Productivity Inc.

Starting Off the Year as Newly Minted Lean Managers - Yeah!

Sending an outsized congratulations to our recent Lean Manager Program graduates! Working together over the past four months has been a pleasure. The progress made in class and through your project work – including finding capacity increases, multi-million-dollar revenue opportunities, and substantial cost savings – truly showcased your dedication to the program and the Lean process. We eagerly anticipate hearing about how you and your teams continue to apply these concepts to bring added value to your organizations. Congratulations once again!

Last chance to register! Don't miss this opportunity...

Live-Virtual Workshop: The Lean Office: Service and Admin Process Improvement. January 22-26, 2024
Click on the link to learn more and register.
https://productivityinc.com/training-certification/lean-office/

Week 2 Update: Lean Manager Certification Program at The
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Earlier this month the 2nd week of the Lean Manager Certification program took place on the campus of The Ohio State University. It was a great week of learning.

The participants, all experienced lean practitioners, took significant strides in expanding their capabilities. Here’s a snapshot of what the week achieved:

- Participants presented their certification project focus, all of which have strategic significance to their organizations, and we look forward to watching them put theory into action to make a tangible difference.

- We debuted a new TPM/Autonomous Maintenance simulation, an interactive experience for participants to understand and apply TPM/AM principles. The teams discovered equipment improvements we hadn’t considered when creating the sim, with some venturing into 'digital AM' by creating electronic provisional standards. It was a fun day of discovery.

- Late in the week we ventured out to a local plant for a day of practical learning. It was an excellent opportunity for the teams to apply the concepts in a real-world setting. We’d like to thank our host, Simpson Strong-Tie, for their hospitality.

Thanks to the participants for their enthusiasm and dedication. We're gearing up for a jam-packed Week 3 next month, excited to see the development of the participants' projects and to continue the learning journey with advanced Lean techniques like Kanban and 3P (Production Preparation Process).

https://productivityinc.com/training-certification/lean-manager-certification-for-manufacturing-lmac-fall-session/

(Hard) hats off to everyone who took part in our recent Maintenance Miracle program, which wrapped up a few weeks back in Archbold, OH! A huge thank-you to Sauder Woodworking for being such gracious hosts.

Participants spent an action-packed 3.5 days diving into the world of Autonomous Maintenance (AM). Teaming up with Sauder's own associates, they tackled AM Steps 1-3 on real equipment, focusing on cleaning/inspecting to detect/correct abnormalities. Their focus included eliminating/reducing sources of contamination and addressing inaccessible areas to make cleaning/inspecting easier in the future. Once restoration had begun, the teams created provisional standards / CILs (cleaning, inspection, lubrication standards), and wrote one-point lessons to aid operators in maintaining the equipment’s condition.

The week's highlight? Identifying a whopping 111 abnormalities, from “gator eggs” to “18-footers.” Identifying and correcting abnormalities, regardless of the size, is critical since all abnormalities, from chronic losses over time to catastrophic, will eventually cause problems, i.e., unplanned downtime.

Sauder stated that addressing these 111 issues would prevent future unplanned downtime by a staggering 2,000 minutes! As impressive, the teams' efforts bumped up TPM Scan scores by nearly 20 points.

Kudos to all participants for these remarkable achievements. We can't wait to see what they’ll discover when they apply this process in their own facilities. Keep hunting those gators - find them before they find you!