Daphne,
I would suggest getting a certification in either lean manufacturing or six sigma. With your college background it would be a natural. There are some really good courses offered. Below are some good sites.
www.6sigma.us
www.1stcourses.com
www.bmgi.com
There are some others that I...
The website www.1stcourses.com provides a primer on all the lean concepts for free.
The productivity press books are excellent, as is the Lean Thinking book by Womack.
Learning to See is a good book on value stream mapping.
