LEAN online training
For most organizations, up to 25% of revenues are consumed by waste. Each 10% reduction in wasteful activity can contribute as much as 2.5% to their bottom line. Lean Sigma helps you accelerate the performance of your current processes and has a multitude of applications. Our LEAN course includes real world case studies, tools and templates and everything else you need to put the powerful concepts of LEAN to immediate use.
- Web-Based Training
- Focused on Applying LEAN
- Includes real world case studies

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“I am TRULY enjoying the course! It is very well-written, concepts are easy to follow and master, and the content is accurate. I’ve worked in CQI/Performance Excellence since 1987, but your course is a great refresher and applicable to my current work in healthcare. Thank you.”
Yvonne Simmons Howze, PhD
Kellogg National Leadership Fellow
ASQ CMQ/OE
St. Augustine, Florida
Lean Training: Table of Contents
- A Very Brief History of Quality
- Key Points of Improvement Methods
- Basic Principles of Quality
- Basic Principles of PI
- Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
- Costs of Quality
- Many Methodologies
- Deming and Juran
- Deming's Fourteen Points
- Tools: PCDA
- The Pioneers
- The Juran Trilogy
- Juran's Analogy
- Six Sigma Concept
- Six Sigma Emphasizes
- Six Sigma Characteristics
- Six Sigma Approach
- Lean
- Lean Six Sigma
- Value Stream Management
- Rough Comparison of Approaches
- What is Lean?
- Steps in Lean
- Steps in Lean and DMAIC
- What Is Lean Thinking?
- Staff Worried About the Intent?
- Waste According to Toyota's Taiichi Ohno
- Get Rid of the Waste
- Value-Added Steps
- Examples of Muda
- Five Principles of Lean Thinking
- Value
- An Example of Value
- The Critical to Quality Tree
- Viewpoint: Who is the Customer?
- What is a Value Stream?
- Value Stream
- Value Stream Map Example
- Flow
- Contrasting "Flow" and "Batch"
- Flow of Work
- Bottlenecks
- Hand-offs
- Pull
- Perfection
- Comparing Six Sigma and Lean
- What Does "Six Sigma" Mean?
- Definition #1: Six Sigma is a Statistical Measure of Quality
- Why 3.4 Parts Per Million?
- Definition #2: Six Sigma is a Problem Solving Methodology
- Definition #3: Six Sigma is a Management Philosophy
- Lean Thinking and Six Sigma
- The Steps of DMAIC
- Linkages
- Lean Metrics
- Short Term and Long Term Six Sigma and Lean
- What is Wanted?
- The Basic Tenets of Lean
- Toyota Production System
- MUDA in TPS
- The 8th Waste
- Six Rules for Lean (Toyota)
- Basic Image of Lean Production (Toyota)
- Customer Focus
- Stability
- Stable vs. Capable
- Standardization/Standard Work
- Elements of Standard Work
- Just-in-Time Production
- Jidoka
- The Right Process Will Produce the Right Results
- Seven Types of Muda (Waste)
- Visual Management
- Make it Obvious to the Eye
- Visual Controls
- Elements of Standard Work
- The 5S Technique and Visual Management
- The "5's"
- Lean and Six Sigma Tools for Operation Excellence
- Sort, Set and Shine
- Standardize and Sustain
- Scan - the Pre-5S Step
- Other Considerations for 5S
- Remember the Kanban?
- Kanban Example
- Buffer and Safety Stock
- In-Process Stock
- Pitch and Lot Size
- Takt Time and Staffing
- The "Real" World
- Takt Time vs. Cycle Time
- Little's Law and Lead Time
- Heijunka (Load Leveling)
- Example of Heijunka Box
- Example - Balancing
- Just In Time
- Work Sequence
- Work Layouts
- Example - Work Sequence/Layout
- Total Productive Maintenance
- Poka-Yoke
- "Fix or Six"
- How Lean Fits In
- Control Charts
- Common Cause Variation
- Special Cause Variation
- Special Causes and Cases
- Trends, Shifts and Cycles
- Control Chart Example
- Control Charts and "Fix or Six"
- Misinterpreting Data
- Control Chart Example
- What Should Managers Do?
- Variation Management Paradox
- Management Using Control Charts
- Elements for Successful Projects
- "Ideal" Projects
- But What Do I Really Need?
- Problems In Project Identification
- Lean Is Supposed to be Faster
- Questions to Ask (and Answer)
- Project Selection and Rating Tool
- Exercise
- Implementation - Must Haves
- Barriers to Implementation
- The Lean Approach
- Team Charter
- Elements of A Good Charter
- The Business Case
- Business Case Example
- Project Scope
- Scope Examples
- Project Scope Guidelines
- Problem Statement Elements
- Comprised of Two Statements
- Problem Statement Evolution
- Problem Statement Examples
- The SIPOC
- Whate is a Process?
