Upcoming Events Upcoming conferences, workshops, kaizen events and plant tours.  Visit the Change Management Associates website periodically as this information is often changed.   Conferences Metal Matters Conference, March 12-14, 2008, Orlando FL. This is an annual conference of the Fabrication and Manufacturers Association (FMA) International. Drew Locher of CMA will be participating on a Leadership Roundtable. The conference will take place at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. For more information go to the FMA website. Honda Supplier Conference, May 13 to 15, 2008, Louisville KY. Sponsored by Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc, this conference brings together a wide assortment of companies and provides a tremendous educational and relationship building opportunity for suppliers to Honda. Change Management Associates is scheduled to make a presentation during the conference. 4^th Annual Lean Accounting Summit, September 16 to 18, 2008, Las Vegas NV. This event brings together members of the finance and accounting community to discuss subjects such as “Accounting in the Lean Enterprise”, “Lean Accounting practices”, “Performance Measurements”, and related subjects. For more information go to the Lean Accounting Summit website. Drew Locher will be making a presentation based on his new book “Value Stream Mapping for Lean Development”. Streamlining time to market for new products and services has the greatest potential with regard to cost savings and achieving competitive advantage. Shingo Conference, March 31 to April 3, 2008, Dallas TX. CMA will be delivering its widely popular “Lean Tools for the Office” simulation workshop. For more information go to the Shingo website. Drew Locher was a recipient of this prestigious award in 2005 for his book, “The Complete Lean Enterprise”. 34th Annual Operational Excellence Seminar, September 3, 2008.  Drew Locher will be making a presentation at this Shingo Prize sponsored event to be held at the Utah State University in Logan, UT.  The subject will be Value Stream Mapping in Office and Administrative Processes. AME Regional Conference: The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is holding a regional conference in San Diego, CA from June 9 to 11, 2008. The conference offers 15+ workshops, 10 plant tours and 20 company presentations. For more information go to the AME website. AME Annual Conference: The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is holding its annual conference in Toronto Ontario from October 20 to 24, 2008.  The conference will offer 60 company presentations, 40+ workshops, and 20+ plant tours.  Change Management Associates will be delivering workshops on "Office Value Stream Mapping" and “Lean Office Overview with Simulation". Several companies with whom Change Management has worked with over the years will be presenting as well. While the program is still under development, you can get more information on the AME website. Productivity Conference: Nashville TN, October 6 to 9, 2008. Change Management Associates will be making a series of presentations in the Office and Service “track” on the subjects of: Lean Tools for the Office with live simulation, Administrative Value Stream Mapping, Lean Leadership, and Conducting Office Kaizen Events. For more information go to the Productivity website. Workshops Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business: Change Management Associates has partnered with Ohio State University and Productivity Inc. to develop and deliver a “Lean Manager Certification Program for Administration and Service Industries”.  This three-week program combines classroom learning with real life application. Participants will be expected to apply the concepts back in their organizations, and report on their efforts when they return for the next week of classroom instruction. Participants will conduct Value Stream Mapping events, as well as office kaizen events. In this way, this program goes far beyond other “certification” programs. Classroom topics include Policy Deployment, Administrative Value Stream Mapping, Lean Tools in the Office with Simulation, Administrative Kaizen, Value Stream Costing, Lean Development, Mistake Proofing, Administrative Automation, a Six Sigma introduction, Lean Leadership, the Human aspects of a Lean Environment, and more. For more information go to www.productivityinc.com, or click here for a copy of the program brochure. Lean Manager Certification Program for Administrative and Service Industries (2008 program): Week 1: December 1 to 5, 2008 Week 2: January 5 to 9, 2009 Week 3: February 2 to 6, 2009 Lean Fundamentals Certificate Program, June 23-27, 2008: This 5-day AME sponsored educational event will be held in Philadelphia PA at the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center.  The program runs from Monday through Friday morning.  Topics to be covered will be a Lean Overview, Continuous Flow Manufacturing, Equipment Reliability (QCO and TPM), Pull Systems, Workplace Organization (5S), and Change Management.  Drew Locher of Change Management Associates will be the lead instructor, with assistance from practitioners at the DVIRC.  For more information go to the AME website or contact CMA. Lean Enterprise Institute Workshops: Change Management Associates is a faculty member of the Lean Enterprise Institute, the not-for-profit organization of the co-author of "Lean Thinking" Jim Womack. LEI has monthly workshops scheduled throughout 2008. For more information go to the LEI website. Value Stream Mapping, Montreal Canada, July 29, 2008. Drew Locher of CMA will be delivering a VSM workshop as just one of several offerings during this LEI sponsored event. Optimizing Flow in Office and Services, Montreal Canada, July 30, 2008.  Drew Locher of CMA will delivering this new offering from LEI.  This workshop includes an office simulation to enhance the learning experience. Optimizing Flow in Office and Services, Minneapolis MN, September 18, 2008.  Drew Locher of CMA will delivering this new offering from LEI.  This workshop includes an office simulation to enhance the learning experience. Fabrication and Manufacturing Association (FMA): April 8 – 10, 2008. Hosted by Wilson Tool International, White Bear Lake, MN (near Minneapolis, MN), workshop topics include: Office Value Stream Mapping, a Lean Office simulation, Lean Accounting, and Leadership. For more information go to the FMA website. Maryland World Class Manufacturing Consortium (MWCMC): Change Management Associates will be delivering a series of workshops throughout 2007 through MWCMC. MWCMC is a not-for-profit organization consisting of over 60 member companies. Initiated in 1998, the consortium provides access to world class practitioner resources to its member companies. For more information go to the MWCMC website. Lean Tools for the Office, a Lean Office Overview with Simulation: TBD The Complete Lean Enterprise – Value Stream Mapping for Office and Administrative Processes: TBD Leaning the Product Development Process through Value Stream Mapping: TBD Kaizen and VSM Events From time to time, Change Management Associates opens up its on-site events to outside participants.  Come experience firsthand a Quick Changeover Kaizen Event, a Cellular/Flow implementation, or a 5S/Workplace Organization Kaizen Event, along with other improvement efforts.  Learn the various methodologies while actually applying them in the host company.  See the actual benefits for yourself.  Check out Change Management website periodically to see what events are upcoming.   Plant Tours Get out of your "box" and see the results of a successful implementation of Lean/World Class, Quality Management, Employee Involvement and other concepts.  Plant Tours are an excellent means to do this.  Change Management Associates and its partner organizations around the country, periodically offer tours of companies who have implemented, or are in the process of implementing various business improvement concepts.  See and hear first hand from those that are doing it.  A list of ongoing regional Plant Tours is provided below.  Check out the Change Management website from time to time to see what other Plant Tours are up-coming. Podcasts Lean Office Podcast (December 2006): Drew Locher of Change Management Associates participated in an approx. 10 minute podcast on this subject. During the podcast he discusses typical results as well as the most common obstacles encountered when Lean Thinking is extended to administrative and office processes. Click here for access to the podcast.