Season's Greetings and welcome to the December 2007 edition of our monthly newsletter, Learning to Lean. In this month's edition, we focus on setting up a successful lean transformation.

Announcements

We have announced dates for our Spring 2008 Lean Certification Training Program. All classes will take place at the Doubletree Club Hotel Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, CA. Attendees who sign up for the Lean Certification Program by December 31st, 2007 will receive a $200 discount.

Course (click on date to register/read more)	Date
Lean Certification Program	Feb 6, 2008 - May 8, 2008
Introduction to Implementing Lean	Feb 6, 2008
Value Stream Mapping	Feb 7, 2008
Kaizen Events: 5S, Visual Controls, and Mistake Proofing	Mar 5, 2008
Quick Changeover and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)	Mar 6, 2008
Creating Continuous Flow Manufacturing Cells	Apr 9, 2008
Material Flow and Kanban	Apr 10, 2008
Lean Production Control and Inventory Mgmt.	May 7, 2008

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

Lean Transformation

Last month we talked about acheiving the stability necessary for one-piece flow implementation. This month we will take a step back and focus on the big picture- what are the major steps to lean transformation? Many organizations will begin implementing lean in 2008; if you work for one of these organizations, this newsletter should be useful to you.

This month we feature four articles that should help you understand more about implementing lean. Firstly, we give you an overview of the steps to lean transformation. Next, we give you 5 tips for planning and preparation. Our third article will teach you about key lean implementation principles and tools. In our fourth article, we talk about setting up a good foundation for lean implementation.

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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