Short Programs

LAI Lean Academy® Course [PI.23s]

Date: July 19-21, 2010 | Tuition: $2,200 | Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 2.1

Course Summary  |  Learning Objectives  |  Who Should Attend  |  Schedule  |  Participants' Comments  |  On-Site Courses  |  About the Lecturers  |  AFSO21 Certification  |  Discounts  |  Updates

Apply Online »

Course Summary

Participants receive a hands-on introduction to lean and six sigma fundamentals for manufacturing, engineering, office, and supply chain applications. They learn how to eliminate waste to create value for all enterprise stakeholders. A Lego® enterprise simulation helps participants apply tools and concepts in a team situation. No previous Lean Six Sigma background is expected.

Former students who completed the LAI Lean Academy® courses have had a very positive response to the course:

• “Empowering, practical, critical.”
• “It was a great experience. The networking was great and I learned a lot! And the best part was it was fun!!”
• “I learned about process improvement, why it's important, how to do it, and what the benefits are.”
• “Fun, educational, interesting, exciting. Lean can be applied in any aspect of business/life. I see lots of room for Lean in my department.”

•  What is Lean Thinking?
Lean Thinking is the dynamic, knowledge-driven, and customer-focused process through which all people in a defined enterprise continuously eliminate waste with the goal of creating value. More than ever, today's organizations need to operate in the most economical fashion, taking less time to create and deliver products while improving customer satisfaction. The term "lean" was coined by researchers in MIT's International Motor Vehicle Program to describe the production paradigm emerging from the Japanese automotive industry. However, lean thinking is not specific to the automotive or any other sector or operation. A lean enterprise, or production system, is one that eliminates waste and optimizes the value delivered to all of its stakeholders.

•  Benefits
This class directly prepares participants for involvement in lean activities back in their jobs. Participants will be able to recognize the value and importance of lean to an organization's operations and identify opportunities for improvement back on their jobs. As a result of this class, participants will be able to contribute to improvement implementation projects in their own institution/government agency/industry operations.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this class, participants will be able to:

1. Articulate the fundamental lean six sigma concepts applicable across an enterprise.
2. Apply basic lean and quality tools and techniques.
3. Summarize why people are the heart of a lean enterprise.
4. Explain the challenges & benefits of implementing lean concepts throughout an enterprise.
5. Participate in and contribute to an organization’s continuous improvement program.

Who Should Attend

Lean concepts are appropriate for any functional area within an organization. Lean principles can be applied in every aspect of a business/government/non-profit operation, including manufacturing and factory management, logistics and supplier management, customer relations, office processes, product design and engineering, and curriculum design and delivery. There is no prerequisite for this class.

People who may benefit from this course include:

• Project managers and individual contributors who are new to lean concepts
• Senior program managers and team members engaged in organizational change
• Engineers and engineering managers
• Project managers in Logistics, Quality, and Supply Chain Management
• First and second level managers in manufacturing operations
• Government Air Force or Navy employees working on continuous improvement programs such as AFSO21, AirSpee, and others
• U.S. Army divisions working on six sigma, lean, and other improvement projects
• Academic faculty and staff who are striving to incorporate lean principles into their curriculum and institutional processes
• Non-profit leaders embarking on change activities

* Academic Promotion
The course has been successfully delivered by faculty to MBA students, undergraduate students, and graduate students across the country at several universities.

The developers of this curriculum have designed the course in a modular format so that faculty members might be able to incorporate relevant materials into their existing curriculum in order to bring lean concepts to their students.

A special academic promotion allows a limited number of faculty members to participate in this course at a reduced cost. Faculty who attend will have the opportunity to join LAI EdNet and receive a curriculum CD containing PowerPoint modules for future use in their own classes.

Course schedule and registration times

Class runs 8:30 am - 5:30 pm each day.

Registration is on Monday morning from 7:45 - 8:15 am.

Participants' Comments

Director, American Gem Society Advanced Instruments Division
"The most beneficial part of this program was obtaining methods of efficiency that encompass many activities. Though developed for the Aerospace industry, the acquired skills have cross applications that are far reaching. The ideology and the way it was presented truly represent a hybrid of disciplines that will surely benefit any industry or activity for that matter."

Manager - Vehicle Maintenance, Komatsu America Corp.
"The team activities throughout the course were especially helpful in reinforcing the lecture material."

Manufacturing Engineering/Quality Manager, Dove Data Products Inc.
"Very professional lecturers [with] practical hands-on experiments and current events and advantages of Lean application to complex processes. The material was current state-of-the-art and very useful for future application in any job environment."

On-site Courses

We can also offer this course for groups of employees at your location. Please contact the Short Programs office for further details.

About The Instructors

Annalisa Weigel, Ph.D.
Professor Weigel has a dual faculty appointment in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Engineering Systems Division at MIT. She is a member of MIT’s Lean Advancement Initiative, conducting research in the area of lean product development and systems engineering.

