Japan Lean Tour Day 3 Report

April 13th, Wednesday

Day 3 of the Japan Lean tour is the very special but busy day!

Starting with a very early departure to Tokyo train station to hop on the Shinkansen, the bullet train, to travel about 350 km in less than 2 hours to Iwata city, the city widely known as the headquarters of the Yamaha motor.

When in Japan, do what Japanese do!

Yamaha Motor is a Japanese manufacture of motorcycles and marine products.

Test driving a PAS, a bicycle where the rider's pedaling is assisted by a small electric motor.

In the afternoon, Mitsubishi Electric was our host. 

Japan Lean Tour - Day 2 Report

April 12th, Tuesday

Japan Lean Tour participants are here to learn not only how "Lean thinking" is implemented at manufacturing sites in Japan but also how it is in Japanese culture and people's mindset.

Day 2 of the Japan Lean Tour started with this cultural experience at Asakusa where there is a famous Buddhist temple named Senso-ji.

Then we've moved to Ichikawa City in Chiba prefecture to visit Toyota Logistics and Forklift Customers center. 

Japan Lean Tour - Day 1 Report

April 11th, Monday

Japan Lean Tour 2016 Spring has officially launched today with two amazing Nissan Factory Tours in Kanagawa Prefecture. 

Factory tour #1: Nissan Oppama Plant, where you get to see both gasoline vehicles such as Juke, Cube and the electronic vehicle LEAF are being assembled on the same assembly line.

Factory tour #2: Nissan Yokohama Engine Plant, where 12 % of the Nissan engines are built.

It, in fact, is a very special plant to visit with the fact being one and only plant to produce the VR Engines for GT-R.

Can you guess how many people are authorized to build the very special GT-R engines in the world? 

The answer is 5!!!

Only 5 people in the world are trained to hand craft the VR engines for Nissan GT-R at this temperature/air pressure controlled clean room, at this particular plant! 

These craftsmen are called "Takumi", meaning "Master Craftsman"

Today, we were so fortunate to have a chance to meet the leader of Takumi, whose first name is also Takumi during the plant tour. Thank  you Takumi-san for sharing your passion with us!

And, of course, the 1st FLASH MOB!!! 

Japan Lean Tour 2016 Spring - Flash Mob from Lean Sensei Leanbelt on Vimeo.

Stay with us for daily reports from the Lean Country, Japan!

Pre-Japan Lean Tour activity at Lexus

Our pre-Japan trip kicked off went smoothly with a special VIP treatment at Lexus! We were spoiled eating freshly-seared grade A tuna and being served sparkling water from the mountain river...all while getting an in depth tour of the Lexus facilities in famous Omote Sando area. 

Japan Lean Tour is about to start

Our Japan Lean Benchmarking Tour is the most popular Lean Tour we offer and Lean Sensei is the only organization in the world that includes a trip to Japan as part of the Lean Blackbelt curriculum. So far we have taken more than 600 participants to Japan... spring session starts today here in tokyo!

Japan is a country like no other in the world. It built its economic power through manufacturing over the past several decades, earning a reputation around the world as the “Lean Specialist.” Even though many Lean best practices can be found throughout North America, truly serious Lean practitioners still find that Japan is the only place that showcases Lean implementation in its purest form. Lean principles permeate every aspect of daily life in Japan and are not limited to production or engineering environments. People who travel to Japan are fascinated and surprised by the fact that even places like restaurants and gas stations utilize Lean principles in creative ways. It is difficult to truly appreciate the impact of Lean thinking until you have seen and experienced Japan hands-on.

The program is intentionally designed to provide both educational and cultural exposure to Japan through various plant tours and historical sites. Tours are arranged with such big hitters as Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi, but also with smaller players that can showcase different levels of Lean implementation. Participants will also be able to experience Japanese culture and have the opportunity to do some sightseeing. 

Your tour hosts David Chao and Jake Cameron are both bilingual, fluent in both English and Japanese. They will provide translating services to ensure that the nuances of Lean are not lost in translation and also provide cultural and lean insights throughout the trip.

For more information, please contact us at info@leansensei.com or 604-264-1000. 

Greenbelt Operations Spring Graduation

Congratulations to the Operations Greenbelts of Spring 2016! It was a fantastic day with a fantastic group of individuals who clearly understood teamwork and perseverance. A round of applause to the medalists who exceeded the coach's expectations! 

As wonderful as they all are to have around, we are excited to see what changes they will make in the world around them. Good luck everyone and thank you for being a part of Lean Sensei.

Kicking off another Greenbelt Operations Program

It's program kick-off day for our new team of Greenbelt participants! 

Here, our clients are practicing identification of lean strategies! 

Creating unique team logos as an icebreaker

Participants practice team building skills and learn the importance of visualization

This is just a sneak peek of our first module with this dynamic team, stay tuned to see what goes on in  Module 2.

Go team!

New program launched

As most of you know, Lean Sensei is the first company to offer pure lean belt programs. Our whitebelt, yellowbelt, greenbelt, Blackbelt, and master Blackbelt programs have become the most respected lean programs in the world with more than 6,000 people graduating from these belt programs. For the first time - due to request from our clients - we are offering a program between yellow and greenbelt programs called the Lime Belt program. Please contact us for more details.