Whelton says: “Yes.” Lean principles can be applied to the contractor’s inter- nal operations and processes, creating the discipline and efficiency that will allow it to be more profitable even if full IPD cannot be executed. “It provides basic tools to take the waste out of your organizations and increase the value to your customers. Furthermore, Lean Thinking is focused on empowering staff across the organization with the knowledge and skills to improve the processes that they are involved in every day. After all, these are the people that know these processes best. Empowering and engag- ing employees to identify and address improvement op- portunities can eventually lead to a culture of ongoing continuous improvement focused on increased efficiency; improved quality and safety; reduced costs and increased customer and staff satisfaction, ” said Whelton. Some of the “wins” may be simple but can still save tens of thousands of dollars in improving efficiency or avoiding costly errors and reworks. “If you are ever on a site, have you ever seen a $1,000 mistake, or a $100,000 mistake?” Doyle asked. “And for every $10,000 we lose in a mistake we have to sell $100,000 to recover from the error.” For example, on a site, you may have people looking for tools strewn everywhere. “Is there a standard way we can do things more efficiently to avoid mistakes?” Whelton says the best way to start learning the lean process will be to attend a one or two-day workshop co- ordinated through the OGCA. The one-day event will give an overview of the process at the lowest or “White Belt” Tel: (416) 637 5074 Lean level; the two-day program will build on the introduc- tion to develop basic proficiency in using key tools and practices, thereby qualifying participants at the Yellow Belt level – resulting in some tangible cost savings and advan- tages for the contractor, he says. Participants can then progress to more advanced training, which requires them to execute the significant revenue enhancing and cost sav- ings projects, resulting in a quick payback of the training investment. Doyle and Leading Edge Group provide consulting serv- ices to help the process along, but this guidance is de- signed not to be the stereotypical consulting trap, where you pay the consultant to learn that you need more con- sulting to solve your problems. “Our goal is to get your own people and organization up skilled, so they can eventually do the stuff themselves,” he said. “We can start out and come in and run a few projects. However, the ultimate goal is to achieve a lean profile for the company, so it can sustain itself.” The two-day Yellow Belt workshop, March 9 and 10 at the OGCA’s offices in Mississauga costs between $678 (for members) and $762.25 for non-members. The introductory one-day program has been scheduled for Tuesday Jan. 19, also at the OGCA headquarters, with a fee of $395 for members or $480.25 for non-members. Email: info@leadingedgegroup.com www.leadingedgegroup.com 36 – January 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report For additional information and to register, visit https://ogca.ca/education/course-listing. In supporting our clients, Leading Edge Group draws on almost two decades of thought leadership, best-practice development and subject matter expertise in Lean, Continuous Improvement and Business Transformation methodologies. Across the Group, we have delivered more than 1,000 education and consultancy projects to over 250 clients worldwide. In addition to proven, deep expertise, Leading Edge Group draws on unique and proprietary strategic deployment models and adopts a consensus-driven approach, focused on knowledge transfer and building client skills and capabilities.