Dr. Weigel’s professional experience includes three years supporting the Department of Defense, and two years working on Wall Street. As an engineer at Adroit Systems in Washington, DC she worked in support of the Department of Defense conducting system architecture design and trades studies for satellite communications, satellite operations, and launch vehicles. As a research associate at Lehman Brothers in New York City, she worked in the Aerospace and Defense sector and the Equity Strategy group.

Professor Weigel teaches graduate courses in systems architecture, space policy, and technology and policy. She also teaches an undergraduate capstone project course in space systems design.

She is affiliated with MIT’s Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), the MIT Space Systems Lab, and the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR). Her research interests include aerospace systems design and architecting, innovation and change dynamics in the aerospace industry, and aerospace policy.

Dr. Weigel received an S.B. (1994) and S.M. (2000) in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a Ph.D. (2002) in Technology, Management and Policy from MIT. She also received a second S.B. (1995) in Science, Technology and Society from MIT, and an M.A. (1998) in International Relations from the George Washington University. She is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the International Council on Systems Engineering.

Hugh McManus, Ph.D.
Hugh McManus is a Senior Special Projects Engineer at Metis Design, applying modern product development, business, and technical practices to the aerospace industry. He has done pioneering work in application of lean techniques to product development with MIT's Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), including leading seminars and workshops, supervising research, and authoring several tools for lean transformation. He is currently facilitating lean short courses and transformation events using a unique business simulation (co-developed with Eric Rebentisch of LAI) to rapidly teach advanced lean concepts, and allow participants to experience lean transformations in a simulated environment. He is also developing, and working with, advanced tools for space system architecture and design.

He recently co-authored a book on lean methods in the Aerospace Industry, Lean Enterprise Value, and published several major tools and reports, including the LAI tools, “Product Development Value Stream Mapping (PDVSM)” and “Product Development Transition to Lean (PDTTL),” and an extensive report on new Space System Architecture methods. He has also co-edited a book on applications of polymer composite materials, has been an associate editor of the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, and has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications. Recent publications include “Value Stream Analysis and Mapping for Product Development” (with R. Millard), “New Methods for Rapid Architecture Selection and Conceptual Design” (with D. Hastings and J. Warmkessel), “A Framework for Understanding Uncertainty and its Mitigation and Exploitation in Complex Systems” (with D. Hastings) and “Lean Engineering: Doing the Right Thing Right” (with A. Haggerty and E. Murman).

Dr. McManus has also taught and practiced aerospace structures and materials. He was a structural engineer at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (now a division of Lockheed Martin), and at Kaman Aerospace for a total of 10 years, and taught structures and materials courses at MIT for 7 years. He remains actively interested in aerospace structural engineering, composite materials, structural health monitoring, and high-temperature polymer materials.

Dr. McManus received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1990, and S.B. and S.M. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1980 and 1981. He has worked at Kaman Aerospace (1981-84) and Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (1984-1990), as the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Boeing Career Development Professor for 1991-94, the Class of 1943 Career Development Professor for 1994-97, Associate Professor for 1997-98, and as a Principal Research Engineer from 1998-2002. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Earll M. Murman, Ph.D.
Earll Murman is Ford Professor of Engineering Emeritus at MIT. He served as Co-Director of the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) from 1995-2002, as Head of MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics from 1990-1996, and as Director of Project Athena from 1988-1991. In addition to his 26 years in academia, his career includes 13 years of industry and government experience. He is the founding director of the LAI Educational Network, a group of over 30 universities developing and deploying lean six sigma curriculum in healthcare, engineering, and management domains.

Dr. Murman is the lead author of the book, Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative, published by Palgrave in March 2002. Lean Enterprise Value, a definitive account of the past and future implementation of lean principles and practices in the aerospace domain, received the 2003 Best Engineering Sciences Book Award from the International Astronautical Academy. He has over 100 publications in lean thinking, aerospace engineering, and engineering education areas.

Dr. Murman graduated summa cum laude in Aeronautical Engineering from Princeton University in 1963 and received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton in 1967. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the Washington State Academy of Sciences, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

AFSO21 Certification for participants

The LAI Lean Academy® has been approved to fulfill educational requirements for level I AFSO21 certification for USAF career fields of acquisition, logistics, science & technology, and test.

For more information, contact the Short Programs office.

Discounts for LAI Members, Faculty / students

Participants from LAI member organizations are eligible for an additional 10% discount off LAI Lean Academy® courses offered through MIT Professional Education. To see if your company or government agency is an LAI member, click here.

Students and faculty at any educational institution are eligible for an additional 20% off LAI Lean Academy® courses offered through MIT Professional Education.

You may submit a scholarship request by filling out the Scholarship Request Form after your application to the course has been submitted. Applicants eligible for the above discounts should note their status (i.e. LAI member, student) on the form. Please note that these scholarships are only for tuition and do not cover travel, lodging, or other expenses associated with the course. Registrants should apply by May 31st to ensure discount to LAI Lean Academy® courses.

Updates

There are no updates at this time.