Whether you’re a manufacturer, a service provider, or independant contractor, lean will help you do MUCH more with FAR less.

In this lean primer we’ll address:

• How to reduce throughput time on any processes, and expose “waste” through a lean simulation game

• What is work, and what are the 8 wastes of lean, and how can they help you think more green?

We will discuss the following lean concepts:

• Value

• Pull vs push

• One piece flow vs batching work

• Just In Time thinking

• Kaizen

• Process flow

• 8 forms of waste

• The culture of Lean

• Systems thinking

Join Kjell van Zoen from vanZoen LLC and Brion Hurley from Business Performance Improvement to better understand how to develop and introduce lean in your organization and your personal workflow.

Roots of lean

In the 1950’s Taiichi Ohno, the father of lean manufacturing, created what became known as the Toyota Production System and subsequently as Lean. In the words of Mr Ohno himself, if we “are not given the opportunity to serve the company by working effectively, there can be no joy. For the company to deny that opportunity is to be against the principle of respect for humanity.”

According to lean, anything that doesn’t increase value in the eye of the customer is considered waste, or “muda”, and every effort should be made to eliminate that waste, as it is taking time away from you and your employees from working on more meaningful tasks. By the early 2000s, a connection was being made between waste and the impact it had on the environment (energy, water, landfill, pollution and carbon emissions), and the idea of “lean and green” was born.

Lean theory and tools is based on the idea of preserving (or increasing) value with less work. Anything that doesn’t increase value in the eye of the customer is considered waste, or “muda”, and every effort should be made to eliminate that waste, as it is taking time away from you and your employees from working on more meaningful tasks. By the early 2000’s, a connection was being made between waste and the impact it had on the environment (energy, water, landfill, pollution and carbon emissions), and the idea of “lean and green” was born.

But at it’s root, lean is much more than a productivity model; it’s really an employee engagement model. A lean culture is one of “no-blame, only opportunity”; a culture of collaborators that work together to continuously improve the organization from the bottom up. A lean organization is constantly adjusting itself according to things we can control (e.g. information, material and cash flow) in order to leave room to react to reality flow (e.g. snowstorms, staff turnover).

What do others think of this class?

"Good information and break down of concepts for people who don't know much about these concepts before hand!"

"Definitely a great example of applying the mindset as well as the process tools. Presented well!"

"Great intro to lean principles. Enjoyed history of Toyota, Deming and background"

"Fun, interactive, super informative!"

"I loved the level of detail we were able to get into"

"Activity was great & the visual showing smaller batch efficiency was cool too"

"The camera exercise made value stream numbers come to life"

KJELL VAN ZOEN

Lean Operations Consultant
vanZoen LLC, Portland, Oregon
www.vanzoen.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kvanzoen/

Kjell is an operations super-nerd & consultant. He adopted lean while running his manufacturing business (Plywerk) from ‘06-’16. He uses his operations and process engineering knowledge to help you save time, reduce stress, and increase production workflow, all leading to real cash savings. His services can be applied to any process in any part of the organization. He can provide training, leadership coaching and facilitation of rapid improvement events. He engages with clients through his own consulting firm, teaches lean at PCC, and offers his services to non-profits through Lean Portland, is a brand ambassador for Portland Made, and regular speaker about lean, green and local manufacturing. He is a leadership & operations super-nerd, science-fiction fan, biker, hiker, swimmer, yoga practitioner, and drives his wife crazy by taking the doors off of the kitchen cabinets as part of his 5Sing their home for optimum efficiencies.

BRION HURLEY

Lean Six Sigma Consultant
Business Performance Improvement LLC, Portland, Oregon
www.biz-pi.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/brion-hurley-432192

Brion, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, teaches Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean classes, facilitates workshops and kaizen events, performs statistical analysis, and mentors and engages employees through improvement efforts in the manufacturing and office areas, with emphasis on environmental impacts within a company. His consulting firm (BPI) became a Certified B Corporation in Jan 2018. In addition, he holds numerous sustainability certifications, and has experience driving sustainability efforts at both the corporate and regional level by applying process improvement techniques to reduce electricity and solid waste. He volunteers his time with nonprofits to teach and coach Lean concepts through an organization called Lean Portland. He is the author of the book, "Lean Six Sigma for Good."