Greenbelt Calgary is Underway!

This week the fourth fall Greenbelt program kicked off: Greenbelt for Operations Calgary. This group comes from many different organizational backgrounds and we are so pleased with the great work so far. Keep it up!

 

 

Interested in more information on our Greenbelt programs? Please see the video below:

 

 

As well, please visit our website at: www.leansensei.com for all the most updated information on upcoming program offerings in your area. Don't see a Greenbelt program in your area? Please contact us at info@leansensei.com for information on our in-house programs.

Why Lean is Crucial for Sales and Marketing

Vicki Morgan is a Business Partner of the Continuous Improvement team at First West Credit Union. Currently, she is a Blackbelt candidate for our Fall 2013 program. In this interview, Vicki sheds light on an issue often brushed under the rug- embedding Lean principles into the area of business focused on customer value, the Sales and Marketing department.

Why is Lean often overlooked when it comes to the Sales and Marketing arm of the business?
Most people look at Lean from a process improvement stand point.
We describe it as a three pronged stool:

1. What does the change mean to the organization
2. What does change mean to the employee
3. What does change mean to the customer

The third prong is our "why". Ultimately, we want to improve the customer experience and the other two prongs are supporting roles to that reaching vision.

One might argue that the Sales department is already customer focused, what value does Lean bring to the Sales department?
Lean puts a lot of emphasis and optics around the customer. It is easy for us to get tied into our own routines and as such we have the danger of being motivated to perform our work with the goal of making my own work easier. If you are approaching your processes from the customer driven standpoint sometimes this may mean moving some of the expectations that we have on our clients to the back office and taking on a bigger piece of the pie. If your customers feel that it will take their own time and energy to deal with you, then they will shop elsewhere.

In this respect, Lean is a mechanism to help you walk through your process thinking about what a customer would think. This is your competitive edge.

Companies that fail to do that suffer in product delivery, product creation and how they market their product is based on what they think versus marketing from the customers' standpoint. Generally, we all have similar products and services but Lean thinking, looking at your processes from the customers' perspective is what will set you apart.

Lean Sensei's two-day workshop will examine how traditional sales and marketing practices are filled with “muda” that not only waste resources but even worse, block attempts to become a Lean enterprise.

October 16 to 17, 2013
Lean Sensei training facility,Vancouver, BC
info@leansensei.com 

Supply Chain Module Kickoff Blackbelt

Great kickoff of module 2!

The photos below depict the class engaging in a simulation that draws upon the skills of Lean Supply Chain the participants have learned, including vendor management and negotiation.

A Lot Going on at Lean Sensei

Welcome back from the weekend!

Today is the first day of the Lean Supply Chain module for Blackbelt. The Blackbelts will learn how to negotiate with vendors and how to remove muda (waste) in processes involving external suppliers.
The main topics the class will cover are:

• Lean Procurement
• Process Simplification
• Lean Inventory Management
• Heijunka (Load Balancing)
• Supply Chain reduction Kaizen

Visit our Facebook page for more photos from our programs.

Next week, our Executive Leanbelt participants will delve into how to apply Lean into the Sales and Marketing functions of organizations. The ramifications of not being Lean in this part of a business are larger than some of us may recognize.

Greenbelt in Calgary

Lean for Sales will take place next week on October 16-17th and counts for 2 Executive credits.

Last but not least, Greenbelt Operations in Calgary kicks-off today!

What's Your L.E.A.N. Score?

Members of the Lean Sensei team were onsite last week working with a company that is going through a Lean Diagnostic Assessment.  

Strategy Session

The Lean Assessment is a rigorous process that results in a ‘snapshot’ of at what stage of maturity a company is with regard to their Lean activities.  Members of the company’s senior management and Leadership teams joined Lean Sensei practitioners in arriving at an all-important L.E.A.N. Score which provides a baseline from which to set targets and plan next steps in the Lean Roadmap.

Lean Sensei team members joined the Executive Leadership team in an intensive Lean Strategy session that involved an in-depth examination of the current competitive environment, crafting new vision, value statements and setting the stage for future growth.

  

Ice Breaker in between heavy analysis during the assessment

Team building and friendly competition

This company is ready to let Lean soar!

