Green to Black Belt in Lean – Upgrade Program

Days 1-3 — Mixed Model Value Stream Design

• Mixed Model Value Stream Design: product families typically consist of a wide range of products with different work content, setup times, and processing requirements
• How to improve flow in complex value streams with high product variety
• Managing shared resources (people, workstations, lines) that are used across multiple value streams
• Designing improved flow despite complexity, resulting in:
  • shorter lead times
  • lower operational cost
  • more predictable performance

Day 4 — Internal Logistics & Lean Material Handling

• Why well-designed value streams fail when internal logistics are not aligned
• Typical internal logistics “flow stoppers” and how to eliminate them
• Designing internal logistics to support and protect the main value stream
• Guest lecture by a practitioner from TE Connectivity, where these principles are deeply implemented in practice

Day 4 — Lean Supply Chain Design

• Understanding the value stream beyond a single organization: from suppliers to end customers
• Connecting suppliers, producers, customers, and consumers into one integrated value stream
• Applying Lean principles at supply chain level to achieve flow breakthroughs
• Using Macro / Extended Value Stream Mapping to design improved material and information flows across the supply chain

Day 5 — Lean Tools for Office & Service Environments

• Expanding the Lean toolbox for more effective implementation in office and service environments
• Techniques covered include:
  • Overhead Value Analysis
  • Contactograms
  • Written communication analysis
  • Meeting structure analysis
  • Variable Factor Programming (VFP) for value streams with high variability
  • Multi Moment Observations (MMO / Work Sampling)
• Quantifying waste and improvement potential in environments with variable tasks and work content

Day 6 — Service & Office Lean Simulation

• Hands-on simulation game illustrating Lean principles in a service and office environment
• Multiple value streams and shared resources within one system
• Applying Business Process Value Stream Mapping and Lean Design for Flow principles
• Achieving breakthrough improvement in an office/service context based on previously learned techniques

Day 7 (Part 1) — Lean Design for Flow

• Lean traditionally focuses on improving existing processes by eliminating waste
• Critical reflection: how much waste is actually created during poor initial process design?
• Designing processes right the first time using Lean principles
• The role of Engineering and process design in sustainable Lean implementations

This module introduces Six Sigma as a complementary approach to Lean.
The focus is on understanding and reducing variation so that waste is reduced and value streams
perform more reliably and predictably.

Days 7 (Part 2), 8 & 9

Six Sigma Fundamentals & DMAIC

• What is Six Sigma and how can it strengthen Lean implementations
• History, philosophy, and positioning of Six Sigma within operational excellence
• Understanding variation and why it creates waste in processes
• Key performance and quality metrics, including:
  • Critical to Quality (CTQ)
  • Cost of Non-Quality
  • Defects per Unit (DPU)
  • Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO)
  • First Time Yield
  • Throughput Yield
  • Rolled Throughput Yield

Basic Statistical Concepts

• Introduction to basic statistics for process improvement
• Normal distribution and data transformations
• Process distributions and parameters:
  • mean
  • median
  • mode
• Confidence intervals and their interpretation in improvement projects

DMAIC Methodology

• The DMAIC improvement cycle:
  • Define
  • Measure
  • Analyse
  • Improve
  • Control
• Tools and techniques per DMAIC phase, including:
  • Voice of the Customer (VoC)
  • SIPOC
  • Pareto analysis
  • Boxplots and Histograms
  • Process Mapping (M-PMAP)
  • Gage R&R
  • FMEA
  • Ishikawa (Fishbone) diagrams
  • BOB vs. WOW analysis
  • 5W2H analysis
  • Multi-Vari analysis
  • Hypothesis testing (step-by-step)
  • One-sample and two-sample tests
  • ANOVA (one-factor)
  • Control charts
  • Out of Control Action Plans

Practical Application

• Hands-on exercises to apply statistical concepts
• Interpreting data correctly to support fact-based decision making
• Linking Six Sigma analysis directly to Lean improvement initiatives

Day 10 — Lean & Change, HRD

• Human Resources Development (HRD) at Toyota:
  how HR actively steers and supports Lean implementation
• Role of leadership development, capability building, and coaching in sustaining Lean
• Lecture by a former Toyota Motor Europe master trainer and Kaizen manager
• Lean and Change Management:
  how to design, launch, and guide change in complex organizations
• Practical insights

Days 11-12 — Accounting for Lean & Value Stream Costing

• Why traditional cost accounting and financial reporting fail to show improvements in flow
• How conventional accounting systems can unintentionally stimulate overproduction
  — the worst form of waste
• Understanding why short-term financial results may appear negative after Lean improvements
• Introduction to Value Stream Costing and Throughput Accounting as alternative management accounting approaches
• Making the financial impact of flow improvements visible and measurable
• Using value stream–driven cost models to support:
  • investment decisions
  • portfolio management
  • engineering and product development choices
• Case Study 1:
  Value stream cost model at plant level, including:
  • comparison of current vs. future state
  • financial impact of an investment decision
  • introduction of a new product
• Case Study 2:
  End-to-end supply chain cost model, analyzing different future-state scenarios related to:
  • transport modes
  • supplier locations
  • conversion costs and value stream compression

Day 14 — Lean Operating Systems & Culture

• Lean Operating Systems & Daily Management,
  illustrated with a real-life case at Mars Food Europe
• Guest lecture by the Lean Manager of Mars Olen (Belgium)
• Lean Culture at Johnson & Johnson:
  how to achieve a sustainable cultural shift through a structured and thoughtful approach
• Practical insights into communication, leadership behavior,
  and consistency as drivers of cultural change
• Guest lecture by the former GM Manufacturing of
  Johnson & Johnson Pharma (Janssen) in Belgium