Pre-conference Workshops

Attend the conference. Network with colleagues. Update your skills and put yourself ahead of the game.

Pre-conference workshops offer in-depth, skill-building tools and focus on the topics that you will require for career advancement and professional development. Enhance your learning experience and maximize your networking opportunities by attending one of our pre-conference workshops.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and Professional Development Hours (PDHs) are available.
You must register for the full conference to participate in a pre-conference workshop.
Advance registration accompanied by the additional registration fee is required to reserve a pre-conference workshop seat.

Using Hoshin Kanri to Accelerate Lean and Six Sigma

Sunday, May 19, 8 a.m. – Noon
Presenter: Beth Cudney

Who Should Attend
This workshop will be beneficial to mid to upper level management. Attendees should bring their organization’s strategic mission, vision, and objectives to the workshop. These will be used to develop strategic plans and work on hoshin planning.

Course Description
Lean and Six Sigma are both powerful tools to improve quality, productivity, profitability and market competitiveness. Six Sigma is focused on reducing variation using a problem solving approach and statistical tools. Lean focuses on eliminating waste and improving flow using various lean principles and their respective approaches. As standalone tools, companies can achieve strong improvements. However, many companies realize suboptimal results due to poor project selection and inappropriate tool selection. An integrated approach to process improvement using lean principles and Six Sigma begins with a strategic approach to identifying gaps between the current and future state.

The final goal of this integration is to optimize holistically the entire process of value flow by eliminating waste and controlling variation. One of the techniques that companies can adopt to systematically make progress in implementing the envisioned process is hoshin kanri. This technique encourages employees to reach the root cause of problems before searching for solutions, creating sustainable plans for implementation, incorporating performance metrics, and taking appropriate action for implementation. Though developed in Japan this technique is based on Deming’s classic Plan-Do-Check-Act improvement cycle. Hoshin kanri drives the long-term strategic vision of the organization down throughout all levels of the organization. Lean and Six Sigma initiatives are then tied to the long-term success of the organization. Japanese Deming Prize winners credit hoshin kanri as being a key contributor to their business success. In this presentation, hoshin kanri will be presented as a strategic approach to implementing lean and Six Sigma to achieve long-term results.

Learning Objectives
In this workshop, attendees will learn:

Hoshin kanri.
How to capture strategic goals and integrate these goals with the entire organization’s daily activities.
How to integrate lean and Six Sigma into the strategic vision of the organization using hoshin kanri.

Sustaining a Lean Transformation through People, Process and Leadership Focus

Sunday, May 19, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Presenters: Michael Testani and Sreekanth Ramakrishnan, IBM

Who should attend
Lean deployment leaders, managers and lean practitioners will all benefit from this workshop.

Course Description
This one-day workshop demonstrates the importance of integrating people, process and leadership techniques through hands-on activities and case study exercises. Participants will learn and apply techniques that they can use to help their organizations achieve and sustain their lean transformation goals.

Learning objectives
At the completion of this workshop, attendees will be able to:

Explain the principles and critical success factors for a lean transformation
Describe the leadership behaviors that are critical for sustaining a lean transformation
Discuss effective change management techniques
Apply lean process improvement and interpersonal skills to a case study activity
Describe the integration of process, people and leadership skills for sustaining a lean transformation

Outline

Introduction to Workshop
Overview of Lean History and Principles
Change Management Practices for a Lean Transformation
Crucial Lean Transformational Leadership Behaviors
How to Integrate People and Lean Process Improvement Techniques
Hands-on Case Study Activity
Discuss Applications to Participant's Lean Transformation