Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes hosted attendees of the EcoLean Level 1 Workshop on June 16th at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.
Steven Feltovich, manager of Business Consulting Services for Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes, led the discussion on improving workshop efficiency through “The Toyota Way.”
Feltovich explained to the 50 attendees, mostly shop owners and managers, that the Toyota Production System (TPS) is not only a consistent way of thinking but a total management philosophy. It focuses on total customer satisfaction while remaining on a never-ending search for a better way.
“Whenever you think about TPS, when you think about ‘lean,’ you should think about driving customer value,” said Feltovich. “Get it right the first time, every time.”
He then threw out a surprising fact from The Toyota Way by Jeffrey K. Liker: Most business processes are 90 percent waste, and only 10 percent value-added work.
Attendees learned that the main principles of lean production are teamwork, effective communication, efficient use of resources, elimination of waste and continual improvement.
“We put on four EcoLean events in North America each year,” said Greg Eisenhardt, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes A-Plus marketing manager. “The goal is to enrich and educate our customers in ways to help them eliminate waste and develop better and consistent processes.”
