Welcome to the October 2006 edition of our monthly newsletter, Learning to Lean. In this month's edition, we focus on the application of lean to administrative and business processes.

Announcements

This month we are offering two new courses: On October 12th (next Thursday), we are offering Value Stream Mapping for Administrative Processes; this course will teach attendees how to improve non-manufacturing processes using lean tools. The course will help manufacturing companies as well as service organizations. For this course we have decided to keep our early registration pricing ($395) until Friday 10/6. Lean for High Mix/Low Volume Manufacturing on October 26th will teach the application of lean to higher mix environments. 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
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.

Lean Office

"Lean Office" is becoming a popular concept, but what does it really mean? Some think that organizing their desks using 5S principles is the key; however, there is much resistance to this approach by itself and with good reason. Before applying any of the lean tools to an office environment, it is important to understand the flow of work. Just as we map the value stream and focus on shortening lead time and eliminating waste from manufacturing processes, we must map administrative processes to better understand them and eliminate waste.

In this issue, we feature three articles that should help you understand more about kaizen. Firstly, we make the case for "lean administrative" and answer the question "why is this important?" In our second article, we talk about the seven wastes of business processes. Our third article talks about mapping business processes.

The materials referenced in this newsletter will teach you more about lean. If you would like to learn more, consider taking our next class on October 12th or 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