Kilgore, TX — The Kilgore College Small Business Development Center, White Oak Economic Development Corporation and Kilgore Economic Development Corporation will offer free training seminars in Kilgore and White Oak covering a vital topic to small businesses, “Lean Thinking and Culture in Business Today.”

The White Oak seminar, “Lean Thinking & 5S: Workplace Organization and Standardization,” is set for Thursday, July 19, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Jim Nall Training Center, 100 Church St., in White Oak.

The Kilgore seminar, “How to Create and Sustain a Lean Culture,” is set for Friday, July 20, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Synergy Park Training Facility, 1001 Synergy Blvd. Ste. 300, in Kilgore.

Both seminars are free to attend, but RSVP is required by July 16.

Seating is limited, and early registration recommended.

Lunch will be provided at both seminars.

To register, contact the Kilgore College SBDC at 903-757-5857 or 1-800-338-7232. Or register online at www.KilgoreSBDC.com.

About the White Oak seminar:

5S is an excellent tool for a company to start their Lean implementation. It is a process and method for creating an organized, clean, high performance workplace, and prepares the operation for quality and productivity. 5S ensures work areas are systematically kept clean and organized, ensuring employee safety and providing a foundation on which to build a Lean Enterprise. 5S provides a structure and steps for workplace organization, order and cleanliness.

This will be accomplished by:
• Putting a team of workers in control of their own workspace
• Helping a team focus on the causes and elimination of waste
• Establishing standards of visual communication, housekeeping and storage
• Preparing the work area for Lean implementation
• Improving employee morale by making the area safe, clean & enjoyable in which to work

A cross functional team is assembled and a target area chosen. Team members from the area are key in making this project a success. 5S can be used throughout the organization, both plant and office.

About the Kilgore seminar:

Learn when and how to implement Lean systems and how to create and sustain a Lean culture. Implementing Lean systems is deceptively simple, but it is tougher than it seems. The first issue that comes to mind is leadership.

Leaders play a critical role in changing the thinking of the members of the organization so Lean can take root and grow. However, this can be done only by leaders, it cannot be delegated.

Our workshop instructor is Richard Andrews, a senior executive with over 45 years of experience in industry.

He is active in business consulting and serves on the board of directors of several corporations.

Andrews was president of STEMCO from 1998 until May 2007. Under his direction, STEMCO experienced a period of continuous growth in sales and earnings while improving its facilities and investing in new product innovation.

Andrews joined STEMCO, an EnPro Industries company in 1996 as vice president, sales and marketing. Prior to joining STEMCO, he had been vice president sales and marketing for Clark Hurth Components, a division of Clark Equipment Company.

From 1983 to 1993, Mr. Andrews worked for Cooper Industries in progressively responsible positions including vice president retail sales for the Cooper Automotive Division and vice president sales and marketing for the Champion Spark Plug Division.

Earlier in his career, he worked for FMC Corporation from 1966 to 1983 in sales and marketing management positions. While at STEMCO, he became active in the heavy duty commercial vehicle industry and served on the board of directors of Council of Fleet Specialists (now CVSN), Heavy Duty Exchange and the Heavy Duty Business Forum (HDMA).

Subsequently, he became Group President of EnPro Industries and had the P&L responsibility for several business units.

Andrews currently serves on the board of directors of Phillips Industries, a manufacturing company in Santa Fe Springs, California; TSD Logistics, a trucking company in Texarkana, Texas, and the Chamber of Commerce, Longview, Texas.

He is a past board president of the Longview Economic Development Corporation. Andrews graduated from Indiana State University with a BS in mathematics and chemistry.

He completed extensive MBA course work at Case Western Reserve University1968-1970 and Butler University 1971–1973.

He is a graduate of the Graduate School Sales & Marketing Management, Syracuse University, 1980– 1981.