Happy New Year! Welcome to the January 2006 edition of our monthly newsletter, Learning to Lean. In this month's edition, we focus on the tools of six sigma as they relate to lean.

Announcements

We are offering a public lean certification program beginning in February 2006. Click here for details. The following individual public courses may be taken separately or as part of a certificate program. We can also bring any of these courses to your facility.

Course (click on date to register/read more)	Date
Introduction to Implementing Lean	Feb 2, 2006
Value Stream Mapping	Feb 23, 2006
Kaizen Events: 5S, Visual Controls, and Mistake Proofing	Mar 9, 2006
Quick Changeover and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)	Mar 23, 2006
Creating Continuous Flow Manufacturing Cells	Apr 6, 2006
Material Flow and Kanban	Apr 20, 2006
Lean Production Control and Inventory Mgmt.	May 4, 2006

Click here for details on all of our training offerings, both on-site at your facility and public.

Lean and Six Sigma

Both lean and six sigma are still hot buzzwords as we enter the new year. What are the similarities and differences between the two? What are the basics of lean and the basics of six sigma? Both methodologies are complimentary; this is, in fact, the reason so many are embracing a "lean six sigma" methodology that combines the two.

This month' edition features three articles that should help you understand more about lean and six sigma. Firstly, we talk about how lean and six sigma fit together. Our second article gives a lean overview. In our third article, we offer a six sigma overview.

The materials referenced in this newsletter will teach you more about implementing lean and six sigma. If you would like to learn more, feel free to call us at 866-559-5598 or visit our website and click on "Contact Us."

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