Sessions (All session times will be Eastern Standard Time)
Welcome
Geert Letens, Ph.D., Major, Royal Military Academy and Program Chair
7:30 a.m. – 8 a.m.
Sustainable Improvement
Creating Sustainable Lean Change
8 a.m. - 8:55 a.m.
Peter Hines, Professor and Co-Founder, Lean Enterprise Research Centre
The essence of lean is not implementation tools, it is not value stream mapping, and it is not about kaizen events. It is, however, about creating a sustainable lean business system based around aligned strategies, inspiring leadership and engaged people. This session will help the attendee to understand what “real lean” is, what mistakes people usually make, what to do about it, and, most of all, how you can set your business on the right course. Peter Hines will draw upon his Shingo prize-winning book Staying Lean and illustrate how a true lean journey can be created and sustained. He will talk about the difference between what he terms “pull” lean (where improvement is driven by the needs of local team members) and the more usual “push” lean (lean done to a business). He will also discuss the difference between the typical visual displays and real visual management. If your lean efforts have plateaued or slowed, or you are worried that they might, this session should not be missed.
Culture
Culture Modeling Tools to Measure an Organization’s Lean Transformation Effectiveness: Lessons Learned from the IBM Path Forward to Lean Transformation Methodology
9 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.
Sreekanth Ramakrishnan, Ph.D., Engineer and Scientist, IBM Corp.
Lean and lean Six Sigma business transformation initiatives have become a business imperative for many organizations in just about every industry sector. While many organizations are attempting to implement these methodologies, the vast majority of them fail to meet their business transformation objectives and/or fail to sustain their business transformation gains. One of the most commonly identified reasons for failing to sustain their transformation is the lack of focus on the organization culture. This presentation covers the application of novel culture modeling tools in order to supplement process excellence tools and techniques. The suite of tools is designed to help the organization understand the readiness for change, its lean process maturity, the impact of leadership teams on the organization’s transformation efforts, and monitor the “adoption rate” among the employees on supporting their transformation effort. These assessments are the foundation to a decision support system that defines a lean transformation roadmap that identifies activities and initiatives to foster a lean culture across the organization. Finally, by monitoring the adoption rates on a regular cadence, any adjustments to the roadmap are identified. The talk will also present the details of a recognition system that is designed to encourage constructive behaviors resulting in a principle-driven lean culture. Illustrative case studies of the functioning of this framework in IBM’s supply chain will be discussed, along with a balanced scorecard view of the business results.
Product Development
Lean Product and Process Development: A Value Creation Paradigm That Goes beyond Lean Manufacturing
10 a.m. – 10:55 a.m.
Ahmed Al-Ashaab, Ph.D., LeanPPD Technical Coordinator, Cranfield University
The international competition is putting pressure on companies to improve product development performance. Manufacturing companies are in need of a model that goes beyond lean manufacturing to ensure the transformation of the enterprise into a lean environment capable of addressing the current market demands for innovation through value creation. The Lean Product and Process Development (LeanPPD) project, a four-year project sponsored by the European Commission – 7th Framework Programme, is about making this change by the adoption of lean thinking throughout the entire product life cycle. The LeanPPD model is fit to perform consistently in a rapidly changing market and environment by focusing on value creation, provisioning of the knowledge environment, continuous improvement and a process that encourages innovation and collaboration. It provides a knowledge development environment that supports value creation to customers in terms of innovation, quality and affordable products. For this purpose, the LeanPPD project has developed several enablers, namely: set-based concurrent engineering, a lean assessment tool, a product development value mapping tool, a lean knowledge life cycle, a new A3 thinking process for design problem-solving, and several lean design guidelines. The presentation clarifies these building blocks of the LeanPPD model through case study illustrations from several industrial partners (Rolls-Royce PLC, Visteon Engineering Services-UK, VW-Germany, Sitech-Poland and Indesit-Italy).
Strategic Alignment
Continuous Improvement That Is Focused on the Most Strategic and Critical Business Issues
11:30 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.
Joan Tafoya, Senior Principal Engineer, Intel
Every business has pockets of success and areas that need significant improvement. Though it is comforting to think about what we are doing well, it is likely that there are strategic and critical areas of our work that are not improving at the pace we need to see. Improvement just for the sake of improvement does not lead to a world-class organization. It must be tied to the business objectives and deliver real results that matter to long-term sustainability and growth of the organization. In this talk, you will be exposed to the methods and techniques that a manufacturing organization used to connect improvement work with the larger goals and business objectives of the company. The only way lean thinking and continuous improvement will be truly embraced is if it is used to tackle the most important critical business issues. We have successfully used lean thinking and tools to reduce the cycle time of our factories by 80 percent and increase the performance of our equipment by 60 percent. Moreover, the emphasis on the word “lean” has been downplayed; there is more emphasis on the business results achieved through the engagement of each person. Industrial engineers can take a lead role in setting the pace and managing this improvement when they keep the strategic business goals in mind. Stop thinking about lean application is a “learning lab” or off in one department as an experiment. Rather, start leading lean with your most pressing problem.
