This month we are offering two courses that cover kaizen tools. On September 14th, we offer Kaizen Events: 5S, Visual controls, and Mistake Proofing. On September 28th, we are offering Quick Changeover and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).

Additionally, we are offering three new courses this Fall including Lean Office, Lean for High Mix/Low Volume Manufacturing, and Lean Supply Chain. All classes will take place at the Doubletree Club Hotel Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, CA.

Course (click on date to register/read more)	Date
Kaizen Events: 5S, Visual Controls, and Mistake Proofing	Sep 14. 2006
Quick Changeover and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)	Sep 28, 2006
Lean Office: Value Stream Mapping for Administrative Processes	Oct 12, 2006
Lean and Value Stream Mapping for High Mix Low Volume Manufacturing	Oct 26, 2006
Lean Production Control and Inventory Mgmt.	Nov 9. 2006
Lean Supply Chain: Extended Value Stream Analysis	Dec 6-7. 2006

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

Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese word that essentially means "change for the better." In this newsletter, we will attempt to educate you as to what kaizen is and introduce you to a tool that can help you kaizen a process- the kaizen event. Kaizen events have been used for more than a decade to rapidly implement improvements- some organizations have enjoyed great success while others still struggle to maintain the improvements. Kaizen events can be used to improve factory layout, implement one-piece flow, reduce changeover time, and improve any process.

In this issue, we feature four articles that should help you understand more about kaizen. Firstly, on our Lean Supply Chain blog, we offer you a brief discussion defining kaizen and its usefulness both within an organization and beyond its four walls. In our second article, we talk about creating the conditions for effective kaizen. Our third article talks about when to use kaizen events. Finally, our fourth article talks about the nuts and bolts of planning and implementing kaizen events.

The materials referenced in this newsletter will teach you more about lean. 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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EMS Consulting Group, Inc. - 7040 Avenida Encinas, Suite 104-189 - Carlsbad, CA 92011