80% of Lean Benefits come from Lean Industrial Engineering. ..but only 20% of Your Lean Professionals have the skills!
Lean Manufacturing is an Amazing Set of Tools and Practices…but only a Few of Them Produce Substantial Bottom-line Benefits. Accomplish Something Amazing With This Membership: Mastery of Mixed Model Manufacturing.
Even highly Experienced and capable Lean Professionals and Material Flow Specialists Still struggle with these issues, in spite of years of improvement work
- While every Process Improvement project (a.k.a. Kaizen Event) seems to be successful, it is difficult to see any benefit to the company's bottom line as a result.
- While your organization may have initiated a Lean transformation decades ago, the organization has "lost the recipe" as people retire and new people are hired.
- Individual sites and departments are not singing from the same song sheet when it comes to Lean, even though you have a detailed Lean Implementation Handbook.
- The number of models and associated material items that need to be managed has increased exponentially over the last few decades, and former Lean solutions no longer work well.
- When push comes to shove, Process Improvement Specialists are often the first to be shown the door. Could this be because they are not producing results?
Surely there has to be a better way. After all, there are many organizations who are sustaining their Lean gains. Think about how amazing it would be if you could…
- Quickly master the two key skills used by all world-class Lean companies: Mixed Model Line Design and Mixed Model Material Management.
- Avoid the mistake of thinking you can "Kaizen" your way to solid process design. Instead, apply the proven design methodology and test your design with easy-to-learn simulation modeling.
- Supercharge your career and resume by leading the transformation to sustainable Mixed Model Manufacturing.
- Achieve bottom-line results. Remember that truely Lean organizations are wildly more profitable than their less-Lean competitors.
Build Your “House of Lean” on a solid foundation…
Exactly What Is Mixed Model Manufacturing?
When Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System, was asked what the TPS was all about, he laughed and said “It’s really just Toyota-style Industrial Engineering!”.
Of course he was being a bit coy, since the Toyota Production System has evolved into an amazing collection of methods and ways of thinking that have made Toyota one of the most successful manufacturing companies in history! Industrial engineering is a requirement and a given within Toyota.
The shocking truth, however, is that most Lean professionals today working both inside companies and outside as independent consultants, don’t have a solid understanding of this foundation knowledge and skill. We recently conducted an internal poll, and only 1 out of 5 Lean Specialists claimed to have a solid knowledge of Lean Industrial Engineering, or what we call Mixed Model Manufacturing.
This short video defines and reviews the subject, so that you can determine if this is a skill you need to master.
10 Things We Believe (About Mixed Model Manufacturing)
BELIEF I: A foundation of Lean Industrial Engineering is a requirement for all of the other methods and tools of Lean to function.
BELIEF II: Over time, for most manufacturing companies, the number of models and managed items has grown exponentially. Lean practices (like Kanban) no longer work as well.
BELIEF III: New people entering the company need to be onboarded in a consistent and efficient way. A failure to pass on best practices to the new generation of engineers, material flow professionals, and in fact the entire company is a major contributor to Lean backsliding.
BELIEF IV: Until an organization reaches Level 2 (Basic Flow) and Level 3 (Standardization) in the Process Maturity Model, any process improvement efforts will not sustain.
BELIEF V: Until Domestic Suppliers and International Suppliers can be integrated into the organization via Kanban and Material Flow methods, inventory turnover will remain low.
BELIEF VI: Cross-training and worker flexibility is the most powerful and fast method for major productivity improvements.
BELIEF VII: Testing new process designs and improvements prior to implementation is not optional. Mixed Model Manufacturing involves too many variables, and fixing a design later is the worst option.
BELIEF VIII: Every associate needs to have a career path and an opportunity to learn and improve. This is what is meant by “respect for people”.
BELIEF IX: Building a flow system requires products designed for manufacturability, striving towards zero defects, and elimination of wastes that impede work flow.
BELIEF X: Mixed Model Manufacturing needs to be viewed as a total business strategy that includes everyone in the company.
What's In It for the Company?
What's Different About a Site License?
Site-Wide Administration
Site license customers have access to an administration web page that shows the current training and engagement status of every enrolled person at the site. This is make it easy to keep an eye on progress and encourage engagement in developing Mixed Model skills.
