The following are the most current 2008 Speaker Abstracts for the Lean Excellence Conference. Please check back regularly for updates.
Approaching Zero Equipment Stoppages
John Kravontka
At some point in the lean journey, you have established some level of flow in your facility. However, you may find that equipment stoppages are now becoming a concern in terms of meeting both quality and output targets. Many of the reasons for this lack of consistency and capacity are often unobserved and undocumented and are referred to as “hidden losses”. Join John Kravontka of Manufacturing Solutions as he presents, in 4 simple phases, not only how to establish an effective maintenance program but how everyone in the organization can become committed, involved and held accountable for the process.
Taking Action with Lean Accounting
Janice Frampton,
Jean Cunningham Consulting
In most organizations that implement lean, a great deal of activity is expended to ensure that physical changes involving people, material, machines and processes are continuously improved. However, the systems and processes for measuring and communicating “bottom line” success are based on traditional, and often confusing, accounting practices. These practices produce reports that are not only difficult to understand but require a great deal of time and resources to generate.
Janice Frampton of Jean Cunningham Consulting will present a discussion of ten specific strategies to achieve the financial goals for both site leaders and KPO members. These include major waste reduction opportunities in key finance processes as well as alternative financial reporting demonstrations. These strategies can be implemented in any sequence and some may not be appropriate for every company – but their cumulative impact can help to better represent both the top and bottom line of any company that has begun their lean journey.
Demand Segmentation
Ken Koenemann,
TBM Consulting Group
Demand Segmentation is a tool that is not understood well and as a result not used as much as it should be. It can determine what products should be made to stock or made to order as well as what parts should be in or outsourced. Demand Segmentation can help you determine how to setup your receiving, manufacturing and distribution operations to drive efficiency and customer service. Ken Koenemann, Director of Lean Value Chain has done extensive work in this area and views Demand Segmentation as a prerequisite step in realizing significant value chain improvement. Ken will discuss the basic principles of applying this tool as well as providing several case studies as to its successful application.
Go Green with Lean
Dave Beal,
TBM Consulting Group
Rising energy prices, aggressive programs to reduce facility costs and continued pressure to preserve our environment make this topic one of the most discussed in the media and at seminars alike. If there was any topic requiring rapid change and the need for continuous improvement, you won’t have to look very far than this hot issue. David Beal, Managing Director, Process Industries Consulting, presents a series of case studies demonstrating how several companies are tackling issues of energy consumption and taking the lead in demonstrating how manufacturing can be effectively conducted with environmentally friendly methods. Several “best practices” will be presented as well as how you can apply many of these ideas into your own facility.
Effective Visual Management
Germain Pinette,
McCain Foods Canada
Visual control is any communication device used in the work environment that tells us at a glance how work should be done and whether it is deviating from the standard. In the broadest sense, visual control refers to the design of just-in-time information of all types to ensure fast and proper execution of operations and processes. This presentation will detail how visual management system can be effectively implemented in a process related workplace detailing the implementation steps required as well as presenting many excellent examples for promoting abnormality management.
First Year Reflection and Moving Forward
Brian Frost,
Appleton Technical Papers
Appleton Technical Papers has completed quite an aggressive first year regarding their lean journey. Along the way, they have realized a great many successes but even with the best intentions, they have experienced a number of occasions where they have had to learn from their mistakes. Brian Frost explores the potential problems that can often short circuit a continuous improvement effort along with providing a variety of examples and ‘best practices” as to what have been the significant keys to their first year success. Additional discussion as to the strategic way forward will also be presented.
Ensuring Consistency in Effectiveness, Performance and Best Practices in a Multi-site Environment
Lora Murray,
Bunge, North America
Many struggle as to how they can ensure their site meets and exceeds the expectation of lean and continuous improvement objectives. This challenge is significantly greater for those who have multi-site responsibility regarding the facilitation, maintenance and sustainment of the lean transition effort in their organization. Lora Murray has had extensive experience regarding how to successfully manage the implementation and consistency within Bunge, North America’s vast multi-site operations. Strategies for organization, scheduling of events, communication and performance measurement are a few of the many items that will be discussed during this session.
Strategies for Differentiating Your Global Lean Transition
Ken Eme,
Scholle Packaging
Ken Eme of Scholle Packaging has a great deal of experience with the pros and cons of implementing lean across the global value chain. During his career, he has experimented with a variety of approaches as to how a company can best differentiate its efforts to ensure the best possible transformation. Ken will provide a detail case study of how Scholle Packaging has been successful and will provide a discussion of those strategies that have proven to be effective, as well as a few proposed initiatives that companies might want to avoid.
Targeting Effective Business Process Events
Chris Thompson / Becky Klotz,
QuadTech
Conducting any kaizen event has its challenges, but even more so when planning business process events. QuadTech has conducted an extensive number of events in the areas of sales, project and order management, engineering processes, accounting, customer service, purchasing and inventory control, warranty and field service. Join Chris Thompson and Becky Klotz for a variety of business process examples while focusing on “lessons learned”. Gain critical tips in terms of project sizing, scope, acquiring buy-in and sustaining effective business process events.
