The Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence, part of Saint Vincent College’s Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics, and Government will present a Lean Manufacturing Seminar on Tuesday, May 24 and Wednesday, May 25.  The event will be co-sponsored by the Saint Vincent College Small Business Development Center and is designed to educate those companies seeking to develop an integrated approach to their operations. 

Operational Excellence is a leadership philosophy comprised of tools and methods which result in continuous improvement of a company’s operation.  It does this by focusing on the needs of customers, empowering employees and identifying and eliminating all waste from its processes.  The methods and tools of Lean Manufacturing are key components of Operational Excellence.

This seminar will cover the philosophy and cultural aspects of Operational Excellence and describe the methods and tools that must be implemented for world-class performance.  In turn, attendees will learn to discover the tools and methods that make Toyota the envy of the manufacturing world.  Seminar content will include the Foundations of Lean: philosophy, tools, techniques, and the “why.”  Attendees will learn the Toyota Way and the Toyota Production System.  They will discover where and how waste in the workplace is found and identified and how these concepts apply anywhere from the shopfloor to the office.  This seminar will delve into the “Lean Toolbox” of 5S, Visual Management, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED), Poka Yoke (Mistake Proofing), Work Balancing, Takt Time, One-piece Flow Concepts and Kanban.  In turn, attendees will experience how to implement improvements utilizing the Kaizen Blitz Technique and learn hands-on from simulations of such concepts. 

By the end of the seminar, attendees will understand how to apply these concepts to their organizations, how to support them to make them successful and how to adapt their organization’s structure to the new situation.  They will also have the opportunity to participate in group simulations and exercises and take part in an on-site visit that will enable them to transfer top business solutions to their organization and to achieve the higher levels customers now demand. 

Featured speakers will be Richard E. Hills, Sr., Director of the Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence and Dan Worthing, Assistant Director and experienced implementor of this approach.  They will present the Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence’s concepts of lean manufacturing in the culturally changing leadership philosophy of today. The fee for the event is $399 per person or $349 per person if registering two or more.  This includes continental breakfasts, lunches, bound handout, introductory reference and an on-site visit to a local lean facility.  To register or to obtain more information, please contact the Saint Vincent College Small Business Development Center at 724-537-4572.