Practical Manufacturing Improvement
Practical Lean Training & Workshops for Manufacturing Teams
Turn Lean principles into understandable methods for standard work, visual management, workplace organization, problem-solving, continuous improvement, and clearer daily execution.
Make Lean useful in daily operations
Build Understanding Around the Work People Actually Do
Training topics are matched to the audience and the operating need. A session may focus on selected principles rather than following a fixed, one-size-fits-all syllabus.
Standard Work
Help teams understand why repeatable processes and clear operating expectations matter.
Visual Management
Explore practical ways to make priorities, operating conditions, and problems easier to see.
Workplace Organization
Connect organization with clearer execution and less day-to-day confusion.
Practical Problem-Solving
Build a more disciplined way to recognize issues, examine causes, and evaluate next steps.
Continuous Improvement
Strengthen the habit of evaluating changes, learning from results, and improving the process.
Granny Rules
Use Todd’s plain-language framework to make improvement ideas and operating expectations easier to explain and apply.
Who the service may fit
For Leaders and Teams Who Need Lean to Work in Practice
Todd’s deepest experience comes from truss and wall-panel manufacturing, while the operating disciplines can support improvement conversations across other manufacturing environments.
- Manufacturing owners and leaders.
- Production managers and supervisors.
- Manufacturing teams and cross-functional operating groups.
- Industry associations and groups seeking a workshop or speaking engagement.
Practical Lean—not theory for its own sake
Connect Improvement Principles to Actual Manufacturing Conditions
Production problems may cross planning, handoffs, labor standards, training, and decision-making. Todd brings a whole-operation perspective so the discussion can stay connected to how work is really performed.
Training provides practical education. When an operation also needs a detailed review of its current constraint, workflow, or labor use, a consulting service may be the more useful starting point.
- Use plain language instead of unnecessary complexity.
- Relate principles to the operating issues leaders and teams recognize.
- Distinguish learning objectives from a company-specific operational analysis.
Ways to engage an audience
Leadership Sessions, Team Workshops & Industry Speaking
The useful format depends on the people involved and what the organization wants them to understand or apply.
Leadership Sessions
Focus the discussion on improvement principles leaders need to connect with operating priorities and expectations.
Team Workshops
Address selected practical Lean topics that fit the manufacturing audience and the issues under discussion.
Industry Speaking
Bring practical manufacturing-improvement experience to an association, industry group, or professional audience.
Scope first: Audience, topics, format, location, timing, and any supporting materials are confirmed as part of the engagement so the session fits the organization and its purpose.
How an engagement begins
A Practical Path From the Training Need to a Useful Focus
The starting conversation helps determine whether training, a leadership session, a workshop, a speaking engagement, or an operational consulting service best fits the need.
Start With the Need
Discuss the operating challenge, intended audience, priorities, and what the organization wants participants to understand.
Define the Useful Focus
Identify the practical Lean topics and type of session most relevant to that audience and purpose.
Connect Learning to Work
Keep the material grounded in manufacturing conditions and methods leaders and teams can evaluate and apply.
Experience behind the training
Manufacturing Knowledge Across the Whole Operation
Todd’s background spans operations, business management, Lean Manufacturing, industrial engineering methods, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, and time-and-motion study. The training is informed by decades of work in manufacturing operations—not by theory alone.
“Manufacturing, design, sales and administration issues were all covered in the training, which gave us a clear roadmap to follow.”
Casey Hultquist, President
Alaska Truss · Read the full client story
Frequently asked questions
Before Planning a Session or Workshop
Who is the training designed for?
The service is intended for manufacturing leaders, teams, and industry groups. The specific audience and focus are discussed before selecting a session, workshop, or speaking approach.
What topics can the training cover?
Published topics include visual management, standard work, workplace organization, practical problem-solving, continuous improvement, and Todd’s Granny Rules framework. The useful mix depends on the audience and need.
What is the Granny Rules approach?
Granny Rules is Todd’s plain-language framework for making Lean and operational-improvement ideas easier to understand, explain, and connect to daily execution.
Is this a Lean or Six Sigma certification program?
No certification program is currently offered on this page. This service is practical training, workshops, leadership sessions, and speaking—not a published certification or continuing-education program.
Is every session based on a standard syllabus?
No fixed public syllabus is promised. The audience, operating need, topics, and format are discussed before the engagement is defined.
Can Todd speak for an industry association or group?
Yes. The existing service includes speaking engagements for manufacturers and industry groups. Topic, format, location, and scheduling are confirmed separately.
How is training different from Bottleneck Analysis?
Training focuses on helping leaders and teams understand practical Lean and improvement principles. Bottleneck Analysis focuses on reviewing current operating performance to identify what is constraining results and where management should focus.
Start with the audience and the need
What Should Your Leaders or Team Be Better Able to See, Explain, or Apply?
Describe the operating challenge, the people involved, and what you want the group to understand. Todd can discuss whether a leadership session, workshop, speaking engagement, or another practical next step is the best fit.