ManagmentWisdom.com is a group of individuals—journalists, producers, writers, and students of management—whose attention was captured years ago by the profound implications of the ideas of W. Edwards Deming and other pioneers in systems thinking and its application to management. Specifically they have a library of videos about W. Edwards Deming.

Visit them on the web at: http://www.managementwisdom.com/

The Japanese Management Association was created in 1942 with the Consulting division at its core. In 1945 Shigeo Shingo entered the service of the JMA, where from 1945 to 1959 he developed the tools of SMED, kanban, standardized work, flow, and the elimination of non-value added activites or waste. He cemented himself as a founder of continuous improvement. JMAC was a driving force in the dissemination of Deming's ideas both inside Japan as well as in many other countries, and it originated hundreds of Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing tools to assist Japanese companies in the improvement of productivity and quality. The main purpose of JMAC is to provide management consulting services to promote organizational effectiveness specializing in application and implementation. JMAC focuses on planning, problem solving, systems analysis, training and integrity. JMAC now enjoys the distinction of being Japan's oldest, largest, and most prestigious management consulting firm.

For more information about the JMAC visit them on the web at:
http://www.jmac-america.com/

One of the keys to sustaining continuous improvement is empowering your workforce to implement lean practices. The Suggestion Program is a powerful tool not only to encourage your workforce towards continuous improvement, but also track and monitor continuous improvement suggestions within your organization as a best practice tool. The suggestion program has the ability to store suggestions per employee and assign reward points to those employees based upon your continuous improvement reward system. The Suggestion Program also has the ability to search all the suggestions entered into the system in multiple ways. For more information or to request a demonstration contact us.

Click here for screenshots of the Suggestion Program

The Lean Systems Simulation is a tool used to compare and contrast traditional manufacturing, or push systems, to lean manufacturing or pull systems. Two complete production setups are simulated using LEGO™ building blocks as raw material. Participants receive a hands-on experience in simulating a lean manufacturing processes utilizing Kanban, visual management, andon's, and pull production methodologies. A unique feature to our simulation is the addition of key measureables and financial impact on each different production phase. The Lean Systems Simulation is available as a prebuilt kit for training at your facility, and includes an instruction booklet for your trainers. For more information about the Lean Systems Simulation, contact us.

5S whiteboards help your organization report on their continuous improvement efforts right on the production floor. These sturdy, aluminum framed dry-erase whiteboards come pre-lettered with areas for defective pareto, takt/cycle time charts, 5S audits, production tracking, housekeeping and comments. For more information or to order a 5S whiteboard, contact us.

The Lean Systems assessment is a 2-3 day process performed by Dennis Doren, President - Lean Systems and Atsushi Terada, President - JMAC. This fact finding survey will provide an understanding of the correct metrics, review of flow, and overall systems analysis. In addition to the entire systems analysis, one specific process will be mapped for value and a diagnosis will be provided. A final report including a gap analysis and implementation plan will also be provided. In addition, this benchmark survey will be taught to your organization to use as a tool for improvement efforts for the future. The following ten categories will be assessed:

1. Management/Cultural Awareness
2. Quality, Problem Solving, and Customer/Supplier Assessment
3. HR, Training and Development
4. 5S, Workplace Organization, and Visual Management
5. Standardized Work
6. Flexible Operations and Level Production
7. SMED
8. Total Productive Maintenance
9. Material Control, Pull System, and Value Stream Mapping
10. Inventory and Lot Sizes

This tool can be used year after year by your internal lean champions to gauge lean improvement efforts.

This flexible TAKT/Cycle Time data sheet will allow for hourly monitoring of standard operations in each area of production. This sheet will compare standard operation Cycle Time to TAKT/customer demand expectations for proper resourcing, visual management, and problem solving. This is a very powerful tool for supervision and material control throughout the value-stream to assist in flow and pull. This tool can be updated daily for different customer demand, mix, volume, days of inventory needed and/or shifts ran.

Making decisions using accurate data about production is vital in order to progress on the journey of continuous improvement. Time studies are an invaluable tool in gathering this accurate data, and to be efficient at the collection of time study data is key. These time study boards are made of high durability plastic and have dual heavy-duty stop watches attached to complete overall time and between time studies. Below is a link where your company can acquire the same high quality time study boards we recommend.

Meylan Corporation Time Study Boards
(Note: Model No. 235 has dual stop watch holders.)

Meylan Corporation Stopwatches
(Note: Model No. 224 is recommended.)

Use this time study template to complete all of your time study needs! Available as a FREE download from Lean Systems Inc., you can print and copy this Adobe PDF document as many times as you need. Click below to download the time study template.

Time Study Template (32 KB PDF )

Vorne Industries Inc. is a manufacturer of TPM tools, specifically OEE products, that maintain capacity/efficiency information, downtime loss information, performance and quality loss information. The three main statistical categories are availability, performance, and quality. These innovative products help you track realtime information, if you aren't measuring its hard to improve. These products and an example of a calculation sheet can be viewed at the links below.

Visit their OEE page on the web at: http://www.vorne.com/solutions/learning_center/oee.htm

Also visit Vorne Industries OEE Calculation page on the web at:
http://www.oee.com/calculating_oee.html

Many of our current customers are very satisfied with Visual Workplace LLC. They offer in-house resourcing for your customized visual management needs. This is done by developing your own sign shop using hardware, software, and raw materials recommended by Visual Workplace.

Visit Visual Wokplace LLC. on the web at:
http://www.visual-work-place.com/