September 22, 2003
Grand Rapids Business Journal
By Mark Sanchez

MUSKEGON - Making lean manufacturing training more affordable for small firms is the goal of a new group that Muskegon Area First and the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce are forming.

The two organizations are recruiting five to eight small companies to participate in an initial 10-month intensive training course on lean manufacturing techniques.

Laura Kroger, director of existing business services for the chamber, said that by pooling firms, organizers of the program want to make employers’ initial steps into lean manufacturing training more affordable.

“That gives them an opportunity to get up to speed on lean practices but without the large cost,” Kroger said.

The first-ever lean manufacturing user group, organized as part of Muskegon Area First’s Manufacturers Council, is structured for employers with 15 to 100 employees.

The program will offer training for up to two people per company during once-a-month, all-day sessions for 10 months. The program also includes a half-day preparation period with Muskegon Area First’s consultants.

The program will cost $3,000 to $3,500 per company, depending on the number of participants. Each firm will host at least one of the training sessions.

Ideally, Muskegon Area First and the chamber report that they hope to provide lean manufacturing basics to a new group of employers on a yearly basis.

They also have organized a continuous user group of businesses to discuss related issues and ways to strive for ongoing cost, efficiency, productivity and quality improvements in their operations.

“Obviously it’s not a start-and-stop process. It’s continual improvement,” Kroger said.

Formation of the lean manufacturing user group in Muskegon is an offshoot of a smaller initiative the Chamber of Commerce and Muskegon Area First organized a few years ago.

That program has brought managers of small manufacturing firms together to tour companies in the Muskegon area that previously have implemented lean manufacturing practice. It typically has drawn 30 to 40 participants at each of the six sessions.

It inadvertently became the precursor of the new program by creating a demand for more detailed training concerning lean manufacturing.

Pat Shafer, membership director for the chamber, hopes the user group will become a fixture and grow each year, especially as more firms learn lean manufacturing practices and business owners begin spreading the word to their colleagues and business contacts.

“Hopefully we’ll have some really great success stories out of this and that will provide the impetus for others to get involved,” Shafer said.