Lean SCM Certification Courses
by The Leading Edge Group

ALC has partnered with Leading Edge to distribute the International Lean Supply Chain Management Certification program. These training courses have been developed in conjunction with International Universities, Lean Practitioners, and International Professional Institutes in Engineering and Supply Chain Management, and provide a new standard for Lean Supply Chain Management Courses and Certification. This accredited educational program can ultimately lead to a degree in Quality Management. Courses are delivered via distance education and on-line learning modules so individual students anywhere in the world can participate.

Lean Healthcare Certification Courses
by The Leading Edge Group

Automated Learning and Leading Edge are proud to announce the launch of a Lean Healthcare Certification Program in association with lean experts, international healthcare consultants, the Irish Institute of Industrial Engineers, and the Canadian Professional Logistics Institute. This program provides the essentials to understanding the theory and the application of lean tools, practices, and concepts. It will help healthcare organizations identify and eliminate waste, improve process flows, achieve optimal delivery performance and increase flexibility.

Creating Level Pull: A Lean Production-System Improvement Guide for Production-Control, Operations, and Engineering Professionals
by Art Smalley

The real challenge of Value Stream Mapping is not just drawing the "actual state", but coming up with a robust "future state", and then to visualize it on the shop floor - which is a skill in itself. And in fact, there is very little published about it, apart from this remarkable workbook. For those who try to really implement lean (as opposed to just talk about it). This is it: this is where lean really happens: capability vs demand, creating the pacemaker, controlling production. It explains clearly and simply some tricky and counter-intuitive lean mechanisms, which are at the core of just-in-time. Definitely a key to successful lean implementations.

Making Materials Flow: A Lean Material-Handling Guide for Operations, Production-Control, and Engineering Professionals
by Rick Harris, Chris Harris, Earl Wilson

Making Materials Flow explains in plain language how to create such a system by applying the relevant concepts and methods in a step-by-step progression. The workbook reveals the exercises, formulas, standards, and forms that a consultant would use to implement the system in your environment. And, like LEI's other workbooks, Making Materials Flow answers the key question managers often have about lean tools and concepts, "What do I do on Monday morning to implement this?"

Lean Manufacturing Implementation Guide: Proven Step-By-Step Techniques for Achieving Success
by Dennis P. Hobbs

Dennis P. Hobbs draws upon his more than thirty years of experience in the manufacturing sector to present a no-nonsense, go-getter business guide offering a project management approach guided by a "how-to" sequence in order to make manufacturing processes lean and efficient. This book offers practical information concerning resource identification, line design, operational definition, pull chains, pull sequences, replenishment time and more, Lean Manufacturing Implementation is a highly recommended "get-things-done" guide that specifically focuses upon what is needed to get results.

Learning to See, Version 1.3
by Mike Rother, John Shook, Jim Womack, Dan Jones

This is the simplest, clearest, most practical book on lean that you will ever find. Learning to see is very helpful if you want to learn to establish value stream maps of your key processes. The book is set up like a workbook and walks you through the process step by step. Value stream mapping is useful in helping to identify areas that need improvement projects and should be the basis for strategic plans for process improvement. This book will be helpful if you are new or trying to introduce others to the importance of value stream mapping and it’s written just like a book on lean manufacturing should be: short, and to- the-point. It's very informative, easy to read, with no academic wishy-washy stuff. A great buy!

Rebirth of an American Industry
by William H. Waddell, Norman Bodek

This book provides a long overdue revision to the historical interpretation of the financial system that DuPont brought to General Motors in the early 1920s. From today’s vantage point, praise for the “Sloan model” now seems woefully misplaced. It seems likely that “lean management”, could replace the Sloan model as the management system of the future. So long as top managers remain committed to the manage-by-results “Sloan culture,” Waddell and Bodek believe that companies have no hope of adopting the “lean culture” that permeates Toyota’s remarkable successful. The gist of the Sloan system is to rationalize and reinforce batch and queue operations, replete with massive inventories and extensive delays. The gist of Lean is to encourage continuous flow and reduction of overall lead times.

