5 Day Implementing Cost Saving Projects

There are many project management courses ranging from university level NQF 4 – 7 and some more practical short courses. These courses lay a good foundation, but the delegate must then go and develop specific tools in order to do projects in his/her area of work. Continuous improvement projects are unique because they require a set of tools which is industry specific. There are excellent continuous improvement courses like Lean Manufacturing; Kaizen and Six Sigma available, but they take time and are very expensive. Our 5-day course is very unique in the sense that it is a soft copy template which contains lean and kaizen concepts into one Excel document. A laptop and basic knowledge of MS Office is the only requirement for this practical course. When training is “on site”; a computer room is sufficient. There is no manual required; this course is 90% digital. Even the applicable theory Power Point Slides are provided to the delegate. A sample Power Point presentation template and an A3 report template is also provided to teach the delegate to package his/her cost saving project so that it can be presented to management for motivation. All tools are simplified and user friendly; but yet very powerful. The delegates require only basic MS Office knowledge (Power Point; WORD; Excel).

This course provides delegates with the following:

• Working directly on the unique Excel template provided. Excel is cheap and can do a lot.
• Only the most important theory is covered on slides and is only 5% of the entire course.
• Understanding what costs savings are.
• To understand what a continuous improvement project is and more importantly, what it is not.
• How to use our MS Excel tools to make the following Project Management templates (designed by author):

1. The top 12 roles of any project manager.
2. The 12 steps used in project management.
3. Advanced Ishikawa software diagrams.
4. Advanced 5WHY software templates.
5. Advanced 5S specific developed software.
6. Fault Tree analysis and other flowcharts
7. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) template.
8. Various visual management (VSM) templates.
9. Histogram; Run Chart; X Chart templates.
10. Scatter diagram and relationships charts.
11. Simplified Statistical Process Control (SPC).
12. Corporate climate measuring tools.
13. Productivity analysis and measuring tool.
14. Is- Is Not analysis specific developed tool.
15. The step-by-step software templates are streamlined during the course. They can be used immediately when returning to the workplace.
16. The delegate has a wide variety of choice; and uses what he/she needs only. 

• Practical exercises of the soft copy tools are made using real workplace scenario problems (live data) and practice sustainable solutions.
• Delegates leave equipped with practical tools on their laptop/computer.
• This course is 100% practical; learning lean; kaizen and six sigma tools in interactive groups.
• Laptops require Windows 7 and MS Office only.
• The delegate only need basic computer skills, an important added benefit of this course is how to use the provided templates to save on costs.
• Short video clips applicable to Lean Projects and problem solving are shown and downloaded.
• Improvement projects to choose from:

*If the delegate is uncertain of his/her project:

1.     Maintenance kaizen; for example, decrease MTBF; MTTR; FR; OEE; FMEA.

2.     TPM implementation in a specific area.

3.     Layout and staff optimization.

4.     Quality improvement. Eliminate scrap; rejects.

5.     Production improvement. 12S.

6.     HR improvement (motivation).

7.     Civil construction. Small projects.

8.     Education and training.

9.     Kaizen blitz (event)

10.  Six Sigma (must book specific for this one).

11.  Logistics improvement.

12.  Any other project that the delegate wants to do.

This Cost Saving Projects Practical course is designed for supervisors; managers and engineers. They are ultimately responsible and accountable for failure and deviation costs. They must investigate process errors including poor performance, low targets and other people issues. They need to identify; quantify; qualify and implement cost saving projects. These include, with some brief examples, but not limited to:

• Manufacturing/Production Management (Productivity; Capacity and OEE problems).
• Quality Management/Quality Assurance/Quality Control (Complaints/returns, defects, reworks, specifications; hidden costs; defects and failure totals; customer rejects and complaints).
• Engineering/Maintenance Management (Failures, breakdowns, catastrophe). *A group of foreman and artisans.
• Human Resource Management (Strikes, high employee turnover; dismissals; negative culture).
• Logistics; Procurement and Transportation management (Stock out; late delivery; over stock).
• Other support groups like Information Technology; Industrial Engineering; Financial Management; Design/Planning and Production Planning & Control (Over spent budget; design failure law suits).
• A Management Team (Incorrect Strategy; Low employee moral; Business Failure).
• Any Risk Management employees; ISO implementers; SHERQ officers.

Because this course is 100% practical in its application; the above are only some examples.

It can be particularly valuable to those newer to the project field; recently appointed supervisors and managers that need to upgrade their ability to implement solutions using very basic soft copy tools.

Day 1

Understanding the Excel Template

• Successful (productive) vs. Unsuccessful projects.
• Identifying the 12 Wastes; video & template.
• Identifying the 12 Resources; what they are; and examples on optimization; video; template.
• Power Point Slides:
• What is Project Management?
• Roles of the PM & Stakeholder analysis
• Intensive focus on the 12 steps of PM
• Different types of projects and how to classify your specific project.
• The secrets to a successful project.
• Practical Project Management simulation activity.
• Writing the project charter in WORD or EXCEL

Day 2

Getting started with a practical kaizen project

• Slides on the project scope; example exercises.
• Draw a Paretto Chart to make sure the best project is selected.
• Problem causes and effects (impacts).
• Problem corrective actions.
• Understanding problem severity.
• The Impact on process upstream and downstream
• Write a very detailed project scope
• Practical’s during day 2 using Excel & WORD:
• Complete a soft copy Stakeholder analysis.
• Complete a basic 5WHY template.
• Complete a basic Check Sheet template.
• Complete a basic Pareto template.
• Complete a basic Fishbone template.
• Complete a project selection template.
• Complete a project scope using above sheets.

Day 3

Project Time Management

• Slides on project time management  
• Draw a manual Gantt Chart in Excel.
• Draw a Gantt chart using “Project Pro”.
• Draw a Critical Path Method diagram (CPM).
• Draw a Program Evaluation Review Technique diagram (PERT) and do a PERT calculation.

Project Cost Management

• Slides on cost and budget management.
• Complete an easy Excel project budget template.
• Complete an advanced Excel project budget. 
• Complete a WORD and Excel costing template.

Project Quality Management

• Overview of the TQM philosophy. FARDRC
• Overview of the 7 tools of quality, namely:

1.     The Defect Check sheet. Edit Excel template.

2.     The Paretto Chart. Edit Excel template.

3.     The Ishikawa Diagram. Edit Excel template.

4.     The 5WHY analysis. Edit Excel template.

5.     The Run Chart. Edit Excel template

6.     The Scatter Diagram. Edit Excel template

7.     The Histogram. Edit Excel template.

Day 4: Project

• Project Human Resource Management.
• Slides on Human Resource Management.
• The organizational charts; functional and matrix.
• The Responsibility Accountability Matrix (RAM).
• Draw a RAM in Excel and in WORD.
• Valuable information and examples on motivation.
• How to identify HR projects regarding headcount reduction or redeployment.

Day 4 Continued:

Project Communications Management:

• Slides on communication management.
• Videos on communication.
• How to identify and limit the top 12 human errors.
• Draw a communications matrix in WORD & Excel.

Day 5

Project Risk Management:

• Slides on Risk Management.
• Explain criticality versus severity.
• Draw a risk matrix in Excel.
• Draw a risk quantification diagram in Excel.

Project Procurement Management

• Slides on project procurement management.
• Video on project procurement management.
• Supplier selection criteria.
• Draw a bill of materials in Excel (BOM)
• Draw a bill of quantities in Excel.
• Step 10: Institutionalize the Changes.

Project Finance Management:

• Slides on project finance management.