Online Training Session on Value Stream Mapping

Minitab, the leading provider of software for quality improvement, is offering a free online training session on Value Stream Mapping (VSM), a Lean Six Sigma technique used to analyze the flow of information and materials needed to bring products to customers.

The hour-long training session will be on Tuesday, January 15, 2013, at 2:00pm EST (GMT -5:00). Registration is free at http://www.minitab.com/training/web-events/.

Participants will learn how to create and format a VSM step-by-step with Quality Companion by Minitab, a software package designed to manage improvement projects from start to finish. Session content is drawn from Minitab’s two-day Quality Companion Essentials course.

Quality Companion includes a powerful VSM tool, which makes it easy to track important variables such as inventory, takt time and cycle time, among others. The tool can be used to help improve manufacturing, supply chain, service-related, healthcare, software development, or product development processes.

In addition to the VSM tool, Quality Companion includes a wealth of other tools to help improvement professionals manage Lean Six Sigma and other projects in one application. Quality Companion’s Project Roadmap™ helps plot a clear course of action to execute quality improvement projects.

Adding Companion’s built-in “soft” tools, such as process mapping, brainstorming and reporting, creates a detailed plan for the entire project—and the means to complete each step. The software also includes more than 100 form templates, including C&E Matrix, FMEA and Project Charter, all of which are easily customized to fit any organization.

Quality Companion even offers on-demand guidance, with built-in Coaches that give expert advice from experienced Lean Six Sigma professionals. When a project ends, Companion maintains the entire project in one easy-to-manage file, making it simple to archive and review in the future.

Quality Companion has been embraced by organizations including Xerox, the U.S. Postal Service and BHP Billiton. A free, 30-day trial version is available at http://www.QualityCompanion.com.