JIT is Flow
by Hiroyuki Hirano, Makoto Furuya

“Every day I learn something new about it.” That is the spirit of this book. Hiroyuki Hirano and Makoto Furuya obviously have long first-hand experience with the Toyota Production System, both using it and coaching it. Their explanations are both simple and profound, the mark of deep experience. Readers new to the system will easily grasp the basic ideas, while those that have worked with it a long time will spot insights that had not occurred to them before. T he first part of the book has a fascinating insight into current manufacturing trends, and the last part has discussions with Norman Bodek, Eric Hager, and Pascal Dennis on standardized work and hoshin kanri.

Kaikaku: The Power and Magic of Lean
by Norman Bodek

Lean is an all out war against waste of both manufacturing inefficiencies and underutilization of people. The Power and Magic of Lean is to discover those hidden treasures within your company: to find and eliminate all of the non-value adding wastes and to bring out the infinite creative capacity from every single worker. This book tells how Norman Bodek met and what he learned from the management masters of the past twenty-five years. It is filled with stories of Ohno, Shingo, Akao, Nakajima, Deming, Juran, and Crosby, stories about the creation and application of Lean, JIT, Kanban, 5S, SMED, TPM, QFD, Hoshin, Kaizen Blitz, Value Stream, Poka-yoke and other quality tools. These are stories that capture your imagination and empower and inspire you to better apply lean principles. I couldn’t put it down.

The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen
by Bunji Tozawa, Norman Bodek

The goal of this book is to guide improvement activities throughout the organization: to use creative ideas from all employees to serve both internal and external customers, to unlock the hidden potential of every single employee, and to bring new excitement and joy into the workplace. Much of what we have focused on in learning from Toyota is fundamental transformation to lean manufacturing. Value stream mapping provides the vision for material and information flow. Tozawa and Bodek remind us that this is only the first step. Lean systems will degrade without ongoing improvement from every employee. What brings lean structures to life is people—people engaged in continuous improvement. Dana Corporation gets over 2,000,000 ideas a year from all of their employees. This book tells you how to do it.

All You Gotta Do Is Ask
by Chuck Yorke, Norman Bodek

Toyota, one of the world’s richest manufacturing companies, has two pillars for their success, the pursuit of excellence, through: Lean – the elimination of all non-value adding wastes and "Respect for People." Most American companies today are pursuing Lean or Lean Six Sigma but very few understand the critical other part – getting people involved at work and empowering them to make their work easier, more interesting and allowing them to build their skills and capabilities through their own creative ideas. "Without empowering all workers to fully participate in creative problem solving you will never be able to sustain your improvement activities," says Norman Bodek co-author of this new book. "How can you attain six sigma or zero defects unless everyone is part of the process?" When you ask people for their ideas and are willing to listen to those ideas, change, actual change, magical change takes place at the worksite.

Lean Production Simplified: A Plain Language Guide to the World's Most Powerful Production System
by Dennis Pascal

The author is a professional engineer, and educator with 20 years experience in manufacturing, public service, and consulting engineering. He developed his lean thinking skills on the shop floor of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, and working with lean masters in Japan and North America. This is a very good introductory book.

Practical Lean Accounting: A Proven System for Measuring and Managing the Lean Enterprise with CDROM
by Brian H. Maskell, Bruce Baggaley

Although its title suggests that it is about accounting only, the authors deal almost as much with how to manage perceptions, progress and processes in establishing lean operations to create a lean enterprise. In addition, the book is designed to allow you to apply its wisdom regardless of where you are in putting in learn manufacturing or services. The book is also enhanced by a CD with templates of the formats discussed in the book. "A must read for lean organizations".

Lean Six Sigma for Service: How to Use Lean Speed and Six Sigma Quality to Improve Services and Transactions
by Michael George

By applying Lean process speed and Six Sigma quality tools to all elements of work, such as marketing, legal, contract administration, procurement, etc., we can drive competitive advantage. The lessons learned and practical case studies contained in Lean Six Sigma for Service provide a template which can create great value for customers, employees and shareholders."

Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Team Pocket Guide
by Rath & Strong

An alarming number of projects are failing--not because of misuse of statistical tools but because of internal politics and poor communication. The Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Team Pocket Guide explains the interpersonal and political skills needed to make each Six Sigma project a success. Get buy-in and cooperation from all levels of the organization. Lead or participate in productive team meetings.
Plan the people and team side just as you would plan the technical side. A fantastic Pocket Guide for all members of any kind of Team, not just Six Sigma Teams.

What is Lean Six Sigma?
by Michael George, David Rowlands, Bill Kastle

Text combines two important improvement trends of our time: Six Sigma, and using Lean principles. Shows how this quality improvement method can provide tools to identify and eliminate waste and quality problems in the workplace. A "must read" for everyone in an organization deploying Lean Six Sigma or anybody interested in improving the economic value of their business.

Lean and Green: Profit for Your Workplace and the Environment
by Pamela J. Gordon

When it comes to believing that business can be profitable and environmentally sensitive, cynics abound on both sides. But in Lean and Green, Pamela Gordon proves that capitalism and environmentalism are not mutually exclusive—quite the contrary. She shows how "green" business practices enable organizations to save millions, even billions of dollars each year. Lean and Green chronicles over one hundred examples of how people in twenty different organizations around the world—from clerks, farmers, and city employees to chemists and executives—have strengthened environmental practices and the balance sheet.

Value Stream Management for the Lean Office: Eight Steps to Planning, Mapping, and Sustaining Lean Improvements in Administrative Areas with CDROM
by Don Tapping, Tom Shuker, Don Shuker

This book conveys the essence of how a Lean Office can be achieved. It does a superb job of introducing the concepts and provides practical approaches to solving administrative work flow problems utilizing Lean tools. Highly recommended, best one out there!

Lean Manufacturing Training Courses
by Automated Learning Corporation

Lean production training is delivered via ALC’s LearnTech® Lean Manufacturing training courses. This training provides a low cost, convenient and effective way to introduce Lean production concepts to a wide audience. Content includes Lean Concepts, 5S Workplace Organization, Lean Visual Controls. Courses are available in LAN or web-training format. These Lean Manufacturing training and certification courses integrate e-learning with hands-on workplace activities to deliver Lean Manufacturing performance. We have a number of web-training courses available for secure on-line purchase. ALC Products available to buy now on-line.

ValueStreamDesigner
by Vollmer & Schefeczyk

This software tool brings increased convenience and power to Value Stream Mapping. Value Stream Designer provides a simple and quick method to prepare, manage, share and present value stream maps. But the real power is in its “Tool-based Modeling” and “Dynamic Assessment of Value Streams”. These features allow easy comparison of alternative solutions, and analysis of “what if” scenarios. The benefit is early and reliable identification of hidden potentials in your value stream. A free copy of the ValueStreamDesigner trial-version is available.

Factory Toolbox – Lean Toolkit
by Superfactory

Lean Toolkit. This Toolkit is also included in the full Factory Toolbox and includes procedure templates, presentations, tools, and forms supporting the topic. Content includes 5S, Kaizen, Poka Yoke, SMED, Value Stream Mapping, TPM, Visual Controls Tact Time Calculator, Kanban Simulation. After purchase you will be sent a link to download the 21meg zip file. Due to the large file size this Toolkit is also available on CD-ROM.
content listing

Manufacturing Excellence Series
by Superfactory

The Manufacturing Excellence Series includes presentation modules covering Lean manufacturing, 5S, Visual Controls, Kaizen, Value Streams, Pull, JIT, Kanban, Demand Flow, Poka Yoke and Error Proofing, Quick changeover and SMED, Cellular Manufacturing and Plant Layouts, Activity Based Costing and Lean Accounting, Theory of Constraints, and Total Productive Maintenance. More Business Presentations
content listing

Lean Office Series
by Superfactory

The Lean Office Series includes presentation modules covering Lean Office Overview, Office 5S and Visual Controls, Office Kaizen, Office Value Streams, Office Pull, JIT, Kanban, Office Poka Yoke and Mistake Proofing, Office Layouts and Cells, Office Total Quality Management, and Office Theory of Constraints. More Business Presentations
content listing