The Northeast Lean Conference was created by the non-profit GBMP to provide information and inspiration to Lean practitioners - from those just starting out to seasoned Lean leaders from manufacturing and other vital industry sectors. The practical learning format features exceptional keynote and breakout presentations, interdepartmental panels, peer-to-peer discussions, hands-on simulations, interactive learning and sharing, and unlimited networking opportunities. We expect more than 500 passionate Lean, Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement professionals and hope you will be among them.
For most organizations embracing Lean, the need is as it was originally for Toyota: To be profitable. This need may come from rising labor costs or from declining sales. Or, it may be caused by the expense of new product development or needed infrastructure enhancements. The causes of flagging profits, as well as their solutions, are present in every corner of business, from marketing and engineering to production and supply chain. Lean systems and tools offer targeted solutions to a myriad of business challenges.
Yet, over the last four decades, few organizations have gained the benefits seen by Toyota. Many, whose gains are moderate and barely keeping pace with customer expectations, continue to search for an elusive secret ingredient; perhaps a value stream map or an A3, or improvement kata. Others focus on cultural transformation, the people side of Lean, to give purpose the work and create alignment.
The question for most remains, “How can we profit from Lean?” Regardless of an organization’s vision or purpose, the need to make more money than it spends is universal. As Stephen Covey says, “no margin, no mission.”
Investment in Lean thinking and doing should have a greater return than many organizations have seen. This is the theme of our 2018 Northeast Lean Conference: Profit from Lean. Excellent processes should consistently create compelling profit. Lean transformations must translate to both the top and bottom lines. Our focus will be to identify and share the causes of success.