1. Lauren Stover has experience optimizing logistics and operations for projects with Sanergy, American Express, and initiatives in Costa Rica and Mexico. 2. For Sanergy, she conducted human-centered research and cost analysis to design a new waste collection model, reducing costs by 28% and the logistics budget by $5,000. 3. For American Express, she created a process to analyze customer complaint trends, identify root causes, and translate insights into improvement projects to better serve customers.

1. Lauren Stover
Key Projects:
Sanergy Logistics Optimization // American Express
Customer Driven Innovation // Community Development
with Hardware for Costa Rica // Passport Backlog for
Mexican Consulate
operations research & service design
nairobi / salt lake city / philadelphia / monte verde
I take chaos and create a streamlined system
across all touch points allowing organizations to
stay on mission and achieve the most impact for
the communities they work in.

2. Challenge: A growing network
with unsustainable costs in
Kenyan informal settlements
• Sanergy- Social enterprise
dedicated to providing affordable sanitation in Africa.
• Sanergy waste collectors remove waste daily from
over 600 toilets in Nairobi.
• For Sanergy to continue growing, the collections
model needs to be designed cost efficiently, while
maintaining quality customer service.
Sanergy Logistics Optimization
Nairobi
Outcomes:
• On track for 28% cost reduction with full-scale
implementation.
• Logistics budget decreased by $5000 based on cost
analysis.
• New management tools to communicate schedules
and track adherence and missed toilet collections.
Strategy:
Integrated approach of cost modeling and learning
about customer service requirements using human-
centered design (HCD).

3. Step 1: Cost and Waste Elimination
Optimizing Logistics-Approach
Step 2: Customer Service Insights
Process
Deploy
Goal: Reduce the cost of
collections network.
Goal: Identify desired customer
outcomes.
Tools: Cost Model
Waste and Value-add Analysis
Ideal Model Brainstorm
Solution Prioritization
Tools: Immersion
User Interviews and Surveys
Job shadowing
Journey Map
Research Synthesis
Affinity Diagram
Implementation Plan
Data Collection Plan
Prototype
Implementation Plan
Data Collection Plan
Prototype
Discover
Define

4. Insights influenced direction of brainstorm session imagining ideal scenarios.
After, prioritized ideas were translated into requirements for product
development.
Team session labeling value-added and
types of waste for each collection activity,
types of waste (defects ,transport, waiting, over-
processing, motion, inventory).
Insights:
1. Movement of containers for consolidation and cleaning
is unnecessary transport.
2. Consolidation of feces not adding value to process and
Prototype
Optimizing Logistics
Handcart prototype to
move consolidation
and cleaning towards
toilets.
Brainstorm
Cost and
Waste
Analysis

5. Logistics Optimization:
Customer Service
Discovery:
After compiling hours of research, field notes, and
pictures:
A journey map was created with collections team to
understand the pain points in the system.
All interesting findings were put on sticky notes and
grouped together.
Common themes were later communicated in an
affinity diagram.
Deploy:
To meet customers’ requirements a structured and transparent route planning
was needed. A scheduling process and issue reporting form was developed to
ensure challenges in the field reached the office.
Collection crew leads tested part of the new process, an issue reporting form,
to ensure communication is reaching management. The team tried several
iterations of forms and time intervals to find the final format and process.

6. Fresh Life User
Has used an FLT at least once
Challenge: Thousands of complaints received daily and requiring resolution. A process was
needed to unlock opportunities in complaint data for customer service improvements.
Solution: Designed standardized process identifying root cause of customer feedback and
translate into actionable insights for improvement projects. Deployed process with team of 25
complaint analysts minimizing cycle time to convert.
American Express//Customer Driven Innovation//Salt Lake City
“Transaction disputes
process takes too long”
“I don’t understand what
information I need to
provide for the dispute”
“I just kept calling
because I did not know
what happened with
information I provided”
Dispute’s solved in 5
business days
Communicate clear
expectations of information
required at beginning of
call
Disputes need clear
phases of research,
analysis, and closure
500 Calls per month related
to customers checking
disputes
Reduce call volume by 60%
with online check in system
Dispute calls take average
of 15 minutes and cost $5
each
Review complaint
Aggregate
trends to
make business case
Business
Process
Deploy
Add timeline
communications and status
updates to customer service
instructions
Design online form system
and enable customers to see
dispute status
Label with root
cause
Analyze and
aggregate
trends
Create
recommendations and
assign business unit
Phase
Customer sends
feedback
Translate into
desired outcome
Example:Transaction Dispute Calls

7. Solution:
• Form a committee to oversee storage shed and elect
manager
• Establish training program for complicated tool skills.
• Developed inventory management
• Write-up rules and guidelines for tool storage and check-
out
Community
Development Hardware
in Costa Rica
Facilitate brainstorm workshop with local leaders to make program a
reality
Study best practices in collaborative development
Synthesize findings and present to community for further discussion
Map new system and follow-up with next steps
Interview Local Leaders and assess community resources
Step-wise
Approach to
Collaborative
Development
Problem: Communities and a local NGO were facing the challenge of investing thousands of
dollars in hardware tools only to have the tools break or disappear.

8. Problem Statement:
Demand for passports at the Mexican Consulate in
Philadelphia was more than could be processed.
-6 months of backlog for appointments for documents.
- Constraint of maximum throughput of 90 passports per
day.
Create process
flow and
value mapping
+ analysis
Sample time
studies and
employee
interviews-
consulate tasks
Model
Consulate
Operation
using
simulation
software and
Analyze
simulation
results-
sensitivity
analysis
Communicate
recommendations
for resource
utilization
Outcome:
Developed an integrated Industrial and Systems Engineering approach.
Recommended to the Consular to increase each of the biometrics and reception
window with an additional employee.
-Increased daily throughput of passports by 120%.
-Mexican consulate can currently receiving 200 daily applicants.
Backlog of Passports
Mexican Consulate
Philadelphia
Goal: Find the best allocation of the workforce to increase the
number of passports that could be produced daily.