Welcome to the March edition of our monthly newsletter, Learning to Lean. In this month's edition, we continue our focus on the basics of lean implementation.

Announcements

On March 10th in Orange, CA , we are offering a training workshop on one of the fundamentals of implementing lean manufacturing, Continuous Flow Manufacturing Cells. While many have implemented "lean cells," they have not received the benefits of true continuous flow. Click here for details. Later this month on March 31st, we are offering a workshop covering the steps required to set up a lean production control and inventory management system throughout a factory. Click here for details. Following is a list of all scheduled public workshops. Each of them is in Orange, CA. We can also bring any of these courses to your facility.

Course (click on date to register/read more)	Date
Creating Continuous Flow Manufacturing Cells	Mar 10, 2005
Lean Production Control and Inv. Mgmt.	Mar 31, 2005
Material Flow and Kanban (purchased parts)	Apr 14, 2005
Kaizen Events: 5S, Visual Controls, and Mistake Proofing	May 5, 2005

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

Implementing Lean

Last month we continued Implementing Lean series by giving our readers information on value stream mapping and 5S, two fundamental early-stage lean tools. This month, we will focus on creating continuous flow and load-leveling, two elements of the Toyota Production system that make it such an effective system. We also cover learning within the lean organization; specifically, we answer the question: what makes a lean organization a "learning organization?"

This month we feature three articles that should help you understand more about effectively implementing. Firstly, we give you an overview of implementing continuous flow. Our second article talks about load-leveling. In our third article, we talk about the lean learning organization.

The materials referenced in this newsletter will teach you more about implementing lean effectively. If the articles, links, and books to the left have piqued your interest and 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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