- Steps in Using the SIPOC
- Problem Statement in Coordination with the SIPOC
- Picture Frame
- Using the Picture Frame
- Goals/Objectives
- Goals and Objectives Example
- Milestones
- Roles/Responsibilities
- Team Charter Template
- Service-Profit Chains and Customers
- In Any Process…
- Roles May Change
- Customers, Needs and Requirements
- Know What A Customer Is
- External Customer
- Internal Customer
- Cautions
- Segment Customers (If Necessary)
- Customer Needs Do Not Equal Customer Requirements
- Prioritize the Customer Requirements
- The (Noriaki) Kano VOC Model
- Using The Kano Model: Must-Be
- Using The Kano Model: 1-Dimensional
- Using The Kano Model: Delighters
- Kano Model "Migration"
- "Kano's" Model - Examples
- What Is the Current State?
- First Things First
- Different Types of Process Maps
- Process Mapping Symbols
- Process Mapping Example
- Process Observation
- Other Considerations
- Work Flow/Spaghetti Diagrams
- Work Flow Diagram Example
- Work Flow Diagrams
- Relationship Mapping
- The Relationship Table
- Medication Process: Current Relationship Map
- Swim Charts
- Swim Chart Example
- Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
- What Are We Looking For?
- Relationship Diagram into Value Stream Mapping
- Basic Layout of Current State VSM
- General Guidelines for VSM
- Step 1: Customer Consumption
- Step 2: Flow of Materials
- Step 3: Supplier Information
- Step 4: Push Arrows
- Step 5: Information Flow
- Disconnects
- Step 6: Time Line
- Time Measurement
- Why Fewer Samples in Lean?
- VSM Signs of Waste
- What VSM's Don't Reveal
- Value Analysis
- Value-Added Steps
- Non-Value-Added Steps
- Value/Non-Value Grid
- Example of Completed Grid
- Value-Added Line
- Value Stream - Neurology
- Value Analysis Example
- Relationship Map
- Some Questions to Think About
- Example - Project Background
- Example - Swim Chart
- Value Stream Map - Current State IP X-Ray Throughput
- Example - Value Analysis: Subprocess Map
- Designing the Future State
- What is a "Future State?"
- Needs
- Begin Designing the Future State
- Tools and Concepts
- Future State Questions
- Customer Needs
- What Does the Customer Really Need?
- Takt Time and Staffing
- Lead Time and Cycle Time
- Pitch and Lot Size
- Checking Performance
- How Often Will You "Check?"
- Mistake-Proofing
- When You Can't Error Proof
- Visual Management
- Visual Controls
- Information Overload
- Example - Monitoring
- Maximize Value
- Steps in Value Analysis
- Defining the Value Stream
- Value-Added Steps
- Non-Value-Added Steps
- Non-Value Added (NVA) Classes
- Disconnects
- Swim Chart With NVA Analysis
- Value Analysis Example
- Relationship Maps: As-is vs. "Might be"
- Decreasing Work Interruptions
- Flow of Work
- Interruptions
- Just-in-Time Production
- Kanban
- Kanban Example
- Work Sequence
- Work Layouts
- Centralization or Decentralization?
- Example - Work Sequence/Layout
- Balancing Workload
- Load Leveling
- Example - Balancing Work
- Which Improvements?
- What Improvements Will Be Needed?
- A Useful Place to Start
- Standard Operating Procedures
- The 5S Technique
- 5S: Standardization and Organization
- The 5 Whys
- Example - The 5 Whys
- Problem-Solving Approaches
- Improvement Implementation
- Improvement Work Plan
- Breaking it Down
- Prioritizing Improvements
- Kaizen
- Pilot Implementation
- Pilot Implementation Activities
- Pilot Follow-Up
- Example: Exchange Cart
- Implementation - Must Haves
- Barriers to Implementation
- Ensuring Acceptance
- Stakeholder & Resistance Analysis
- Sustaining Gains Through Control Plans
- What Is A Control Plan?
- The Control Plan Tightrope
- Control Plan - Example
- Control Plan: Supplements
- Other Documentation
- Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Decision Rules
- New Control Limits?
- Control Chart Example
- Common Pitfalls
- Audit Process
- Auditing a Process
- Corrective Action
- Designing the Control Plan
- Project Closure and Handoff
- When to "Get Out"
- Disbanding the Team
- What Are Human Factors?
- Why Human Factors?
- Taking Human Factors Into Account
- Donald Norman
- Some Factors Affecting Performance
- What Can Go Wrong?
- Usability: ISO 9000 Standards
- Usability
- Usability: The 5 E's
- Case Example: OR Suite Set-Up
- Reducing Wait Times in a GI Clinic
- Timely Receipt of Admission Orders