Greenbelt Operations Spring Module 2

Participants from the Greenbelt Operations Spring program are back from their 2-week hiatus to complete their Module 2! In this module, they are learning Cycle Time Reduction methodology as well as presentation skills, which will be critical for their lean journey.



Preparing their short presentation.

 









Great presentations! The relentless practice is making them more confident.





Listening to their peers' presentations carefully so that they can provide them with constructive feedback.



Blackbelt Spring 2012 Kick-Off Video

In the spirit of reflection- LSI enjoys collecting video clips from our groups. We hope you enjoy this compilation of the kick-off from last Monday!

Amazing sunset in Kauai

Sometimes we have to take a break and just reflect on how amazing this earth is..... here's a beautiful sunset video I took in Kauai using a waterproof camera.

Time to reflect on the past, the present, and the future....

Blackbelt Lean Assessment Module

We are excited to have a group of experienced industry professionals joining us for Spring Blackbelt this week. They are now embarking on an intensive Lean journey where it will take them on a whole new level of strategic understanding and team building experiences.

Lean Assessment module will definitely set new challenges and learning opportunities for the group!

 

Great teamwork at the hosting company today!

Calgary Kickoff

What could be in there?

Value Stream Mapping Exercise

Greenbelt for Operations in Calgary Spring 2012

Calgary's newest group of soon-to-be Greenbelts!

Blackbelt Spring Kicks off this morning!

LSI Presents Mike Hoseus in Vancouver and Calgary

Topic: Leadership & Transformation

When: Vancouver on May 30th 2012

When: Calgary on June 1st 2012

Executive Credits: One Credit towards your ELL, ELD, ELO Certification!

Back by popular demand, Lean Sensei International is proud to host a one-day Executive training session on Lean Leadership and Transformation with award-winning author, Mike Hoseus.

Attendees can expect to:

• Learn how to develop a strategy for creating the right leadership.
• Learn how to create the right culture and why delegating Lean to others doesn't work.
• Understand why only focusing on cost cutting is the wrong approach.
• Identify and implement processes to sustain your improvement activity.

Please contact us for further information!

1-888-LSI-LEAN (1-888-574-5326)

Vancouver Benchmarking Tour Spring 2012

Join us this Spring for our Second Benchmarking Tour!

Last year's trial tour across six of our client's facilities was incredibly well received. In response, we've decided to run the tour again this Spring and to offer two Executive Credits towards our Lean Executive Program.

When: March 14th and March 15th 2012

Where: There will be two pickup/dropoff locations in Downtown and South Vancouver. All you need to do is join us and jump on our top of the line executive charter.

Why: This is a great opportunity to network with the Lean Community and see for yourself how these leading companies have implemented lean at their organizations!

Space is filling up quickly- please contact us for more details!

1-888-LSI-LEAN

Greenbelt for Operations Vancouver Winter 2012- Module II

 It has been a busy month for LSI. Just as our 'Operational Spring Greenbelts' were ending their first Module at a Retail Clothing Distribution Center- our Winter Greenbelts were coming into Vancouver to get ready for their second Module. This group had a particularly difficult Cycle Time Reduction Assignment for this large manufacturer of heavy duty equipment. Friday will be their chance to present their improvements to a team of Executives.

Fisker's Amazing Lean Product

The Fisker is a remarkable car company with true lean approach to product development. David talks about the car and the company itself after visiting with Fisker executives in California last week. David is truly impressed with the car after driving it for some hours in southern California ... and learned a great deal about Fisker's corporate strategy from talking to Fisker president and its senior engineers.

Greenbelt for Operations Spring 2012- Week 1

Bob had these participants getting their hands dirty building motorcyles through trial and error. Key point to take away from this exercise- SOP's make life a lot easier!

From the looks of these pictures- we could assume these individuals were already Greenbelt Certified! Some very professional looking Value Stream Mapping!

The next day- the Vancouver Spring group was able to help a new hosting company 5S their Distribution Center!

Fisker - the revolutionary Karma

David is meeting up with executives of Fisker automotive to drive and discuss about their innovative Fisker electric luxury sports sedan, the Karma. Having spent a day driving and talking to Mr. Fisker himself provided a lot of insight about this revolutionary car company based in California.

What is definition of value?

Bob Low and David Chao talks about the meaning of value.

What is hansei?

Please watch the youtube channel to find out....

Greenbelt for Operations Vancouver Spring 2012



With such a small group- it was imperative to get them team-building right away and the energy flowing! Bob broke up the group into three teams.

Bob may have used extra force in dropping the eggs- none of the teams made it past the first round!



Greenbelt for Operations Vancouver Spring 2012

Yesterday we welcomed Nine new participants for our Spring program

Lean in grocery stores

Did you know that early pioneers of lean learned about lean thinking from visiting super markets and grocery stores?  Find out what we can learn....

Photos of the day

David Chao and three authors of Toyota Way books (Dr. Liker, David Meier, and Mike Hoseus)

Toyota dealer employees doing a morning huddle to discuss key customer topics

Two master blackbelts Ian Marshall and John Chaput with David Chao at Europe Lean Program

Toyoda's Comeback Kid- written by Alex Taylor III

These last few years have tested Japan's resiliency. In addition, to the global recession, they've had to cope with a frightening Tsunami, earthquakes and nuclear meltdown. While these natural disasters have disrupted manufacturing and demand within the country- Japan has also had troubles competing on the International automarket with such a high Yen- counter benefiting them.

In the midst of these national and global setbacks- Toyota has struggled to hold on to its reputation for exceptional quality. 

The article below describes how Toyota's relatively new President, Akio, has gone back to Toyota's founding principles to hopefully revive the company and reestablish its top position in the industry.

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/09/toyota-akio-toyoda-comeback/

Greenbelt for Service Winter 2012: Now the real action begins!

After two days of lectures on lean principles and tools and some active team-building, this group is ready for their on-site training!

Here our hosting company representative presents the projects for consideration- including any pertinent information relating to the inherent frustrations with the current area or process.

Andrew reinforces....that's right....SUSTAINABILITY! The most important of the 5S! The teams are forced to come up with procedures for sustaining their 5S once its completed. Tools for this include checklists, process supervisors, reward systems etc...

The class decides on which project caught their eye.

Smaller groups form to focus on their assigned/desired project! Good luck to you all :)

Greenbelt for Service Winter 2012

Here is our first group photo!

Greenbelt for Service Vancouver Winter 2012

What a lovely day! Our Winter Service group had its first session this morning. It was a very lively group of 13 participants from all across the Lower Mainland. Our coach Andrew led the kick-off- putting these strangers into team building exercises. 

Here the teams have to come up with a Name, Logo and Chant. This team named themselves Lean Infinity.

Beautiful structure out of tin foil- but your guess is as good as mine- as far as what it stood for...

Next. The infamous egg-dropping game- where teams have to work together to build a structure around a large egg in order to protect it from being dropped. This team had a complex anti-bouncing concept.

I dubbed this one, "the porcupine"

All four teams came up with some fantastic designs. It took three rounds to declare the winner!

After lunch, the group was divided into two teams for the Tea & Coffee Simulation. In the first round the teams had to organize themselves into a new coffee shop. There were many mistakes in the first round- but having designated an observer and customers to provide feedback- the teams were better able to provide service in Round 2. 



By the end of the day, this group of strangers had now formerly bonded with eachother. They are sure to use their skills and minds to solve some real problems during this week's 5S Kaizen!