'Lean Management helps improve PQCDSM'

The Institute of Lean Management (ILM) bolsters industrial sector by enhancing business processes and development of human resources to encounter local and global competition on operational excellence, outlay and consignment.

The institute has produced over 400 TPM Practitioners, 200 Lean Practitioners and 50 Advanced 5S Instructors to the industry since its inception in the year of 2009.

The Practitioner and Instructor certification will add value to their respective organisations through helping to improve Productivity, Quality, Cost, Delivery, Safety and Morale. (PQCDSM).

The Institute of Lean Management (ILM) awards ceremony was held recently at the BMICH.

CEO, ILM, Founder President of Association of TPM Practitioners and TPM Guru Thilak Pushpakumara, Secretary General, Japanese Institute of Plant Management (JIPM), Tsutomu Nakamura, Director of Studies, ILM, Yukio Ando and Director, Omega Line Group, Felix Fernando were also present.

Set up in 2009, the ILM enhances business processes and human resources to encounter local and global competition on operational excellence, outlay and consignment.

The award recipients have to go through a standardised and closely supervised examination and evaluation procedure. Students are evaluated through written examinations, presentations, team assignments, practical work at real factories and final thesis submission.

Regular attendance at classes is compulsory and those who undertake TPM certification attend eight days of classes and those who take the Lean Practitioner Green Belt certification path need to attend classes for seven days and Advanced 5S instructors should attend a three-day workshop.

Students who are absent on more than one day are not allowed to take the final examination until they attend the missed class with the next batch.

The Institute of Lean Management has conducted 24 programs for TPM Practitioners and 14 programs for Lean Practitioners and has trained and certified more than 600 Executives and Managers from leading organisations in Sri Lanka and overseas.

Recently ILM introduced the Advanced 5S Instructor Course to raise the standard of 5S activities in Sri Lanka and conducted four certification programs. Nearly 4,000 professionals have followed ILM public seminars and workshops on various subjects related to lean management since 2009.

The curriculum of ILM programs and the training and evaluation methodology were developed by Thilak Pushpakumara, former General Manager, Loadstar (Pvt) Ltd and former Plant Manager, Unilever Sri Lanka and it was further strengthened with the inputs by Japanese experts who worked for Toyota Motor Corporation and Aichi Steel - Japan with learning materials developed by Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) and Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) USA.

ILM shares the tacit and profound knowledge of its teaching faculty and inculcates a different way of teaching and working with Lean and Breakthrough Thinking.

The teaching faculty of ILM comprises local professionals and Japanese experts, having hands on experience, academic qualifications, multinational exposure and working experience with world's leading consultancy firms, certified auditors, trainers and instructors.

TPM Practitioners from the public program representing Omega Line, MAS Holdings, Brandix Apparel Solutions, CBL Foods, Ceylon Cold Stores, Laugfs Gas, Ilukkumbura Automation (22nd, 23rd and 24th batches) and from Ansell Lanka and Brandix Essential received the awards for in-house TPM course from Yukio Ando and Felix Fernando.

There were 11 award winners from Brandix Apparel Solutions - India, who received their TPM practitioner award.

The students who topped the six TPM batches received their Best Student award from Secretary General, JIPM, Tsutomu Nakamura.

Special awards were presented to those who have done a yeomen service to promote the concept of TPM from ILM CEO, Thilak Pushpakumara.

Other than the certificate courses, there are a number of exclusive courses conducted by ILM and since 2009 more than 160 business organisations have invested with the institute to improve the skills of its most valuable asset, human resources.

New certification programs and unique short courses will be introduced soon.