A 15-year direct connection with Toyota helps us stay up to date with their practices and it was time to update the Lab. The recent  restructuring includes a new moving assembly line and video recording equipment. Ken Kreafle, lean program manager and one of our executives-in-residence, says, “The improvements offer students a hands-on chance to study motion, timing, principles and practices, standardized work, and continuous improvement. “

The lab provides a setting where we can teach students from a variety of backgrounds how to work in groups efficiently and practice problem solving in real-life situations. Students have the mobility to rearrange processes in the lab that mimic many of the day- to- day problems that they may encounter in their own jobs. Divided into workgroups, they’re equipped with the tools and flexible work environment that they need to learn the HOW of true lean.

The True Lean Lab, currently configured to run as a small- scale cylinder factory, demonstrates concepts that are applicable in a manufacturing setting and adaptable to many others. Professionals working in healthcare, offices, retail, and food service are just a few examples of fields in which applying lean philosophies can bring big results including higher profits and more efficient systems.
In order to succeed, lean must be spread throughout all levels of an organization and the lab helps us provide critical skill sets for executives, leadership teams, management teams, and associates.