February 21, 2008 — Engineers from the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) at Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) have announced a three-day course in lean office techniques for office managers, supervisors and administrators.
"Principles of Lean Office: The Practical Approach to Workflow," is scheduled March 10-12 at Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, in San Antonio.
The interactive program is based on the proven continuous-improvement techniques of the Toyota Production System, specifically tailored for the administrative environment.
"The course shows how to apply lean principles in non-manufacturing settings. It defines different types of waste from a lean point of view, examines the root causes of waste and demonstrates successful methods to eliminate them," said William Rafferty, South Central regional director for TMAC and manager of the Process Improvement Engineering section in SwRI's Automation and Data Systems Division.
"It also explains things like Kaizen events and the 5S process, along with measures and metrics, mistake proofing, value-added improvements and solution development," he said.
Course instructors are SwRI Principal Engineer Ros Cantu, Senior Research Engineer Sandra Hawkins, Research Engineer Derrick Muschalek and Principal Technical Specialist Jim Caldwell, all of the Automation and Data Systems Division.
Registration deadline is Feb. 29. Fee is $795 per person, with a $50-per-person discount if four or more employees enroll from the same organization. For more information, visit www.tmac.swri.org.
TMAC works to improve and expand manufacturing in Texas by offering affordable services and assistance to Texas manufacturers. The TMAC South Central headquarters in San Antonio is a program of SwRI. For more information contact Rafferty at (210) 522-5865.
SwRI is an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organization benefiting government, industry and the public through innovative science and technology.
For more information contact SwRI Solutions.