Lean Manufacturing Training Classes

Our workshops provide practical, hands-on training in specific methods of lean manufacturing, lean office, lean design, and lean sales & marketing. These events will have a little stand-up teaching but the majority of the time is spent working with the people on an actual Telex problem or issue. The idea is to learn the lean methods by using them.

These lean methods are divided into three categories; Fundamentals, Production & Flow, and Improvement. Most of these tools are applicable to every process and department of the company irrespective of whether you work in the plant, in the office, in the design shop, sales/marketing, or administration.

Our lean methods workshops and kaizens are designed primarily for in-house presentation. They are most effective when the audience represents a cross section of operations people, lean specialists, and other support people. We find this leads to a better understanding the issues and to developing realistic implementation plans going forward.

LEAN FUNDAMENTALS		PRODUCTION & FLOW		CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Five S	Value Stream Mapping	Quick Change Over (SMED)	Pull Systems & Kanban	Practical Continuous Improvement	Building Quality into the Process
Defining Your Value Streams	Value Stream Management	Visual Performance Measurements	Designing Lean Cells	Lean Office Processes	Lean Product Design
Sales, Operations, & Financial Planning	Hoshin Policy Deployment Throughout	Level Scheduling & Heijunka	Total Productive Maintenance	Target Costing; Building to Customer Value	Eliminating Transactions & Administrative Waste
Working in Teams	Practical Lean Leadership	Lean Inventory Management	Understanding Value Stream Capacity
Value Stream Costing & Lean Decision Making		Creating Effective Visual Standardized Work

LEAN FUNDAMENTALS
Five S	The objective of this practical workshop is to implement 5S into an area of the company. We will apply the first three S’s to the area and develop methods for standardizing and sustaining 5S over the longer term. This process can then be applied rigorously in all areas of the plant and offices.	3 days
Defining You Value Streams	In this workshop we study the flow of materials & information through the plant and the administrative processes to determine the best value stream configuration to manage the business and promote lean improvement. The outcome is a clear definition of the value streams & the products within each value stream, identification of the value stream team-members, identify & minimize monuments & other obstacles to value stream management and control.	2 days
Value Stream Mapping	You will draw a current state value stream map for one of your own value streams, learn the standard steps required to build lean flow into the value stream, design & map the future state value stream process for your value stream You will also develop a practical action plan to make the future state a reality.	2 days
Value Stream Management	There are many new tools and methods of lean management. In this fast moving workshop we will bring these tools together into a practical and complete approach to the management and improvement of the value stream. This is an essential workshop for value stream managers.	2 days
Sales, Operations, & Financial Planning	Lean organizations are very well planned organizations. They do not do the traditional master scheduling and shop-floor planning; but they do have a very effective Sales, Operations, and Financial Planning process. This monthly planning process brings together people from across the entire value stream to plan sales, production, new product development, and improvement projects to provide superior service to the customers and a planned, orderly, & effective work environment. In this workshop we will implement the SOFP process.	3 days
Hoshin Policy Deployment Throughout the Company	Hoshin Policy Deployment starts with the executive team setting the company’s strategy and goals, but this needs to be deployed through every work-team across the organization. In this workshop we will develop actual policy deployment “X-charts” for the value stream, cells, departments, or work-teams represented in the people attending the class. The outcome of this workshop is a clear plan to make the company’s strategy a reality within each person’s area of work.	2 days
Working in Teams	Working in teams does not come naturally to most of us. This workshop is design for a team of people who are working together (either a permanent work team or a temporary improvement team or task force) and need to develop a successful team culture. Working with on a current team project the attendees will develop team goals, team rules, team meeting methods, team decision-making, and learn & apply the keys principles of successful team work.	2 days
Value Stream Costing & Lean Decision Making	Traditional standard costing methods do not apply to lean organizations; in fact they are harmful to a lean company. In this workshop we will calculate the cost and profitability of one of the company’s value streams, identify the hurdle rate of profitability needed for the value stream to be successful, and how to use this financial information to manage the value stream’s operations and improvements. We will implement value stream costing within the selected value stream. We will also address decisions like pricing, profitability of orders, make/buy, sourcing, capital acquisitions, and so forth. We used to use standard costs to make these decisions. We will take actual recent decisions within the value stream and use lean methods to demonstrate how they can be used and contrast them with the old-style methods. The outcome of this workshop will be valid & actionable financial information for managing the value stream and making day-to-day decisions. We will also use the features & characteristics method to calculate product costs.	3 days
Lean Leadership	Managers and supervisors within lean-focused organizations need to learn new ways of leading their teams. In this practical workshop the attendees will create plans to develop lean-style leadership. Lean leaders are customer focused, challenge the status quo, promote tough standards, are visible & available to their team-members, champion excellence, act with integrity, and facilitate teamwork. We will examine each of these leadership aspects and develop practical methods to put them into action.	2 days

