In tough economic times organizations need to figure out how to do more with less. Often the immediate response is to cut heads, but there are many ways to optimize resources and increase the bottom line. This course will show you how to streamline processes in service, office, engineering and production environments by 50-150%.

In this program, you will learn a set of evaluation techniques to reduce costs, increase value to the customer, and boost process efficiency. The learning experience will be active and hands-on with a combination of classroom scenarios, computer simulations and direct application to your organization—so you will see the actions you should take to make the most impact. You will leave with the skills necessary to dramatically improve your information, transaction, service or development processes. And you will know which wastes and tools to focus on in order to yield the biggest returns.

This program uses the methodology pioneered by Toyota to maximize efficiency, an approach James Womack and Daniel Jones coined as "lean" in their book The Machine That Changed the World. It has enabled Toyota to outstrip all 3 American car manufacturers and keep their current losses the lowest as well.

Topics

• Where are the wastes in your organization
• Hidden opportunities: 8 categories for big improvements
• 15 evaluation techniques to streamline resources
• Tools to reduce costs
  • Quality at the source
  • Standardization
  • Consolidation
  • Cellular teams
• How to improve customer satisfaction: What improvements will customers pay for?
• Tools to make processes more efficient
  • Batch reduction
  • Swim lane maps
  • Visual controls
• Redesigning the process
  • 15 rules for redesign
  • Multiple models for reducing costs, increasing customer satisfaction, and increasing process efficiency

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, participants will:

• Analyze their organization's process and identify areas for major resource savings
• Develop countermeasures of organizational process to align departments, eliminate inefficiencies and reduce costs
• Identify critical wastes that increase costs and cause delays
• Calculate the impact of wastes on cost, throughput and customer satisfaction
• Use visual management tools to monitor and promptly correct process problems
• Determine where and when to add technology to processes
• Use Business Process Mapping software to model and simulate processes
• Develop and evaluate options for immediate and longer term improvements

Who Should Attend

If you have any of these problems, this program will apply to you:

• You need to reduce inventory, head count and transportation costs
• Work doesn't flow easily between departments
• Rework loops slow the process and increase costs
• Delays in service response frustrate current customers and threaten their loyalty
• Differences among departments in getting things done reduce productivity
• Transactions get bogged down within their own fuctions
• Bureaucratic practices hamper decision making and slow you down
• Jobs get done again because of unclear expectations or multiple changes
• Automated systems are not bringing the benefits expected
• Departments often duplicate work of other departments

For this hands-on problem-solving program, we encourage participants to identify a particular process that needs improvement, and to attend the class in pairs (or small teams). Please bring knowledge of the sequence of steps and problem areas for that process to use in class.

Costs

Individual Participants: $1,165
Package Pricing: 2 class day per participant

Available Discounts