Workshop—Lean Assessment

Summary

In this Lean Assessment mini-workshop, a Strategos consultant works with your management team. Together, you investigate nine key areas with respect to lean manufacturing practices.

The search for factual data begins a paradigm shift for both individuals and the organization. Through this workshop, managers begin to understand the interactions between manufacturing system elements and take the first step towards Lean Manufacturing.

Participants Will Learn...

• Why Inventory is the most basic metric

• How to measure and evaluate Team and human-related issues

• To view your processes in new ways that identify and highlight waste

• Simple ways to determine if Maintenance is meeting the needs of production and where they should improve

• How to visualize the effects of layout and material handling on operations

• How well are your suppliers meeting your needs?

• What is the potential for Quality improvement?

• Can scheduling be more effective?

• How to use the "Radar Chart" for an overall view

How It Works

We offer the Lean Manufacturing Assessment workshop onsite or online. The onsite version requires an intense two days where participants are totally committed to workshop tasks. The online version uses a series of online web conferences and interim assignments where the calendar duration is somewhat variable at 3-5 weeks.

1. In the first Online conference, we explain the key areas of the lean manufacturing assessment, why they are important, what data is required, and how to format the data and information.

2. Team members pursue various assignments and share the results.

3. At a second conference, we discuss the results and agree on additional data needs or changes.

4. At a final conference, we discuss the meaning and implications of the information. We also examine how to apply Lean Manufacturing techniques.

The result-- deeper understanding of key issues, problems, and potential Lean Manufacturing solutions.

Program Outline

1.0 What Data Do We Need? 

          Principles of Metrics 

          Nine Key Areas 

                    Inventory 

                    The Team Approach 

                    Processes 

                    Maintenance 

                    Layout & Material Handling 

                    Suppliers 

                    Setup & Lot Size 

                    Quality 

                    Production Control & Scheduling

2.0 Refining The Data 

          Evaluating Each Section 

          What Else Is Helpful? 

          Assignments

3.0 What It Means 

          The Final Score 

          Interpreting Each Section 

          What Goals Are Feasible? 

          Where Do We Go From Here?