The Maryland World Class Consortia holds regular meetings each quarter for members and non-members interested in continuous improvement. Each meeting is a half-day "mini-conference" that:
Examines tools and methods of continuous improvement
Showcases examples and case studies by process improvement practitioners
Explores leadership, culture change, and other improvement enablers
Provides networking with the region's community of Lean Thinkers
At this quarter's meeting:
Bill Poulin, Principal with Eclipse-M, will discuss how Lean methods and principles make the installation of solar power systems safer, more efficient, faster, and lower cost.
Solar power has become a significant factor in America's electricity infrastructure, and residential and commercial projects are booming in many parts of the country. Like construction or manufacturing, many competitors are in "business as usual" mode, while others are using more modern tools and methods, like Lean. Eclipse-M helps clients use Lean Thinking for competitive advantage.
Many people new to Lean have a common first reaction: "I don't make cars, and I don't have moving assembly lines, so Lean does not apply to me." That's unfortunate, because Lean works with any process. For businesses that work with many unique one-off projects, Lean can be confusing. Bill's presentation, which centers on this type of business model, will inform your Journey, especially if you are in construction, field installation or retrofit, build-to-engineer or build-to-order, job shop manufacturing, or any other type of low-volume/high-variability process.
Dr. Kim Bercovitz, President of X-Bytes, will discuss the importance of stretching and exercise in wellness programs, then demonstrate benefits by leading a mid-morning stretch break. Learn about personal health benefits that can come from simple, quick daily exercises that anyone can do!
Jeff Fuchs, Executive Director of the Maryland World Class Consortia, will discuss hands-on process simulations and how they can be used to understand process flow, train others in Lean fundamentals, and develop "what if" improvement scenarios for complex, high-risk, slow flow, and many other process types.
Agenda:
07:30 a.m. - Registration and continental breakfast
08:00 a.m. - Welcome, news and announcements
08:30 a.m. - Bill Poulin, Eclipse-M
09:30 a.m. - Kim Bercovitz, X-Bytes
10:00 a.m. - Networking Break
10:15 a.m. - Jeff Fuchs, MWCC
11:30 a.m. - End
Continental breakfast will be served. Please contact us if you have any special dietary needs.
