

The Business Innovation and Lean Center (BILC) came to fruition due to the success of utilizing the experiential student team model (ESTM) in the classroom. The ESTM has been utilized for more than seven years to complete over 120 student projects supporting the Operations and Supply Management Program, Lean Systems Minor, and Lean System Certificate courses in the College of Business at Ferris State University. Partners included representatives from a wide range of industries; such as healthcare, manufacturing, and service. More than 80% of these partners reported being highly satisfied with the solutions our students proposed and partnered with us on more than one project. We wanted to scale our success with ESTM though the BILC. The BILC was created by a team of College of Business management faculty. It officailly opened in September 2021.