To see selected course outlines, please click on the course number. If no outline is available, or you would like more information, please contact Lee Hales by telephone or E-mail. Also, be sure to see our Public Training Schedule for dates, locations, and sponsors of our up-coming public and on-line workshops.
About Our Operations Improvement CoursesOperations improvement is an essential skill at every level of the organization – from hourly operator on the plant or warehouse floor to senior executive. To meet this need, we offer a variety of courses that teach practical techniques and identify specific opportunities found in many industrial organizations. We offer these workshops in three “tracks:”
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Each goes beyond physical planning to include procedural and personnel-related aspects of industrial operations.
Manufacturing cells offer many plants their best opportunity for operations improvement. They are particularly appropriate for today’s production environment of shortened product life cycles and increased product variety. Cells are also the essential building blocks of lean manufacturing systems. Plants installing cells report the following typical benefits:
- 65 to 90% reductions in material handling effort
- 50 to 90% reductions in flow time
- 75 to 85% inventory reductions
- 50 to 90% reductions in scrap and rework
Please note! These benefits are achieved from cells alone and often by operators themselves, equipped with our training and empowered to implement their plans. They do not require the full application of the Toyota Production System (a.k.a. Lean Manufacturing). Nor do they require a Six Sigma program, with master-apprentice layers of color-coded leadership and participation – black, brown, green, etc.
By teaching your supervisors and operators time-honored techniques of industrial engineering, they can do for themselves what many top-down programs fail to accomplish –quick and lasting improvement in day-to-day operations.
Our courses in cell planning are based upon Systematic Planning of Manufacturing Cells (SPMC). Developed by Richard Muther & Associates – leading authorities on manufacturing cells – SPMC follows the proven structure of Muther’s other systematic methods. SPMC is also documented in texts, videos, and on-line training. An optional certification exam is available for those attending our 2- and 3-day cell planning courses.
Our courses in Results-Based Improvement teach 24 time-honored tools and techniques of industrial engineering and quality improvement. These can be quickly learned by any type or level of employee and applied to any kind of recurring work in manufacturing plants, warehouses, or administrative operations. These courses also teach a structured, six-step approach to organizing and completing operations improvement projects.
Our course in Lean Manufacturing teaches the specific techniques and practices required to successfully implement the Toyota Production System. In addition, the planning of production line cells, this workshop teaches value stream mapping and the application of lean principles to manufacturing operations.
