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May

Wilson Training to introduce new iQuality Training Programs at SWIMAQ

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Partnering with IWCC on customized Adult Learning programs

At the upcoming Southwest Iowa Manufacturers Alliance for Quality program Steven Wilson of WCTS, Inc. will be discussing how partnering with IWCC on customized programs for Quality and Six-Sigma can provide dramatic results for your business. The program will be held from 9:30AM to 2:30PM on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 and will be held at the Iowa Western Community College, Council Bluffs Campus.

Steve will address specific issues on why many people shy away from quality or continuous improvement programs and as a result, they are unable to see the direct benefits of it. He will also outline and introduce the latest adult learning training methods and how the training is adapted to the organization.

Steve commented on the training, “Too often, training programs are not utilized when employees get back to work. Based on my twenty years of assisting organizations and individuals improve quality through training, I have identified several components that will encourage employees and their organizations to change and use these new skills. Under the title of iQuality Academy, I have moved our training programs from tactical learning and acquiring new skills to providing the path from training to improved business performance.”

Southwest Iowa Manufacturers Alliance for Quality program will also include presentations on:

Non-Destructive Evaluation update/hands-on demo)
Iowa’s National Career Readiness Certificate
CIRAS update
Technology Commercialization
Plant Tour: SIRE Ethanol, LLC

The Iowa Western Community College College offers instruction in career education, adult and continuing education and the first two years of college and university study. Iowa Western exists to serve the needs of adults who can benefit from further education and guidance, whether by specially designed occupational programs, pre-professional college transfer programs or adult education. The Council Bluffs Campus, which includes the college administrative offices, is situated on a 282 acre site located 2 ½ miles northeast of the Council Bluffs business district.

Steven C. Wilson founded Wilson Consulting and Training Services, Inc (WCTS, Inc) as a process improvement consulting firm. Wilson has over 20 years of experience applying quality improvement tools, methodologies, and principles in a variety of industries that include automotive, healthcare, logistics, distribution, education, and numerous manufacturing venues. He has dedicated himself to the cause by training/coaching over 500 Six Sigma practitioners in over 70 companies with an emphasis on getting results. Wilson possesses a very engaging style of leadership, training and consulting, and provides an experienced eye for companies on the road to organizational improvement.

Servant Leadership in the Toyota Culture

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Last week, I had a chance to attend Lean Frontiers’ workshop on The Role of Leadership in Creating a Sustainable Lean Culture. The course demonstrated the role of leadership in connecting and simultaneously developing the “Product” and the “People” Value Streams in an organization. In a lean implementation this really sets the foundation for a sustainable lean culture.

The Presenter was Mike Hoseus, the Executive Director for the Center for Quality People & Organizations (CQPO). Mike was a corporate leader for 13 years at Toyota Motor Manufacturing’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant both in Human Resources and Manufacturing. CQPO is an organization developed in 1999 as a vision of Toyota Motor Manufacturing to share Lean Quality philosophy and human resource practices with education, business, and community organizations. Mike is the co-author with Dr. Jeffery Liker (Author of The Toyota Way ) of Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way.

In Mike’s presentation, he discussed the idea of Servant Leadership which does not mean that they hand over the reins of the company to self-directed work teams but rather develop a culture which can effectively delegate to and trust teams to produce excellent results. Another insight was the ineffectiveness of a leader the further they are away from the value stream.

Lean Frontiers the host of the event, provides high-quality, laser-focused events aimed at integrating organizational silos in support of the lean enterprise. These focused events provide an ideal venue for like-minded professionals to explore the common issues they face in supporting lean. They will be hosting the upcoming Lean Sales & Marketing Summit this July.

Can MRP be a Demand – Driven Tool?

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Chad Smith of the Constraints Management Group was the guest on the Business901 Podcast, Bringing New Thoughts to the Supply Chain thru MRP. This is a transcription of the podcast. Chad is currently writing the third revised edition of Orlickys Materials Requirements Planning with Carol Ptak (a former B901 Podcast Guest).

An excerpt from the eBook:

MRP is not just a push based tool. It can be a demand driven or pull based tool as well.

The problem is, that in order, when you move from a push based to a pull based mode of operation, whether it’s planning, scheduling, or execution, you are going to need some supplementary tools or functionalities in your MRP system that don’t really exist very well today. Certainly they are not well understood. They are not in a lot of MRP products. But MRP can be a demand driven system. It just needs to change a little bit.

Bringing New Thoughts to the Supply Chain –

Since the late 1990’s Chad and his partners at CMG have been at the forefront of developing and articulating the concepts behind Actively Synchronized Replenishment as well as building ASR compliant technology (Replenishment+®). Additionally, Chad is an internationally recognized expert in the application and development of the Theory of Constraints (TOC).