New and Noteworthy

Added Value: More Results from Historic LAI Collaborative Workshop

Over a six-day period in the final quarter of 2004, members of the Lean Aerospace Initiative, Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Rockwell Collins, and Metis Design met with host company Textron Systems in a collaborative effort to map the enterprise value stream of Textron’s Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) program. The workshop also included participation from the US Air Force (USAF), Alliant Techsystems, Cessna Aircraft, Herley Industries, and Pioneer Aerospace.

An earlier release, LAI’s Lean Enterprise Value Business Simulation Aids in Mapping Enterprise Value Stream of Textron’s Sensor Fuzed Weapons Program, reported on the details and expectations of this workshop.

This commentary describes the results and follow-up in the six months since the workshop was held. Some of this information is contained also in a presentation of Geoff Bentley and Hugh McManus, entitled Textron Systems Sensor Fuzed Weapon VSM Event, delivered at the LAI Plenary Conference on 23 March 2005.

The entire article, The Follow-Up: Added Value from Textron Systems SFW Value Stream Mapping Event, can be downloaded here.

LAI's EVSMA Event At Robins ALC Makes Front-Page News

LAI's recent Event Value Stream Mapping Analysis (EVSMA) event at Robins ALC made front-page headlines in the center's weekly newspaper, Robins Rev Up.

In an article entitled "Center sets course to dominate sustainment", the joint effort by LAI and Simpler Consulting (which originated in 1999 as a much smaller project) to map the center's current and desired future states received glowing reviews from participants in the complex transformation.A key milestone was the definition of this future state. As LAI's co-director, Professor Debbie Nightingale of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology noted: "This is a statement of where you want to be 10 years from now that is realistic enough that people understand it, yet bold enough so that people gasp when they see it.” The center's goal in simple terms? “Be America’s dominant air and space power sustainer by 2015.”

To read the article in its entirety, please click here.

Lean Enterprise Value Short Course Featuring LEV Training Simulation to be Offered

LAI is pleased to offer again the Lean Enterprise Value (LEV) Short Course on 20-22 September 2005, at the University Park Hotel at MIT in Cambridge, MA. This course is designed to develop lean enterprise thinking and analysis skills quickly and powerfully for lean enterprise leaders, change agents, and management teams. It is based on insights gained through several years of research at MIT and the LAI consortium, and features the Lean Enterprise Value (LEV) Simulation.

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EdNet/LAI Lean Academy Director Named

Jacqueline P. Candido, an MIT research affiliate, has been named to lead the educational programs for the Lean Aerospace Initiative, including EdNet and the LAI Lean Academy™. Her appointment is effective Monday, 2 May.

Ms. Candido spent more than sixteen years with Hewlett Packard (1983-1999) in various positions including systems engineer, technical consultant, learning technology specialist, and education program manager. She has managed complex global programs including instructional design and delivery in the US, Europe and Asia, and has created educational curriculum for industry, government and academic settings, using a variety of technology. including online distance education. Ms. Candido has extensive experience facilitating dozens of courses on a variety of topics.

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