UB TCIE spring business improvement classes include two new offerings

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo’s TCIE continues to add business improvement courses for professionals working in any industry.

The spring 2015 schedule, which ranges from half-day seminars to a 9-month certification program, features two new courses that assist professionals with improving personal and company performance.

New topics include “Choose Your Path to Excellence,” a seminar that delves into examining the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) system of management, and Lean and Six Sigma (LSS) philosophies to make sense of which solution best addresses a company’s needs. The second course introduces the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) approach of promoting robust product design and manufacturing.

An early bird discount of $100 is available until Dec. 31 for the Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Transactional (CLSSGBT) training. As with all these classes, registration is on a first-serve basis, with the deadline being one week before the respective class start date.

Course details are as follows:

• Focus on the Right Problem – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center, 2402 North Forest Rd., Amherst. This course is targeted for those who are overwhelmed by determining what problem to solve first, have tried to boost efficiency in the past but failed to see results, or need guidance in keeping an improvement effort on track.
• Certified Lean Professional – 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, Jan. 15 to April 16 (except Feb. 5 and 19, and April 2); and May 7 and June 4 for project mentoring. The 39-hour course is offered at UB’s Baird Research Park, 1576 Sweet Home Rd., Amherst. It introduces participants to the Lean methodology of saving money and reducing waste by identifying unnecessary processes.
• Minitab^® Software – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 21 at the Ramada. This training navigates participants through the statistical tools of Minitab^® software, so that they may comfortably manipulate data and solve problems.
• CLSSGBT – 8 a.m. to noon on Jan. 27 and Feb. 10; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 11 and 12, March 10, 11 and 12, and April 14, 15 and 16 at the Ramada. This 72-hour course enhances candidates’ problem-solving abilities and engages them in the data-driven, LSS industry-tested system for process variation reduction. While applicable across all disciplines, it was developed with service industry businesses in mind and incorporates finance, government and health care examples.             
• Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Action – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 28 at the Ramada. This program is designed to improve the problem-solving skills of all employee levels by providing an understanding of the processes and techniques for determining the root cause of a nonconformance and the corrective action needed to prevent the problem from occurring again.
• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) – 8 a.m. to noon on Feb. 4 at the Ramada. Participants will learn about the ERM framework and opportunities, challenges and recent trends regarding risk management, control and governance processes.
• Choose Your Path to Excellence – 8 a.m. to noon on Feb. 10 at the Ramada. Participants will learn how to decipher which improvement platform (ISO, Lean or Six Sigma) is most appropriate to address their problems and opportunities, and will be equipped with a diagnostic tool to guide them on the pathway to the right decision.
• What is Your Data Telling You? – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the Ramada. This course explores the basic tenets of drawing value from data, and how the resulting analysis is helpful in making better decisions to improve the bottom line.
• Intro to Document Control – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 4 at the Ramada. Participants will learn the characteristics of effective instructional documentation (such as procedures, work instructions and standard operating procedures) and the process of document control.
• Design of Experiments (DOE) – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 18 and 19 at the Ramada. This course educates participants in the Six Sigma problem-solving tool of DOE, which identifies factors most important to the success of an improvement project.
• 3-Day ISO 14001 Internal Auditor – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 24, 25 and 26 at the Ramada. Participants learn about the ISO 14001 standard for Environmental Management Systems, audit activities and techniques, objective evidence to gather, and expectations of third-party external auditors in determining compliance.
• Intro to FMEA – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 21 at the Ramada. This course is recommended for design and manufacturing engineers who are involved in the product development process and want to learn how to avoid potential failures in design.

Course details and registration are available by visiting http://www.tcie.buffalo.edu/what-we-do/professional-development/. For more information, contact Mariah Glass, TCIE training program coordinator, at 716-645-8840 or mariahgl@buffalo.edu.

TCIE is Western New York's bridge to excellence; it provides a dynamic link between UB’s expert resources and the region’s business community. Its core focus on engineering solutions and operational excellence drives continual improvements, and ignites innovation and technological advantages. For more information on how TCIE can assist Western New York businesses, visit www.tcie.buffalo.edu or call 716-645-8800.