This 4-day interactive workshop is designed to develop key mindsets, approaches and skills to support business where continuous improvement is integrated into daily operations. Participants will learn and practice; principles of lean, distinction of value within process, waste identification, managing daily improvement, leadership standards, problem solving and A3, 5S, visual management, kamishibai, value stream mapping […]
5S Thinking and Strategy Deployment, say what!
By Steven Hirt
It’s that time of year where we begin to think about the future and our strategy for getting there. If you are using Strategy Deployment or Hoshin Kanri principles you are likely already there. If not, it may be time to do a little housekeeping or 5S your top strategies and actions. 5S? Yes, […]
Training Within Industry (TWI) – SOUTHERN Wisconsin – Job Methods
One course of Optima’s three-course TWI Certification Program, this one-day workshop focuses on the skills required to improve and document current production/work methods. These skills, traditionally thought of as lean skills, can help your business processes stabilize, improve and thrive. Based on the TWI – JM improvement approach, you will: • Learn and apply the […]
Coaching excellence and being the best version of yourself
By Steven Hirt
I was recently listening to a Norman Bodek podcast on the Harada Method and coaching excellence. He spoke of Kyocera and its Chairman Kazou Inamori which I found intriguing and wanted to learn more. Words like “Trust” and “Respect for People” are often used but rarely practiced, especially in Western Culture. Below is the management […]
What’s the problem you are trying to solve?
By Steven Hirt
Way too often organizations are pursuing the benefits of the Toyota Production System or Lean Enterprise by trying to imitate or copy others. While there is value in understanding what others have done, company and continuous improvement leaders should recognize their own uniqueness and culture and develop countermeasures to their own business problems, not someone […]
Leader Standard Work for LEAN LEADERSHIP
By Christian Wolcott
What is your standard as a Manager or a Leader? Some insight; in vibrant, progressive organizations that strive to integrate continuous improvement with running the business, you need to be both an effective manager and leader fundamentally becoming a Lean Leader. The challenge is creating a standard that comprises both sets of skills and approaches. […]
Lean Yardstick
By Steven Hirt
Thinking about how the Lean Business System and its principles can influence your business is paramount and a key component of establishing your True North. Lean, although filled with tools, is by its very nature a people system. At its very foundation is respect for people. This does not mean just “being nice”, it means […]
Industry 4.0
Leadership of any organization is charged with determining ‘its’ future – where it is headed, how to address it and when – whether to come in early, late, or miss it. Scott Anthony, a Harvard professor once said: “Signs suggesting the looming need for transformation aren’t always obvious, and they are never unmistakable until it’s […]
Training Within Industry (TWI) – Southern Wisconsin – Job Relations
Perhaps the most important element to effective use of TWI is the understanding and practical application by leaders to use Job Relations techniques. One course of Optima’s three-course TWI Certification Program, this one-day TWI-JR workshop explores the purpose of JR to support Job Instruction (JI) and Job Methods (JM) in the use of TWI as […]
Paint Your People Gold
By Christian Wolcott
People closest to the work have the best ideas of how and what to change. Let’s examine this simple yet powerful statement. First people, which ones are we talking about? The employees. Which employees? The hardworking folks that directly handle and build the products and provide the services your customers receive. They are the people […]
