Check our podcast interview for more information regarding the Lean Factory Group's workshop schedule in 2012:

The Lean Factory Group has announced a new event - Advanced Workshop: Line Design for the Lean Factory

The future of manufacturing belongs to multi-product manufacturing, but few Lean practitioners are competent in mixed model line design. A primary goal of this workshop is for participants to learn these skills, and to be able to apply them immediately in their home factory environment.

Workshop Details:

• Date:
  February 14-16, 2012
  3-Day Workshop
  
• Time:
  8:00 am to 5:00 pm; lunch included
  
• Location:
  Toyota Material Handling USA
  National Customer Center
  5559 Inwood Drive
  Columbus, IN 47201
  
• Cost:
  $1,495/person, Early Bird and Group discounts available

Our workshop was a great success! Here are some of the evaluation results from the August 2011 Advanced Line Design Workshop:

"Excellent, very interesting, well thought out & executed, well planned, knowledgeable, very professional, organized, very well done, nice job, great experience, worthwhile, very well prepared."

"Learned a lot, educational, good overview of lean & take-away(s), great advice & topics, impressed w/ open information sharing, able & willing to answer questions, useful, very informative, kept us moving, kept attention of audience, good beginners introduction, good overview of Lean."

"Want to attend other events, will recommend to others at our company, and would recommend to others, want to see other Toyota facilities."

"Looking forward to implementing and improving current processes, great options and ideas for own factory."

Register for our next Lean Factory Event Creating the Lean Factory here:

About the Program

This one-day program, conducted by members of the Lean Factory Group, and hosted by Toyota Material Handling, has several learning goals: a chance to understand and apply current Lean Thinking, an opportunity to share best Lean practices and success stories with like-minded companies, to participate in one of the most successful Lean simulation games (and bring it back to your plant), and to tour the 2010 Plant Engineering Magazine’s Plant of the Year. Here are some of the comments from participants in the previous event held in April 2011:

I participated in the event in April and it was a great workshop. Toyota is a great host and the Lean Factory Team brought a lot to the table in a short period of time. I am registered for this event and looking forward to another great workshop. If you are not signed up, do so quickly, these fill up quick.

I'd like to thank Toyota and the whole Lean Factory team for the very informative workshop they put on in Columbus. I would recommend it very highly.

I am short on words to thank the Lean Factory Group for hosting the event. I also want to thank the attendees for making it dynamic and productive in the best Lean fashion. Everybody left motivated and understanding that a Lean Enterprise is not for the "Selected Few" but for ALL.

Workshop Agenda

Sustaining Lean Improvements, presented by the Leonardo Group. A failure to sustain improvements is a common occurrence, and a huge source of waste. In this formal presentation, you will hear what leading companies are doing to implement a Lean Management System, in order to maintain standard work, promote a culture of continuous improvement, and engage the entire workforce. You will then be able to see a Lean Management system in action on your tour of the Toyota plant.

The Lean Box Game. There are many simulation games, and the Box Game is one of the best. This eye-opening experience is something that can be brought back to your companies, to become a part of your Lean toolkit.

Lunch and Networking. An open-mike session will be lead by Toyota managers during the lunch break. Time is also scheduled to share best practices among the participants, which was a highlight of our previous event.

The Plant Tour. Toyota has been a leader of the Lean revolution since the beginning. Today Toyota Material Handling is the world leader in their market for both sales and quality.  As a part of this Lean Factory workshop, participants will take part in a private tour of the Toyota plant, lead by internal Toyota experts. This is a rare opportunity to tour and ask questions about the inner workings of a world-class Lean plant. Participants in previous Lean Factory workshops at Toyota tell us this was one of the highlights of the day.