The Institute for Lean Systems offers a partnership approach to workforce development training focusing on the improvement possible by applying a lean philosophy in organizations. For this type of training to be most effective, participants need to perform transformation activities directly, under the coaching of a skilled facilitator, who teaches the tools, techniques, and thinking of lean during these activities.

ILS intends to bring together 3 to 5 companies in a single geographic community. Each company will provide 3 to 8 people to participate in this 3-week learning experience. The objective of the partnership is to provide the best possible lean systems education to organizations at the lowest possible net cost.

The Community Action Partnership requires attendance at three 5-day transformation learning sessions, each hosted by different sponsoring companies, and separated by an interval of 3 to 5 weeks. Companies interested in hosting must assist in building the consortium for the Partnership.

The price for this experience will be funded primarily from grants from the state workforce development incentives offered through state agencies. The cost of the program to participating companies who agree to host the week-long workshops described below will be neutral (any cost will be offset by savings realized through the hands-on projects with a Guaranteed payback of 2:1). Host companies will bear the operating costs associated with hosting their session (food, materials, miscellaneous other costs). Often these costs serve as offsetting contributions to help the company qualify for workforce development grants.

A few weeks before the first learning session, all host companies will receive a free lean systems assessment from ILS. The assessment is a 1- or 2-day review of host company value streams that will include a high-level analysis of potential savings through critical projects or key improvement opportunities. This becomes the basis for the CAP execution plan which specifies which company will host which week’s learning session. We will then identify any additional resources needed, the sequence of activities, and prioritize the instructional modules to achieve the defined goals.

During each learning session, a critical project (or multiple projects) will become the learning vehicle. As our facilitators teach the basics of lean systems, understanding and applying lean tools, problem solving, and the array of other topics, our aim is to briefly introduce a concept, then take action to apply that concept to the workplace immediately. Expect long days of focused work to get the projects done. Projects will end with a detailed presentation.

The first learning session will focus on Value Stream Design. This will be a 5-day activity to map the current and future states of a value stream identified in the assessment as most promising to serve as a model. The participants will define an implementation plan for achieving that future state for the selected value stream.

During the interval between the first and second learning sessions, participants will work together to complete current and future state maps for their home company’s Model Value Stream.

The second session builds on the learning from the first, allowing us to complete multiple rapid improvement projects on the Model Value Stream. Several teams (typically 4) will work in parallel on these major activities. The learning objectives are likely to focus on topics such as standardized work development, 5S and visual management, changeover time reduction, pull systems development, or source quality.

During the ensuing interval, teams will complete independent projects along these same lines, providing ILS with documentation of those projects. ILS coaches will provide additional feedback.

The third session builds from the second, this time focusing on problem solving and kaizen. This week will also introduce other different topics that might include building a daily management system which defines key performance indicators and rapid response systems, or developing a suggestion system that builds problem solving skills. This session ends with a detailed discussion about training plans for each company to assure they continue moving forward. These plans may or may not involve ILS trainers, but ILS stands by to provide support for these companies and would expect to revisit them frequently to assess the progress and prevent backsliding.

We expect to secure substantial cost savings that pass through to the bottom-line with each activity. The host company benefits from these savings, and if state funding is not available, the savings will pay for their participation in the partnership. ILS will work closely with participating companies to plan an invoice and payment sequence of activities to ensure that participation is cost neutral on current budgets. The details of financing partnership will be worked out with each company separately, and based on each company’s individual needs.

The price is $7,500 per participant. Any portion of a company’s fee not covered by State training grants would be paid only after the end of the partnership program when the participating companies realize savings from the week-long activities for the hosts and the individual projects. Companies can pay over time (e.g. over 6 months) as a fraction of the monthly savings realized relative to the operating budget for the product line in question. If annualized savings are less than twice the fee amount, our fee would be reduced to 50% of the annualized savings, Guaranteeing a minimum payback ratio of 2:1. Monthly installments in paying the fee would not exceed 50% of the realized monthly savings, insuring the project produces favorable cash flow variance relative to budget. ILS will work closely with participating companies to ensure the partnership is cost neutral.

Community Action Partnership Process Flow Diagram
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