Make Mixed Model Training Available to Everyone
We have taken the in-depth workshops that we teach at Toyota and other leading Lean companies, and put them online. There are three main certificate and skill tracks that you can pursue: Mixed Model Line Design, Mixed Model Material Management, and Mixed Model Simulation Modeling.
Share Your Questions and Insights
Become a member of a world-wide community of process improvement experts, benefit from their expertise and contribute your own. Join us for live events and webinars on our private Facebook group. Post questions and comments for the group. You can also tap directly into the expertise of the Lean Design Studio experts via weekly "Office Hours" Zoom meetings.
Reduced Cost Per Person
You can make beautiful music together as a team, but only if you are all singing off the same song sheet. Many organizations tend to "lose the recipe" for Mixed Model Manufacturing, even after outstanding initial success. People retire, get promoted, and new people join the organization. Training everyone in a common Mixed Model roadmap will reduce the risk of backsliding. The site license is the most cost-effective way to do that.
Test Your Designs
You would never build an airplane without testing it first in a wind tunnel, right? So why would you make process changes without testing them first? The Studio includes access to the Lean Design Simulator, an easy-to-learn simulation modeling tool designed specifically for Value Stream and Line Design modeling.
Specialized Mixed Model Subjects
There are many specialized subjects that you need to know as a Mixed Model designer: how to create sequencing rules, the four flexing methods, setting optimum buffer sizes, how to manage product options, when to not use Kanban. These are covered in focused courses in the Lean Design Studio.
Hey There, We're Here To Help...
The Lean Design Studio was createdby Richard Rahn and Gerard Leone, industry vets with 25+ years of experience in Lean coaching and training. They are the authors of eight books on Lean subjects, including The Complete Guide to Mixed Model Line Design and Fundamentals of Flow Manufacturing. Since 2011 they have partnered with Toyota Material Handling to present workshops on the subjects of Mixed Model Line Design and Mixed Model Material Management to thousands of Industrial Engineers and Lean Professionals.
The Lean Design Studio is the culmination of the tools and the methodologies that these two experts have learned and developed over their decades of hands-on process improvement work. The Studio combines online versions of our core training courses with a newly developed simulation tool, designed specifically for Mixed Model Manufacturing applications.
All Members Get Full Access To:
Line Design Certificate Program
Set your goal to earn a Certificate in Mixed Model Line Design by completing a series of courses on the subject.
Material Management Certificate Program
Earn a Certificate in Mixed Model Material Management by mastering Plan For Every Part (PFEP), setting optimum inventory quantities, diving deep on designing Kanban systems and much more.
Lean Design Simulator Software
Get started quickly and master Simulation Modeling with our Lean Design Simulation. All data entry and data analysis is done with a tool you already know: Excel. The simulation processing itself is "black boxed" to reduce the learning curve.
LDS Private Forum
This can be the most valuable part of the Studio. Share your questions and comments, attend live streaming sessions, participate in live "Master Mind" sessions with your colleagues.
Leonardo Group Resource Library
We have a vast collection of incredible tools, videos, courses, webinars and assessments that we have developed over the past 25 years, all on the subject of Mixed Model Manufacturing. Plan on weekly and sometimes daily updates to the studio!
Mixed Model Implementation Roadmaps
It's not enough to simple take courses and learn. If you stop there, your efforts are 100% non-value-adding! But implementation is confusing, unless you use a roadmap or checklist. We have developed roadmaps for the most important Lean value streams.
Here's what People Are Saying About Our Publications and Courses
Get Full Access to Professional-Level Membership for Everyone
YEARLY SITE LICENSE
All employees at a site or company (depending on the size)- Full Access to All Content
- Includes Implementation Roadmaps
- Certification and Memory Jogger Programs
100% Satisfaction Guarantee for 30 Days
When you join the Lean Design Studio you are fully protected by our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If you don’t feel like you’ve received value and you decide you want to cancel any time within the first 30 days, just let us know and we’ll send you a prompt refund. No hassles, headaches or hoops to jump through.
We’re confident that you’ll find the Lean Design Studio useful – and if you’re not satisfied within your first 30 days then we’ll refund you without any fuss.