Greenbelt Operations kicks off in Toronto!

 

 

"For man, Autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad."

- Edwin Way Teale

 

As the leaves change color and we begin to don our warmer clothing, we are very grateful to welcome so many Greenbelts our way this season. This week, the Greenbelt Operations program kicks off in Toronto.

 

Greenbelt Toronto:

For many, coming of fall is a time for reflection, or hansei. While it is a good idea to practice re-alignment consistently throughout the year (much the same as an airplane is never travelling in a straight line, but rather the pilot is always making small adjustments left and right to end up at the precise landing location), it is also a good idea to step out of the box and take a wider objective view. What opportunities for improvement have presented themselves to you so far this year? Where in your organization could use some hansei, or reflection?

For more information on our upcoming Winter and Spring 2014 programs, please see our website here.

Blackbelt Vancouver Fall 2013 Module 1 Video!

One of our Blackbelt participants made an amazing video overview of Blackbelt module 1!


Blackbelt Certification Program - Vancouver - Fall 2013 from Lean Sensei Leanbelt on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for the Module 2 video recap!!

Photos of the day

Welcome, Greenbelt Service Vancouver Participants!

This week marks the kick-off of the Greenbelt program for Service in Vancouver. More and more organizations are recognizing the value of applying Lean in service-based environments, and we truly enjoy providing a safe and engaging atmosphere of Lean learning. This is our third Greenbelt program to kick-off this September, and we still have two more to go! We are very excited to follow each group and share their experiences in the hopes that it will inspire others on their own respective Lean journey. For information on upcoming Greenbelt Winter programs beginning in January, please see our online calendar at http://www.leansensei.com/calendar. Registration is available online here.

Teamwork/Teambuilding activities aplenty:

Stay tuned for more updates!

Second Day of Blackbelt

Yesterday was the second day of Blackbelt. Starting today, the Blackbelts will kaizen!

The topic of the kaizen is Lean Strategy and Assessment. The kaizen will take place at a local Vancouver company. Stay tuned for the class created video of the module which will be posted on the blog and our Vimeo page.

Funny picture of the day

Lean Sensei founder David Chao dresses up as an astronaut as part of the Blackbelt program (there is always a surprise in Lean Sensei programs!). Jessie follows David with her own version of a Disco player to demonstrate that it's ok to have fun in the Blackbelt program.

Blackbelt Fall 2013 Kick-off

Fall Blackbelt challenge begins! 

Blackbelt program focuses on Lean Strategy and the Strategic Deployment of Lean methodology. Structured around the Lean Excellence (LE) model, the program covers Lean Strategy, Excellence in Product, Process, People and Customer as well as suppliers and external partners. This is an advanced level course that includes our well-renown Japan Lean Tour.  This eye-opening and insightful trip serves to be an invaluable experience for participants who are serious about encouraging and promoting a continuous improvement culture within their organizations.

Vancouver Blackbelt launches Monday!

On Monday, we will be kicking-off our most important lean certification program, the Blackbelt program. Designed to develop world-class lean leaders, the Blackbelt offers 4 modules of intense, insightful projects. More importantly, the Blackbelt programs includes a complete benchmarking trip to Japan.

Please take a look at our overview video:

Greenbelt Operations Vancouver Kick-off!

The weather may be getting cooler, but here at Lean Sensei we are just getting fired up! Fall programs have started up again at our head office in beautiful Vancouver. Participants from all over the United States and Canada are here for the first module of Greenbelt for Operations. For the bulk of this week they are applying their Lean skills at a hosting company conducting a Kaizen on the principles of 5S.

 

Without standardization, it is difficult to achieve even the most obvious of targets.

Keep an eye out for more updates with this group and for more from our other upcoming fall programs!
 Please check out the Lean Sensei Website for our program calendar and more information.

And here are the answers from the Greenbelt trivia questions posted on Monday. Thank you to all who posted their answers on our Facebook page.

Question (1)

How many books are in the “Toyota Way” series?

