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Description

Lean Manufacturing: Identifying Waste, Improving Flow and Standardising Work

Look at your plant through the lens of flow rather than machine utilisation rates

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

The machines are running, the reported output figures look healthy, and yet the delivery date promised to the customer is missed. Work in progress piles up between stations without anyone really counting it, changeovers push small batches further down the queue, and each area optimises its own perimeter without seeing the whole.

Two days to learn how to look at the shop floor as a flow: identify what the customer does not pay for, measure actual lead time, stabilise workstations through standards that are genuinely applied, and embed a daily improvement routine. The exercises are built on real shop-floor situations brought by participants.

Learning objectives

  • Distinguish value-adding activities from the waste observed at the workstation
  • Map a production flow and measure its lead time
  • Identify the bottleneck on a line and the losses that penalise it
  • Write a work standard that operators can actually use
  • Run a daily improvement routine in front of the performance indicators

What makes this programme different

Direct observation of a workstation provides the basis for every exercise in the session
The value stream map is built on a product brought by the participants
Each participant leaves with three prioritised improvement actions and a first standard drafted

Programme

1Lean Principles

Value from the customer's point of view

  • Separate what transforms the product from what the customer does not pay for
  • Recognise the categories of waste on a real production line
  • Understand why producing faster does not always reduce lead time
  • Position Lean in relation to other improvement approaches

2Mapping the Flow

Seeing the real end-to-end lead time

  • Build the value stream map for a product
  • Measure work in progress and waiting times between two stations
  • Distinguish cycle time from lead time
  • Locate the bottleneck and the losses that penalise it

3Stabilising the Workstation

A standard that is applied beats a verbal instruction

  • Write a work standard that is understandable without explanation
  • Set up replenishment triggered by actual consumption
  • Reduce changeover time through external preparation
  • Stop the line on defect rather than pass scrap to the next station

4Sustaining the Approach

Embedding improvement in the team's daily routine

  • Run a short stand-up meeting in front of the area's indicators
  • Trace issues back to root cause rather than treating the symptom
  • Involve operators in selecting improvement actions
  • Consolidate the gains achieved and prevent backsliding

Who is it for

Production managers · shop floor supervisors · methods and industrial engineering technicians · and anyone involved in a continuous improvement initiative in an industrial environment.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.