December 3, 2013 Kenneth Colangelo

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Victor Mitchell, Tunxis director of business & industry services (left) and Tunxis Lean instructor Nancy Castonguay (far right) are shown with TRUMPF employees.

Victor Mitchell, Tunxis director of business & industry services (left) and Tunxis Lean instructor Nancy Castonguay (far right) are shown with TRUMPF employees.

Tunxis Community College’s Workforce Development and Continuing Education Division awarded 16 TRUMPF employees certificates of completion on November 20 for completing “Lean Manufacturing Concepts and Tools Refresher Certification.”

The 40-hour program, which ran for eight weeks at TRUMPF in Farmington, was designed to instill lean thinking in its employees through continuous improvement training. Tunxis customized the course for the company to include TRUMPF examples, simulations and case studies.

“Customizing a course becomes very cost-effective for a company if it needs to train 10 or more employees,” said Victor Mitchell, Tunxis director of business & industry services. “We engage the company in designing the program so that it meets their goals, and deliver the training at the company’s facility on a schedule that fits their needs.”

The TRUMPF course, which was taught by an experienced Lean instructor with over 20 years of experience in manufacturing and service industries, consisted of three full and four half-day modules. The course covered a broad range of topics including the Toyota Production Systems, which serves as the model of Lean knowledge. Other topics included Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), pull production, cell and line design, PDCA Root Cause Analysis, the Eight Wastes, setup reduction, Just-in-Time, 5S Workplace Organization, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen Improvement, and Kanban Replenishment.

TRUMPF Inc. is the largest manufacturer of fabricating equipment and industrial lasers in North America, providing sheet metal processing, laser-based production processes, electronic applications and medical technology, according to its website.

For more information on non-credit Lean manufacturing courses and customized training at Tunxis Community College, call 860.314.4700. Visit the college website at tunxis.edu. Tunxis is located in Farmington with a satellite facility in Bristol.