Lean Manufacturing Seminar

There are many companies implementing lean manufacturing through their continuous improvement initiatives. Often, one of the first decisions is to send a few employees to a lean manufacturing seminar.

Too often, the individuals selected look for a local seminar. Although a local lean manufacturing seminar may be the least expensive, it may cost the organization millions in the long run.

If the employees receive the wrong training, their lean manufacturing implementation could be short lived. In the worst case, the organization could go backward as a result of a failed lean manufacturing implementation.

A failed lean manufacturing implementation is very costly. Tim is wasted and thousands of hours are paid to resources implementing the right tools in the wrong way, place, or time.

Unfortunately, there is no specific definitive roadmap to a lean implementation. It is more based on the organizational analysis, which identifies "needs", and "opportunities", as well as the magnitude of each.

The facts above make it critical to develop in-house expertise. One brief seminar will not be enough, but a good lean manufacturing seminar can provide a foundation for the lean journey. It is called a "journey" because it never ends.

A great lean manufacturing seminar will provide both instruction and practice using all lean tools, from 5S and organizational analysis to ongoing kaizen events and everything in between.

Any good lean manufacturing seminar will provide detailed instruction using the following tools:

PDCA (plan-do-check-act)
Organizational Analysis
5S (sort, set-in-order, shine, standardize, sustain)
OEE (overall equipment effectiveness)
TPM (total productive maintenance)
Standard Operations
Line Balance and Takt Time
One Piece and Continuous Flow
Pull Systems
Kanban
Error Proofing
Quality at Source
SMED (singe minute exchange of die)
VSM (value stream mapping)
8 Wastes
Takt time
Methods Analysis
RCPS (root cause problem solving)
Cellular Manufacturing
Kaizen Events

Although becoming an expert with any lean manufacturing tools will require in depth study and substantial application, a good seminar can provide a foundation for continuous learning.