Season's Greetings! Welcome to the December 2010 edition of our monthly newsletter, Learning to Lean. In this month's edition, we will talk about implementation of lean in 2011.

Announcements

We have recently announced dates for our 2011 Lean Manufacturing Certification and Lean Office Certificate programs in Orange County, CA. The schedule is below; click here for details.

Please note that the two certification programs are discounted by $200 for attendees who register by December 31, 2010.

Course (Click course name to download description, click date to register)

Date

Lean Certification Program - Spring 2011	Feb 9-10; Mar 9-10; Apr 6-7; May 11-12
Lean Office Certificate Program- Spring 2011	Feb 9; Mar 9-10; May 12
Introduction to Implementing Lean	Feb 9,2011
Value Stream Mapping	Feb 10,-2011
Lean and Value Stream Mapping for Business Processes	Mar 9, 2011
Kaizen Events: 5S, Visual Controls, and Mistake Proofing	Mar 10, 2011
Quick Changeover and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)	Apr 6, 2011
Creating Continuous Flow Manufacturing Cells	Apr 7, 2011
Lean Production Control and Inventory Mgmt.	May 11, 2011

For those of you for which classroom training in Southern California is inconvenient, we continue to offer our online lean certification and training programs. These are currently 30% - 50% off extended through the end of 2010 To learn more about online lean training including pricing, click here.

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

Implementing Lean in 2011

Last December, we talked about this very same topic. Since then, the economy has not changed very much. Unemployment in the United States remains above historical averages and is hovering around 9.6%. Is this economy a good time to implement lean practices?

This month we're featuring the same articles about lean transformation we featured last December. First, we make the case for lean in 2011. Next, we talk about an action plan for lean transformation. Finally, we talk about planning and preparation for lean transformation.

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."

To subscribe to this newsletter, visit http://www.emsstrategies.com/newslettersignup.htm Please feel free to forward Learning to Lean to colleagues or use it in your publication. We only ask that you do so in its entirety.

EMS Consulting Group, Inc. - 7040 Avenida Encinas, Suite 104-189 - Carlsbad, CA 92011