Archive: Business & Technology

Binghamton - In response to the increasingly competitive environment facing manufacturers in the Southern Tier, the Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology in Binghamton has created an eight-month training program that focuses on the process of reducing waste and streamlining operations.  The first session is on October 16th, with the seven remaining all-day sessions scheduled for the second Friday of the month, all at the Treadway Inn in Owego. 

“The two primary success factors for manufacturers today are innovation and continuous improvement,” said Ed Gaetano, AM&T’s executive director. “Implementing an ongoing structured process that squeezes out waste and inefficiencies is how a company becomes a ‘Lean Enterprise’, and hence becomes more competitive.”

Gaetano explained that becoming Lean is based on the concept of continually increasing the proportion of value-added activity to a business through ongoing waste elimination. He said that a Lean approach provides companies with the tools to survive the global market demand for higher quality, faster production time and lower prices.

While AM&T has delivered comprehensive Lean Enterprise training within single companies for many years, this is the first time for a comprehensive program that builds on the synergy of learning with participants from multiple companies. “This program is based on material that has been successfully used by AM&T, and by our state and national partners,” said Gaetano.  “At the completion of the eight-month program, companies can expect their participants to be Lean Champions, or key employees who will have the foundation to move into Lean leadership positions within the organization.”

“In addition to the in-class simulations, site visits, and other hands-on training methods, AM&T staff will provide an on-site Lean Assessment for each participating company,” explained Carol Miller, Principal Consultant and instructor for the course. “This will enable individual consultation with participants about opportunities for improvements in their own production environments.”  Miller explained that participants will be assigned short homework exercises between sessions, that continuing education credits can be awarded, and that the training qualifies for inclusion in the 80 hours requirement towards the Society of Manufacturing Engineers' (SME) Bronze, Silver and Gold Levels of Lean Certification.

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