The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center at Montana State University will offer a series of workshops to help manufacturers increase profits by streamlining their operations.
 
Early registration has begun for the 10-week Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ (SME) Lean Bronze Program, which will offer weekly classes starting March 20 in Bozeman, Kalispell and Missoula and March 30 in Billings. Participants save $250 on the course if they register before Jan. 23.
 
SME’s Lean Bronze Program provides an in-depth understanding of lean manufacturing, a set of principles and tools designed to increase manufacturing productivity. Participants will have the opportunity to qualify for SME’s Lean Bronze Certification, which can provide enhanced career opportunities to participants, according to Alistair Stewart, MMEC’s senior business adviser in Bozeman.

“There’s often a misconception that lean manufacturing is just about reducing waste in the manufacturing process or decreasing the number of workers needed,” Stewart said. “Really, it’s about creating a workplace culture of continuous improvement and taking advantage of opportunities to become more profitable.”

 In addition to the classroom sessions, participants will gain hands-on experience by visiting local manufacturers and applying lean manufacturing principles to those manufacturers’ operations.
 
“You feel like you can immediately apply what you’ve learned,” said Trevor Pankratz, an engineer at Wood’s Powr-Grip, a Laurel, Montana, company that manufactures vacuum tools for handling large sheets of glass and other heavy materials.
 
Pankratz, who earned Lean Bronze Certification after completing the course last year, said his company has started enacting a year-long plan that applies lean manufacturing methods. “The results we’ve seen so far have been really good,” he said.
 
MMEC business advisers will also be available to consult with participants about lean manufacturing or other ways to grow and improve their business.
 
MMEC has provided the program for many years and continues to offer the workshops in response to increasing demand, Stewart said.
 
MMEC is a statewide outreach and assistance center housed in MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering that consults with Montana manufacturers to help improve their businesses through innovation and growth. MMEC has assisted more than 1,000 manufactures in nearly every Montana county, generating cost savings of more than $87 million through lean manufacturing and other improvements.

 For more information and to register, visit www.montana.edu/mmec/training or contact MMEC at 406-994-3812.