CI Leader Standard Work
Don Keeler,
ConMed Corporation
Developing and staffing a site Continuous Improvement Office is a critical and necessary step along the path of Lean Transformation. There exists a great deal of description as to what must be done in order to set up an effective KPO. However, lean practitioners often have to do some “research surfing” in order to be able to learn some of the effective methods and techniques to ensure their KPO staff, planned events and the measurement and communication of results will meet or exceed program expectations. ConMed has demonstrated a rapid transformation within their facility over the last two years and the foundation of these enviable results has been the strict adherence to standard work within the Continuous Improvement Office. A variety of work descriptions, project planning, management expectations and program effectiveness tracking will be among the topics presented and discussed.
Reducing Inventory in an Unpredictable Market
Rob Green / Kevin McGinn,
Energizer Battery
Reducing both inventory and customer lead time are high on the strategic list of almost everyone’s continuous improvement efforts. However, many companies are hesitant to do so because there is a perceived risk that an organization may not be able to supply their products in response to unpredictable customer demands. Energizer is a major producer of flashlights worldwide and nothing can change the public’s need for their products more than hurricanes. Join Rob and Kevin as they present an excellent case study as to how Energizer has transformed both their manufacturing and distribution processes to smooth demand and meet customer expectations during period of varying demand.
Aligning Manufacturing and the Supply Chain to Changing Business Conditions
Brent Spikes,
Franklin Electric
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. is a 64-year-old company that invented the first reliable, water-filled submersible electric motor to drive well pumps used in home, farm and industrial applications. For many years the company sold its product to OEM pump manufacturers in the U.S. and abroad and enjoyed a predominant market share in the industry. As a result of industry consolidation, Franklin Electric found itself selling a majority of its products to just two major OEM pump suppliers which threatened the long term growth and profitability of the company.
Daniel Crose, the Corporate Vice President and Director of Operations will present how the company changed its business strategy from supplying motors to a few pump OEMs to supplying motors and pumps directly to numerous distributors. This major shift in its business model prompted both significant manufacturing changes as well as a need to optimize the development of their distribution supply chain.
Standard Work for Managers
Mike Noonan and Steve Hahn,
TBM Consulting Group, Inc.
Lean practitioners spend an inordinate amount of time creating standard work for operators to ensure the work sequence, time and consistency yet little or no standard work is developed to ensure that our supervisors, department, operations and plant managers are also conducting critical audits in their respective areas. Common knowledge tells us that management is responsible for reviewing operations, teaching and coaching based on observations and conducting and disseminating critical information to ensure the smooth operations of production quality products and services to schedule. During this roundtable session, this gap will be discussed, what barriers that might exist to prevent the establishment of manager standard work and what are the strategies required to ensure that each level of the organization is actively involved in establishing a consistency in the method of management and the effective communication.
Developing a Culture that Embraces Continuous Improvement
Mike Serena and Tom Morin,
TBM Consulting Group, Inc.
A culture that embraces Continuous Improvement is one that has a clear vision that empowers employees to relentlessly pursue a better way to do business yet how many organizations actively pursue developing such a culture? Why do the majority of organizations struggle, and often fail, to establish such an environment when it is in everyone’s best interest to work together as a team? Individual and group behavior as well as past history and management credibility all play a part in establishing a working relationship when paired with an aggressive and strategic continuous improvement program. Transition issues, barriers to success and key prerequisites to establishing management commitment will be discussed in terms of how you can facilitate your organization’s transformation more rapidly than your competitors.
Managing a Global Supply Chain
Ken Koenemann and Dusty Duckett,
TBM Consulting Group, Inc.
Making the transition from managing your company domestically to mastering international operations can be a daunting task. Establishing or relocating your business in low labor geographical areas can lead one to believe that significant savings can be realized without much effort or planning. However, if one is not aware of the challenges of supply chain organization, establishing clear pull signals, inventory smoothing to key suppliers and distribution centers and the strategies for integrating core processes through standard methods, the result can be disastrous. Rationales for implementation, pitfalls and strategic prerequisites for roll out will all be fair game for discussion during this session which features how to successfully manage a global supply chain.
Seeing the Future in Your Existing Site
Joe Panebianco and David Beal,
TBM Consulting Group, Inc.
At some point in time, every staff is asked to conduct a 3-5 year plan as to how their site might look and perform. Many wish that they had a magic lamp to move brick and mortar to change their existing site to a layout that would be more conducive to establishing production flow and efficiency. However, there are strategies that can be used to fire up everyone’s creative juices to transform what we have to what we would like. Issues that will critically impact your business, key success factors, alignment with Policy Deployment and the strategic involvement of lean transformation will all be discussed in terms of their level of importance.