Some Recent Activities to Promote Innovation, Growth & Profitability of Manufacturers in the Southern Tier

• Participated in Pre-seed Workshop at Binghamton University. Two AM&T staff members were team coaches and one staff was a program facilitator/instructor.
• One AM&T staff was a facilitator/instructor at a Pre-Seed Workshop at Stony Brook.
• Conducted a Basic Project Management workshop at a company as part of the CFA/DOL contract. Twenty (20) engineers and managers attended and received training in Project Management methods and tools.
• Conducted 21 Lean Thinking workshops at one company as part of the CFA/DOL contract. A total of 378 employees from all shifts attended and received an overview of lean methods and tools.
• Conducted two (2) 8-Step Problem Solving workshops at one company.  40 employees attended and received training in root cause analysis methods and tools.
• Completed a 5-day “Set-up Reduction” event. The team challenged the current process and identified opportunities for improvement.  The new set-up process was designed, documented and its performance validated. The reduced set-up will result in increased equipment capacity, increased productivity and reduced inventory.
• Conducted a 5-day “Engineered to Order information flow” value stream mapping event with a team of ten people.  It is anticipated that when implemented, the plan will result in improved on-time deliveries and, reduced wastes (including process rework, over processing, expediting, rescheduling and changing priorities, etc.).  As well as establish standard work processes that could be applied corporate wide.
• Conducted a 5-day “New Product Launch” process mapping event.  It is anticipated that when implemented, the process will result in more effective product launches.
• Partnered with AME to conduct a one-day event session focused on Leader Standard Work. The event was attended by 23 people.
• Conducted (2) four-hour Lean Thinking training session focused on identifying and improving production and administrative wastes. The training was attended by 19 people.
• Conducted an 8-hour Lean for Manufacturing workshop, training participants in Lean Thinking and how to apply Lean tools & concepts.  The training was attended by 13 people.
• Completed (2) multi-day 5S and Visual Workplace events.  The teams created a workplace where everything is visually clear and controlled. As a result, the workplace will produce fewer defects, less waste, fewer injuries, and fewer breakdowns. These improvements will translate into lower costs and improved quality.
• Completed ISO/AS Internal Audits, Briefings, Procedures Prep, Gap Analyses, & Management Reviews at 15 companies.

See this and other newsletter articles at http://amt-mep.org/files/1213/9695/2088/2014-04.pdf

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