Portfolio of Client Services

  • Conducting a detailed Lean Assessment of shop floor operations
  • Teaching a workshop (not including a plant tour)
  • Teaching a workshop (including a plant tour)
  • Conducting a simulation-aided learning seminar
  • Conducting a video-aided learning seminar
  • Supporting a kaizen team seeking ideas on how to improve their project
  • Leading a kaizen team on a 3-5 days kaizen
  • Mentoring an intern hired by the company
  • Moderating a deep-dive discussion on a management bestseller book
  • Arranging a benchmarking visit to a non-competitor company that I know
  • Helping a team to brainstorm on how best to implement a new management strategy
  • Leading a discussion on pros and cons of a new manufacturing technology
  • Teaching a tutorial on a new method (or tool) for Continuous Improvement
  • Arranging for a software demo by an invited vendor
  • Participating, mainly as an observer, in strategic planning meetings of the executive team

Please click here to see a Detailed Description of Portfolio of Client Services.

A Unique Model for Delivering Consulting Services

  1. In the case of a client in Houston, I work for 1-3 days full-time every week at the client’s facility throughout my period of engagement with them.  However, in the case of an out-of-state client, assuming that they will hire 1-2 interns to work under my supervision for 3-6 months, I prefer to work for 2-3 days full-time every alternate week at the client’s facility.
  2. I guide and mentor in-house teams for the different projects.
  3. I give relevant training to in-house teams specific to their projects.
  4. I recruit, train, supervise and mentor IE interns to support my projects and training events at the client’s facility throughout my period of engagement.
  5. If a reputed IE department is located nearby, I engage their students through their co-curricular programs to support my projects and training events at the client’s facility throughout my period of engagement.

Examples of On-site and Off-site Activities

ON-SITE ACTIVITIES

OFF-SITE ACTIVITIES
  • Observe and learn!    
  • Photograph different occurrences of the Seven Types of Waste and poor manufacturing practices (especially safety and ergonomics) to include in training presentations
  • Conduct training workshops on Lean to educate employees and managers
  • Work with the project teams
  • Mentor and supervise the intern/s to (1) align their work with the projects and (2) teach them subject matter related to the projects
  • Meet with appropriate managers and execs concerning the projects
  • Work with employees and managers to implement their ideas for improvement projects that they decide to do
  • Write the Activity Report after each visit concludes
  • Write a Confidential Memo after each visit about issues/concerns with suggestions for remedial actions
  • Review reports and presentations prepared by the interns
  • Develop reports and presentations with the interns
  • Analyze data relevant to the projects and advise the appropriate project teams
  • Do online research about software tools and other technology on the market
  • Do online research to obtain subject matter pertinent to different projects

Example of a Weekly Activity Schedule for a Long-Term Engagement

Here is an example of the schedule that I followed for each week of onsite engagement with this particular client over a 3-month engagement:

DAY OF WEEK

TEAM

PROJECT

THURSDAY

(9:00 – 10:30 a.m.)

(L) Joseph Daye

Henry Guevera

Abe Reyna

Mike Criswell
  • Layout of the RAW MATERIAL STORES and PLATES Racks that feed PARTS FAB
  • Kanban System for Visual Management of the Inventory in the RAW MATERIAL STORES and PLATES Racks that feed PARTS FAB

Abe Reyna

Strategies for Increasing Inventory Turns

  • Reduction of SKUs through Design Standardization
  • 2-bin Kanban System
  • JIT Inventory Acquisition
  • Vendor Managed Inventory
  • Phased Buy of High-volume SKU’s
  • Same Monthly Spend spread over More SKU’s
  • Etc.

THURSDAY

(10:30 a.m. – Noon)

(L) Troy Brett

Sergio Guerra

Re-layout of SUB-ASSEMBLY to Improve Material Flow and Factory Logistics

THURSDAY

(1:00 – 4:30 p.m.)

ALL

Lean Training

***OR***

Project Reviews

FRIDAY

(9:00 – 10:30 a.m.)

(L) Chris Householder

Aldo Cortez

Bob Ernull
  • Reducing Wasted Time in Engineering
  • Reducing Release of Incomplete Orders into Production
  • Parts Standardization

FRIDAY

(10:30 a.m. – Noon)

Mike Criswell

Troy Brett

Jose Garcia

Jason Green

Mike Windham

Employee-led Improvement Projects in PARTS FAB

  • Several projects to eliminate/prevent waste (or NVA work) have been assigned to individual employees in the department.
  • Each of them is expected to drive the project to successful completion.
  • The team will meet with each of these employees to get an update on their project and offer ideas, on-the-spot assistance, etc.
  • Upon completion of the project, a 1-page write-up about the project should be posted on the Employees Ideas board.  
  • Tangible cost reduction and/or savings have to be reported from every project!

FRIDAY

(1:00 – 2:45 p.m.)

(L) Mike Criswell

Troy Brett

Jose Garcia

Jason Green

Re-Layout of PARTS FAB to Improve Material Flow and Factory Logistics

FRIDAY

(2:45 – 4:30 p.m.)

Troy Brett

Mike Criswell

Jose Garcia

Chris Householder

Jason Green

Mike Windham

Produce a SINGLE Schedule for the Entire Factory:

  • Orders Tracking Board to Monitor the Production Schedule
  • Production Status Meeting (“Morning Huddle”)  using the Orders Tracking Board to Discuss Schedule Disruptions
  • Synchronizing Production of Kits by Backward Scheduling from Shipment Dates in TRAILERISE and FINAL ASSEMBLY
  • Investigating if MS Project could be used to Schedule Production at ACT
  • Rack System Design to Implement Kitting Zones for Storage of Kits Supplied by PARTS FAB and RIP STORE
  • Information Hub (“Obeya”) using Visual Communications Boards

If you would like to hire Lean & Flexible, llc, for a consulting engagement, please contact Dr. Shahrukh Irani by email (ShahrukhIrani1023@yahoo.com) or phone (832-475-4447).