A collection of lean tips and advice for the lean enthusiast, practitioner and continuous improvement manager based on the experiences of our trainers.

Please suggest more we can add to the list.

As a trainer tasked with implementing lean manufacturing in UK based manufacturing businesses I am often asked by senior managers  "Where should we start? or “Which lean tool should we introduce first"? Without hesitation I always reply, "You must start by getting your people on board".

Some parts of lean manufacturing can be described as ‘organised’ common sense. However if lean is so simple why do so many companies fail to derive the full benefits from their lean programmes?

A very common question that companies ask themselves, when they are starting or looking to start on the journey of Six Sigma improvement is – “How and where do I start?”

Paul takes up the story, “Some organisations we work with initially tend to think they have a unique set of problems or operating conditions which would make 5S and the other lean tools difficult to implement. The reality tends to be very different. Once we get over the initial hurdle of the ‘buy-in’ of the management team, progress and improvements can be rapid.

“Excellent start, slowed down a bit after 6 months, forgotten after 12 months”.

Does this sound familiar with respect to your failed 5S programme?

As Aster we come across many companies where a 5S implementation programme has failed. Whilst the reasons for failures might appear to be numerous on the surface, the root causes are usually the same. In this article we give you some ideas about how to ensure your 5S programme can be easily sustained.

 Six Sigma DMAIC project teams are formed to investigate and resolve business issues or problems, where either the cause of the problem or the solution to that problem is not immediately apparent.

There are many factors that will determine the success of a particular project with committed leadership, having quantifiable measures and results, the availability of full time Black Belts and integration of the project deliverables with the companies strategies some of the main ones. However, as a Black Belt running DMAIC projects, it’s the selection of the right team members and subsequent training of them as Green Belts that has been the single biggest contributor to the success of the project.

What is Six Sigma Certification?

Aster provides certification for its Green Belt and Black Belt Six Sigma training programmes.

Delegates completing six sigma training programmes have the option to have their competence formally recognised by completing the six sigma certification programme.

How choosing the right measures can help your business to make the right improvement decisions.

Very often, the temptation in organisations is to gather as much information as you possibly can to identify how all of your processes are performing. However, this leads to “data overload” and in most cases, results in an enormous resourcing effort to gather information that is rarely, if ever, viewed, interpreted and acted upon to drive continuous improvement into the organization.

"I hadn't really intended to introduce Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), in fact I didn't even know that's what it was at that time, it simply happened as a by-product of another project" recounts Paul Wilson, Managing Director of Aster Training about his early days working as a Production Manager in the north east of England for an electronics company in the 1980's.