Continuous Improvement

NTA Continuous Improvement Course Overviews

Continuous Improvement

Introduction to Lean Manufacturing

This course serves as a basis for participants who require an understanding of lean techniques and their application in developing lean manufacturing and making business system improvements. The course includes simulated factory exercises to illustrate the principles used in applying lean manufacturing techniques.

Five S Strategies of Workplace Organization

Applying and committing to the implementation of a Five S program will improve profits, and at the same time improve both quality and safety. Participants in this program will learn Five Strategies and by applying them will help to by reduce wasted time and materials; improve daily or shift startup times; reduce maintenance and downtime; improve efficiency and productivity; improve employee morale; and simplify the work environment.

Process Mapping & Value Stream Analysis

The course serves as a basis for students who require an understanding of value stream mapping for application in preparation of quality system documentation, use in lean manufacturing, and system improvement activities.  The course supports and discusses the application of process mapping to value stream analysis.

Kanban / Pull Systems

The Pull Systems and Kanban program is conducted with a cross-functional team. The program involves both classroom training and hand-on participation in Lean concepts and principles required to transform given processes from “push” to “pull” systems. Participants will develop an understanding of the meaning, approach, and benefits of pull systems vs. push systems.

Introduction to Mistake Proofing

Mistake Proofing (aka Poka-Yoke) is a philosophy that recognizes that people forget and make errors, and machines and processes fail and make errors. The approach uses simple “mistake-proofing” ideas and methods in product and process design to eliminate both human and mechanical errors.

Set-Up Reduction

Participants will learn to apply the basic principles of quick die setup practices. In addition, process standardization will be presented. An emphasis will be placed throughout on establishing objectives, identifying opportunities, and implementing improvements based on the materials.

Kaizen Applications / Implementation Training

Participants will learn to apply effective team problem solving principles to quickly resolve an important project for the business. Participants will develop an understanding of the meaning, approach, and benefits of lean techniques. An emphasis will be placed throughout on establishing objectives, identifying opportunities, and implementing improvements based upon the project assigned, and the materials presented. By the end of the program, significant measurable improvements will be achieved, and the assigned project will have been completed, or nearing completion, with a specific, detailed “action items” list prepared. The Kaizen team will present the results of their efforts to the company’s management team, upon completion of the program.

Six Sigma Green Belt Training

This training program teaches participants to implement the principles, practices, and techniques of Six Sigma through project teams, and prepares them to sit for the ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt Certification exam. Green Belts are usually process leaders and may also be assigned specific process-level improvement projects to conduct on their own but do not require the extensive use of statistics. This course will allow the individual to apply the knowledge and skills to accomplish breakthrough business improvements for the organization. Six Sigma methods are a systematic application that is focused on achieving significant business results and increased customer satisfaction. An ASQ Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB) Exam is NOT provided at the completion of this course. It will become the responsibility of each participant to seek out such exam should he/she wish to receive full accreditation.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Failure Mode Effects Analysis is a disciplined analysis of product design or a production process with the intent to identify design or process-based failure modes prior to the first production run. It needs to be done early in the product design cycle — as soon as the design concept has been selected. The focus is to prevent, or at least detect, changes in the process variables or design features that could lead to a deviation from the design requirements.

Design of Experiments

This course is a non-mathematical, graphical introduction to design of experiments. Topics covered include understanding opportunities for improvement, defining objectives, team and factor selection, determine experimental design, determining sample size, developing experimental, running the experiment, analyzing data and taking action based on the results.

The course serves as a basis for students who require a basic understanding of design of experiments to understand, control and improve industrial processes. The course provides fundamentals needed to design and conduct screening experiments and provides a basis for advanced courses using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) techniques.

Root Cause Corrective Action Problem-Solving with Teams

This program teaches effective corrective action using a disciplined problem-solving process. It also provides team facilitation skills in a hands-on format, where participants learn using actual problems from within their organization.