One course of Optima’s three-course TWI Certification Program, this one-day workshop focuses on developing the skills required to train employees effectively so that they can perform their job tasks correctly, completely and independently. Based on the TWI JI training approach, you will: • Learn the 4-step training technique to effectively train new and existing employees to […]
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 […]
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 […]
Creating a “One Company” Culture
By Steven Hirt
In meeting with a new president of a company over a cup of coffee this morning, it dawned on me how hard creating a “one company” culture really is. Reflecting over my years of helping organizations envision, develop and execute strategy, I considered how difficult it is to make these simple words reality. I don’t think […]
Standard Work – MN Continuous Improvement Consortium event
Standard Work is repeatable, safe and reliable operations, with all tasks organized in the best known sequence using the most effective combination of people, material, machines and methods. In essence, it is the single best documented recipe for accomplishing work. It builds on tribal knowledge and best practices, tips, tricks and workarounds that hard-working people […]
SIC – Short Interval Control
Short Interval Control is a process that involves identifying and implementing effective counter-measures to improve performance in repeated cycles. Through the observation of a given indicator, we can highlight the variation, which would otherwise have been ‘greyed out’ by averaging, using shorter intervals. Short Interval Control meetings are performed multiple times per shift utilizing good […]
Problem Solving
In the powerful world of continuous improvement, PROBLEMS are to be celebrated! Join us for Breakfast as we chat about PRACTICAL PROBLEM SOLVING. We will quickly examine tools and techniques that make for more effective problem management. Problem Perception – Can we articulate in an objective way? Clarify the issue and “the Gap” – Can […]
Machine Design Principle 2 – Simple
By Roger Wolfe
In this case Simple means the bare essentials to get the job completed. Most machinery manufacturers create base equipment that has some extras that will never be used in our application, but they are trying to create as much value for a large range of customers as possible. Not only do these “extras” create additional […]
VSM with Toast – Central Wisconsin
VSM, Value Stream Mapping. The term VSM and Value Stream and Mapping are routinely thrown around in Lean circles and dialogs about continuous improvement journeys, but how well are the terms, the tool, the techniques and most importantly the committed support to actually using them as intended understood? Fully 80 percent of Lean programs everywhere […]
Machine Design Principle 1 – Right Sized
By Roger Wolfe
When you hear right sized you are probably thinking of the overall dimensions of the machine. That is one element of Right Sized, but there is another very crucial element – run speed of the machine. Speed When considering a machine design, understanding takt rate is extremely important. A machine that needs to complete a […]