Transforming
Transforming UPS through Technology – “The Road to Optimization”
12:30 p.m. – 1:25 p.m.
Art Muniz, Senior Staff Manager, U.S. Industrial Engineering, UPS
Turning data into a business advantage through optimization is a goal of most organizations. UPS’s road to optimization has not been easy, but through careful planning and control, an amazing transformation has been accomplished. This presentation will describe UPS’s path to optimization. Art Muniz will discuss best practices and obstacles to avoid. He will describe the value proposition of turning data into knowledge and how this has enabled UPS to improve processes along the way. Learn how UPS built upon a culture of industrial engineering and quantitative analysis. These core competencies were the foundation of systems re-engineering efforts that strongly utilize advanced analytics. Examples of the changed processes will be presented as well as lessons learned during this transformation. In addition, a glimpse into the next generation of technology will be presented.
The Toyota Way on Continuous Improvement
Developing Lean Leaders for Continuous Improvement
1:30 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.
Jeffrey K. Liker, Ph.D., Professor, University of Michigan
Companies around the world boast about the results they have achieved from their lean programs. Yet despite all the lean projects that have been implemented over the past two decades, no company in any industry in the world has attained the same level of consistent operational excellence in its field as Toyota has. What are these companies missing? The answer is leadership with the right skills and knowledge to teach and coach others to use disciplined approaches to process improvement. In The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership (with Gary Convis, former Toyota managing officer), Jeffrey Liker presents a leadership development model and uses examples from Toyota to illustrate the patient, painstaking process of growth of leaders from developing themselves to developing others to leading daily kaizen and finally maturing to aligned goals from top to bottom and sideways using hoshin kanri. This address will provide an overview of the model with practical advice on how you can develop lean leaders in your organization.
Process Capabilities
A3 Reports: It’s More Than Just Documentation
3 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.
Durward K. Sobek II, Ph.D., Professor, Montana State University
A3 reports have become an increasingly popular tool in the lean toolkit and are being adapted and applied in many sectors, including manufacturing, engineering design, and healthcare. Many are drawn to the tool because it provides a very concise way to document process improvements, propose changes and record project status. However, the tool has much more potential when systematically deployed through an organization. This presentation will include a brief primer on A3 reports. It will then address how A3 reports can be used to encourage deeper problem-solving, collaboration, mentoring, and even organizational transformation. Examples drawn from several nontraditional sectors will be presented. Attendees new to A3 reports will receive an introduction to the tool and its practical use in day-to-day operations. Attendees more experienced in the tool and methodologies can assess their current implementation relative to the ideal and take away guidance on how they can further improve.
Improvement Pipeline
Using Lean Six Sigma for Competitive Advantage: Succeed in a Value-Based Purchasing Era
4 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.
Stephen R. Mayfield, Ph.D., Vice President, Performance Excellence, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
In order for hospitals to succeed in a value-based purchasing era, organizations must create efficient processes, deliver effective outcomes, cultivate engaged employees and deliver an enhanced experience. The principles and methods of lean Six Sigma, when applied as part of a comprehensive quality management system, have helped organizations to achieve the highest levels of performance. This presentation will:
- Describe some of the health reform pressures on healthcare.
- Describe attributes of successful performance.
- Explain how lean Six Sigma methods and principles support the pursuit of excellence.
- Provide applied examples of creating a culture of continuous improvement that supports achievement of strategic objectives.
- Provide a leadership tool for attendees to assess their organizations’ readiness for lean Six Sigma.
Improvement Methodologies
Transforming Production from a Traditional Manufacturing Cell to a Pulse Moving Line
5 p.m. – 5:55 p.m.
Howard Conroy, Director, BDS Industrial Engineering & Asset Management, The Boeing Company
Conroy will describe the process required to completely transform a traditional production manufacturing cell into a pulse moving line. The presentation will include strategies that revalorized the way Boeing manufactures product. These strategy topics include: developing a future vision, over-communicating the vision, benchmarking other successful companies (both in and out of the aviation business), setting high expectations, focusing on the process, balancing the line, kitting parts, developing the right metrics, standardizing the work content, using visuals and video, implementing a strong culture of “What did I fix last week,” instilling strong basics and disciplines, initiating daily line walks, and living and coaching the lean philosophy every day – “Every day is a new day and every day we plan.”
The summary of accomplishments included a: 67 percent reduction in hours per aircraft, 60 percent reduction in WIP, 90 percent reduction in defect rate, and winning the Shingo prize. After Conroy’s presentation, you will take away tools that use can be use now in any process to improve productivity in your area of support.
Wrap-up
Geert Letens, Ph.D., Major, Royal Military Academy, and Program Chair
5:55 p.m. – 6 p.m.