Lean Manufacturing and Quality Improvement Training Course

Participants can map an end-to-end value stream and define a prioritised future-state design.

• Current-state value stream maps using material and information flow symbols
• Customer demand translated into takt time and pitch calculations
• Process data boxes capturing uptime, changeover, inventory and staffing
• Lead-time ladders exposing queue time, processing time and delays
• Information flows mapped from scheduling signals to production release
• Future-state design using supermarkets, pacemaker processes and continuous flow
• Kaizen bursts prioritised by impact, effort, ownership and timing

Participants can design flow and pull arrangements matched to demand, product mix and process constraints.

• Cellular layouts designed around product families and one-piece flow
• Line balancing with Yamazumi charts, takt compliance and work redistribution
• Kanban sizing from demand, replenishment lead time and safety factors
• Supermarket pull systems controlling replenishment between disconnected processes
• Heijunka boards levelled by volume and product mix
• CONWIP compared with Kanban for variable product routing
• Visual controls making abnormalities visible at the point of work

Participants can establish standard work and visual controls that support stable, repeatable production.

• Standard work combining takt time, sequence and minimum work-in-process
• Work combination tables balancing manual, walking and machine time
• Standardised work charts locating operators, machines and safety points
• Job instruction breakdowns separating major steps, key points and reasons
• 5S audits covering sort, set, shine, standardise and sustain
• Visual work instructions controlled through document revision discipline
• Leader standard work specifying layered audits and escalation routines

Participants can measure equipment losses and define reliability actions that improve productive capacity.

• Overall Equipment Effectiveness decomposed into availability, performance and quality losses
• Six big losses classified from downtime and production records
• Autonomous maintenance routines using cleaning, inspection and lubrication standards
• Planned maintenance triggers based on failure patterns and criticality
• Pareto analysis ranking chronic equipment losses by frequency and duration
• Downtime coding standards separating mechanical, material and operational causes
• Daily management boards linking OEE trends to countermeasures

Participants can build defect-prevention controls at critical points within a production process.

• Quality at the source preventing defect handoffs between process steps
• Poka-yoke devices designed for prevention, detection and shutdown
• Jidoka and andon escalation rules for abnormal condition response
• First-piece approval criteria controlling startup and changeover defects
• Layered process audits verifying control points and reaction plans
• Failure Mode and Effects Analysis prioritising prevention actions
• Control plans linking process characteristics, checks, owners and responses

Participants can investigate recurring operational problems and verify corrective actions against evidence.

• Plan-Do-Check-Act cycles structured around measurable improvement hypotheses
• A3 reports framing background, current condition, target and analysis
• Five Whys tested against evidence rather than assumed causation
• Fishbone diagrams organising potential causes across six manufacturing categories
• Pareto charts distinguishing vital few from trivial many defect causes
• Is-Is Not analysis narrowing problem boundaries and comparison conditions
• Corrective actions verified through effectiveness checks and recurrence controls

Participants can use statistical process control to distinguish common-cause variation from assignable causes.

• Measurement system analysis assessing repeatability, reproducibility, bias and resolution
• Variable control charts selected for subgrouped and individual measurements
• Attribute charts applied to defects, defectives and varying sample sizes
• Control limits distinguished from specification limits and customer tolerances
• Process capability calculated using Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk indices
• Out-of-control signals interpreted using Western Electric rules for action
• Reaction plans defining containment, adjustment, documentation and escalation steps

Participants can analyse changeovers and reduce setup time through SMED principles.

• SMED analysis separating internal and external changeover activities
• Changeover observations timed through element-by-element video or direct study
• External setup preparation staged before equipment stoppage begins
• Internal tasks converted through quick-release fixtures and preset tooling
• Parallel operations assigned using safe task sequencing and roles
• Changeover standards documenting settings, checks, tools and target times
• Small-lot economics balancing inventory reduction against changeover capacity

Participants can establish governance, measures and implementation priorities for sustained lean improvement.

• Daily tiered meetings connecting shop-floor abnormalities to management support
• Visual performance boards tracking safety, quality, delivery and cost
• SQDCP metrics aligned with operational targets and review cadence
• Kaizen funnel governance selecting ideas, owners, trials and benefits
• Leader gemba walks using standard questions and follow-up discipline
• Benefit tracking separating validated savings from projected improvements
• Ninety-day implementation plans sequencing pilots, measures, owners and reviews