PRODUCTION & FLOW
While these classes are called “Lean Production and Flow” they do not apply only to the manufacturing processes; most of them apply equally to administrative and product design processes. The training workshops will be tailored to the needs of the team. If the team is predominantly interested in Administrative or product design processes, the workshop will focus on these aspects of lean flow.
Quick Change Over (SMED)	Prior to this workshop the attendees will select a machine or a process that needs significant reduction in change-over time; one machine for every six people in the training workshop. During this hands-on workshop the team will go through the standard steps of the SMED (single minute exchange of dies) process to develop and implement quick change-over for their machine.	3 days
Visual Performance Measurement	Using one of the companies value streams, cells, and support operations, the team will design the performance measurements to be used for the value stream as a whole, and for each of the cells & processes within the value stream. The team will then introduce (or re-design) and implement the visual performance measurement boards that are used to manage, control, and improve the cells, processes, and the value stream itself. The team will also develop standard work procedures for maintaining & using the information on the boards.	3 days
Level Scheduling & Heijunka	Using one of the plant’s value stream, the team will create and implement a heijunka box (or board) that will be used to create a level schedule for the value stream. The team will gather the data, design the heijunka, calculate the pitch and cycle times, and physically implement the level scheduling process for the products within the value stream.	3 days
Lean Inventory Management	The team will design and implement (where possible) a supplier pull process for raw material or components. The team will design the flow of inventory to the production cells within the value stream (or part of a value stream) using such methods as kanban, point-of-use, and/or water-spider delivery. The team will calculate kanbans, build flow racks & FIFO lanes, create standard work for the materials control process, and implement the new methods. The team will prove out the new process by physically running the process themselves.	3-5 days
Creating Effective Visual Standardized Work	Working in a selected production cell or support process, the team will design and develop standardized work for the process. They will take account of the variety of flow and products within the cell or process. The team will create visual standardized work charts and (if needed) visual work instructions for the cell or process operators. The team will train the people and implement the standardized work.	3 days
Pull Systems & Kanban	Using a selected value stream within a plant, the team will use the standard design process used to develop a kanban/pull system for the value stream. The team will gather the data, create a plan for every part, determine how each part will be handled within the pull system, calculate safety stocks & kanban quantities, and implement (at least for some products) the newly design pull system.	3 days
Designing Lean Cells	The team members will design (or redesign) a lean cell. They will use the standard 11 step process of cell design, perform a paper kaizen, calculate the material & information flow, determine manning levels for different cell cycle times, and create a simulation of the cell. Where possible, the team will also implement the cell and run it themselves to prove out their design.	3 days
Total Productive Maintenance	Without reliable and effective equipment both in production and in the office no work will get done at any company. Yet, maintenance is only a small part of what TPM is about. Even before equipment is purchased the right people need to be involved. Installing and starting new equipment can involve a lot of lost time and productivity. Preventive and predictive maintenance includes knowing when parts need to be replaced ! just in time. Maintenance personnel are always challenged for time and need not be doing simple maintenance that others can be trained to do. And then, how you find problems quickly and reliably, and eliminate them, not just fix them. These are some of the topics that will be covered in this hands-on workshop with your own equipment in your own workplace.	3 days
Understanding Value Stream Capacity	The team will study a value stream and create a cost & capacity model for the value stream including both production steps and non-production steps. The team will identify the bottleneck operations. The team will then use the capacity model to address such decisions as bidding on a large new quote, understanding the impact of lean improvements, make/buy decisions, assessing capital equipment acquisition, and the impact of product/customer rationalization. The team will modify their capacity model so that it can be readily used by the value stream manager and others for decision-making and improvement.	3 days

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Practical Continuous Improvement	During this workshop we will identify and use the 3 primary improvement methods employed by lean organizations and determine how they can be used within this plant or office. We will identify different kinds of improvement problems; daily problems, weekly problems, and value stream strategic issues. We will work out practical methods for the use of performance measurements boards to drive continuos improvement. We will use the standard continuous improvement methodology, and learn to manage and document our team’s improvement work.	3 days
Lean Office Processes	In this hands-on workshop the team will select an office process and create a current state value stream map. They will identify waste and opportunities to eliminate it. The team will review standard methods for lean improvement within office processes using flow and pull. The team will identify the Sarbanes Oxley risks contained within the process, document & color-code them on the process map. They will design a lean future state map for the process, and assess the impact of the suggested changes. The team will define how the Sarbanes Oxley risks can be mitigated and tested. The team will them implement the new process, introduce or change the performance measurements, and measure the success of the new flow. If possible, standardized work will also be developed.	3 days
Target Costing; Building to Customer Value	During the workshop we will got through the 12 steps of Target Costing a product or product family. The first six steps (using QFD methods) are designed to enable us to understand how we create value for the customer and what we need to do to create more value. At step six the team will determine the value of our product in the eyes of the customer. We will then move from value to cost. The team will determine the target cost of the product and determine the gap between the target cost and the current value stream cost. The team will then develop (using value engineering methods) a practical approach to bring the product’s costs into line with the target costs. This will include sales & marketing projects, design or redesign of the product for increased value & reduced cost, procurement projects to obtain new materials that increase value and/or reduce costs, production operational projects, and projects designed to improve administrative processes. The team will be cross-functional including sales/marketing, design engineering, operations, and administrative personnel. The follow up to this work will be gather better current data from the customers.	3 days
Building Quality into the Process	Lean companies do not try to “inspect quality into the product” they ensure quality by building it into the process. This includes product quality and the quality of administrative processes like sales order entry and invoicing. In this workshop we will select a section of a value stream and identify causes of poor quality. The team will then design and (as far as possible) implement improvements to build quality into the process using self-inspection, poka yoke, and other methods.	3 days
Lean Product Design	During this workshop we will study one of the company’s design processes, value stream map the process, and identify where waste is occurring. The team will then work to identify how standard lean product design methods can be used to make the design processes much faster, create more valuable products (in the eyes of the customer), and flawlessly launch the product into production. The team will develop a future state map taking accounting of process cycle times, flow and pull processes. The team will also identify where “inventory” is required in the process to ensure good flow. The team will develop a visual design project planning & monitoring board. The team will develop a practical action plan for the implementation of the new process. If possible, the team will implement part of the new process during the workshop.	3 days