Five (The Toyota Way, The Toyota Way Field book, Toyota Talent and Toyota Culture, The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership)

Question (2) – Multiple Choice

Since 2004, how many people have graduated from Lean Sensei’s Greenbelt program?

a) 1,000

b) Between 1,000 and 1,250

c) Between 1,250 and 1,500 (the actual number is 1,305 and still counting- We are transforming the world!)

d) Between 1,500 and 2,000

  

Question (3) – Multiple Choice

In which year was the term “Lean” first coined?

a) 1987

b) 1990 (by Jim Womack in his book “The Machine that Changed the World”)

c) 1997

d) 1980

  

 Question (4)

In 2012, LSI started a quarterly newsletter, in which Andrew wrote our first ever Coach’s corner article on Flow. In this article he wrote that Flow could be broken down into four vital components. Name each of these.

1) Materials

2) Information

3) People

4) Spirit (or teamwork)

  

Question (5) – Multiple Choice

How many group kaizen’s have been completed through Lean Sensei’s Greenbelt program?

a) less than 150

b) 150 - 200

c) 200 - 250

d) greater than 250 (the actual answer is 276)

Question (6)

Name all 7 types of waste – Bonus point if you can name the 8^th

1) Transportation / Travel

2) Unnecessary Inventory

3) Unnecessary Motion

4) Waiting

5) Over Production

6) Inappropriate Processing

7) Defects

8) TALENT! (or Skills)

Question (7) – Multiple Choice

As you know, the focus of these three days is on Lean Leadership. As leaders, this question is to see how well you know your Greenbelts. Amongst all LSI Greenbelts, what is the most common MBTI type?

a) INTP

b) ESTP

c) ESTJ

d) ISTJ (interestingly ISFJ is the dominant type in the overall population, meaning Greenbelts are more likely to be thinking than feeling vs. the general population)

For the first time Blackbelt in Winnipeg!

2013 marks the first year Lean Sensei with CME is offering Blackbelt in Winnipeg!

We hope you enjoy the photos from the first day.

The famous (and more challenging than it looks) Number Plate Game

Group Discussions

The Love the World song!

Group Photo!

How Much Do you Know About Greenbelt

Welcome to Greenbelt! -Sarah, Lean Sensei Greenbelt Coordinator

Everyone is back from summer vacation and it is time for our wave of Fall Lean Greenbelt certification courses. This Fall we will have two Greenbelt classes in Vancouver, one in Calgary (starting October 7) and one in Toronto (starting September 30). The first of the four pack begins today with Greenbelt Operations in Vancouver.

While our participants are learning about the philosophy and history of Lean today, let's test how much the rest of you know about our Greenbelt programs...

Question (1)

How many books are in the “Toyota Way” series?

Question (2) – Multiple Choice
 

Since 2004, how many people have graduated from Lean Sensei’s Greenbelt program?

a) 1,000

b) Between 1,000 and 1,250

c) Between 1,250 and 1,500

            d) Between 1,500 and 2,000

Question (3) – Multiple Choice

In which year was the term “Lean” first coined?

a) 1987

b) 1990

c) 1997

d) 1980

Question (4)

In 2012, Lean Sensei started a quarterly newsletter, in which Andrew wrote our first ever Coach’s Corner article on Flow. In this article he wrote that Flow could be broken down into four vital components. Name each of these.

Question (5) – Multiple Choice

How many group Kaizens have been completed through Lean Sensei’s Greenbelt program?

a) less than 150 

b) 150 - 200

c) 200 - 250

            d) greater than 250 

Question (6)

Name all 7 types of waste – Bonus point if you can name the 8^th

Question (7) – Multiple Choice

Amongst all Lean Sensei Greenbelts, what is the most common MBTI type?

a) INTP

b) ESTP

c) ESTJ

d) ISTJ

Post your answers on our Facebook page, get them all right to win a prize!

Stay tuned for photos from today's Greenbelt program kick-off...

Japan Lean Tour Trailer

Our Blackbelt program starts this coming Monday in Winnipeg Manitoba, followed by a launch in Vancouver, BC on September 16th.  We are extremely excited about this incredible program, which features our renowned Japan Lean Tour.

Take a look at our Japan Lean Tour trailer video!

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day