Workshop One - Lean Introduction: Understanding and Applying Lean Principles and Tools

Lean is a business transformation enabler that strives to make organizational processes faster and more efficient. Lean specialists are adept at identifying and eliminating “non-value-added” process steps – wasteful activities that don’t add value to the end product or service, and which customers, if given the choice, would not pay for.

Eliminating such waste from a process not only speeds it up, it reduces wait time and makes the process cycle time more predictable. This, in turn, smoothes the flow of production and enables the business to meet customer demand without exceeding it. Although Lean has its roots in the manufacturing world, it has been applied with great success in industries from healthcare to tourism, financial services to government.

Workshop Description

Workshop One of the Lean Management for Breakthrough Results training series introduces the concept of "Lean thinking" and the basic tools that enable Lean specialists to optimize workplace processes. Also introduced is the Value Stream Mapping technique (covered in detail during course two), and the concept of Kaizen events (Lean projects, covered in detail during course three).

Key Topics:

• Understanding the role of Lean management in a business transformation deployment.
• Learning to think “Lean” to enable breakthrough process performance.
• Selecting the right problems to solve using Lean management.
• Applying the five principles of Lean management.
• Recognizing the eight types of organizational waste.
• Mapping the current value stream of a process to understand opportunities for improvement.
• Increasing value by eliminating organizational waste and improving process productivity, efficiency and effectiveness.
• Improving process flow using Standard Work methods and tools such as Spaghetti Diagrams and Load Charts.
• Implementing a pull production system that is based on customer demand.
• Leading effective Lean Kaizen events, including managing stakeholders and facilitating participation.