PIA/GATF Debuts Lean Manufacturing Workshop

PITTSBURGH—October 5, 2007—Printing managers from companies across the country recently traveled to the Pittsburgh, PA headquarters of PIA/GATF to attend the inaugural presentation of Lean Manufacturing for Print Managers. This three-day program, one of the industry’s first on the topic, showed printers how to apply the fundamental concepts of Lean for faster turnaround, fewer defects, and lower costs.

Attendees learned the eight sources of waste, the use of various Lean tools, strategies for overcoming barriers, and what “living Lean” means for management. It also gave attendees the unique opportunity to participate in a simulated printing plant and measure productivity increases from Lean tools such as 5S, quick changeover, and standard work instructions.

Presenters Ken Rizzo, PIA/GATF’s director of consulting, and Rhonda Huskins, a Lean Manufacturing consultant with the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership, spent over 150 hours developing the program, which they based on their respective experiences working with printing companies.

The program was sponsored by PIA/GATF’s Center for Lean Practices, formed this summer to assist PIA/GATF members with the implementation of Lean Manufacturing practices. A second program has been added December 4–6 to meet attendee demand.

The response to the first workshop has been overwhelmingly positive. Workshop attendee Wendy Haluptzuk, quality systems manager of John Roberts Company in Minneapolis, noted that the workshop “gave me a better understanding of why we should become a ‘Lean’ organization, and how to get there.”

In addition to the workshop, PIA/GATF has published a new book, Lean Printing: Pathway to Success, and will conduct its annual conference in April—the PIA/GATF Continuous Improvement Network Annual Conference—featuring printer case studies on the use of Lean and other quality systems.

More information on the workshop and other Lean resources is available at www.gain.net (keywords Lean Practices) or by calling Ken Rizzo at 1-800-910-4283 ext. 835.

About PIA/GATF
PIA/GATF is the world’s largest graphic arts trade association representing an industry with more than 1.2 million employees. It serves the interests of more than 12,000 member companies. PIA/GATF, along with its affiliates, delivers products and services that enhance the growth, efficiency and profitability of its members and the industry through advocacy, education, research and technical information.