Doris E. Chu, PMP, LBC, is an experienced project manager with a lean background and a focus on development and manufacturing logistics for digital devices. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Ms. Chu attributes her success to her heritage and recalls the emphasis on education and the encouragement she received from her father, a lung surgeon, as a child. Her professional philosophy is that “no one can take knowledge away from you” and that thinking outside the box to find new solutions for problems is crucial. Ms. Chu initially came to the United States to attend Syracuse University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts, and she continued her education at Arizona State University, completing a Master of Business Administration in 1982. She returned to Arizona State University to complete an additional Master of Science in industrial engineering in 1996 after being awarded a full scholarship for female engineers.
While studying at Arizona State University, Ms. Chu accepted a summer internship at the local manufacturing and design branch of a global technology corporation. Her experience as an intern led to a position as a full-time lean enterprise process manager for the corporation in 2005. Two years later, Ms. Chu was promoted to become the corporation’s lean initiatives manager, a role she occupied until 2011. Among her many accomplishments at the technology manufacturer were her innovations in factory design, including new floor plans utilizing pneumatic tubes to deliver parts directly to their points of use. By the time she departed the company in 2011, Ms. Chu had been recognized for her creativity and process improvements with internal lean bronze and global supply chain master designations in addition to a Women’s Leadership Award.
Since 2011, Ms. Chu has been the sole senior lean manager for a global online retail and logistics brand, where she works alongside suppliers and manufacturers to streamline the process of developing and building products. She is responsible for developing a novel employee training and certification program to allow for wider application of lean methodologies, noting that “process and product always have to work together.” Ms. Chu holds lean practitioner and Project Management Institute credentials, is a certified quality award examiner, and is a member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Quality. She hopes to continue her work streamlining processes with global brands, and hopes to be able to focus more on employee training or have the opportunity to work with suppliers outside of China in the coming years.