Unique online education course developed to introduce businesses to the The Toyota Production System also known as Lean Manufacturing

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - OEM, Canada's leading international firm of consulting experts, announced that their company was awarded a second contract from the Alberta Government for their Lean 101 Online Course.

OEM Consultants was awarded a second contract for The Rural Alberta Web-Based Lean Training program.

"We believe strongly that the manufacturing industry now recognizes that in order to save time and money a change of thinking must occur. We have found that 95% of all activities in a company's day to day operations are considered waste. The concepts outlined in this course apply to all industries, especially healthcare and government," said
George Trachilis, President and CEO, OEM Consultants. "We know that time is the valuable currency of tomorrow. Understanding how we waste time, is the first step to making this kind of revolutionary change happen."

OEM integrates operations, engineering and manufacturing solutions for their clients globally. OEM was one of only two custom business consultants was selected for Canada's Profit Hot 50 list in 2006. Manitoba Business Magazine has ranked OEM in the top 10 of their annual list of the 50 fastest Growing Companies in Manitoba for 2007.

"OEM Consultants has been chosen to deliver Lean Training to clients in rural Alberta in order to decipher the major principles and discover how these tools can be applied to improve productivity in the workplace. This training is only the first step in a lean journey; hopefully this will encourage companies to adopt continuous improvement as a business philosophy by becoming truly world-class." said Anurag Pandy, Senior Director, Strategic Manufacturing Alberta Employment Immigration and Industry.

"Lean" operating principles began in manufacturing environments and are known by a variety of synonyms; Lean Manufacturing, Lean Production, Toyota Production System, etc. It is commonly believed that Lean started in Japan (Toyota, specifically), but Henry Ford had been using aspects of Lean as early as the 1920's. The goal of lean production is described as "to get the right things to the right place at the right time, the first time, while minimizing waste and being open to change".

OEM Consultants client PCL Industrial Constructors Ltd, Gary Trigg Vice President and Manager Fabrication Facility & Module Yard, says "OEM's Lean101 online course provided our PCL team with a great introduction to lean concepts and terminology. By implementing lean in today's market with very acute labour shortages, our streamlined processes will ensure the work is performed as efficiently as possible making the best use all of our resources".

Alberta currently leads the nation in labor productivity. However its rate of productivity
growth over the last decade leaves alot of room for improvement. While the Alberta
economy is growing at a fast pace, input costs are growing quickly as well, and Alberta
employers are struggling to find new workers. Employers recognize the need to increase productivity to grow revenues and are looking at innovative techniques, new business processes and new ideas like Lean Thinking, to meet the challenges head on. For more information please visit the OEM Consultants website at www.lean101.ca or call 1- 800- 814- 8006.

For Information Please Contact:

Nicole Mckinney
416-423-3493
nm@oemconsultants.ca