PERFORMANCEMATTERS
We bring people and technology together.®
V O L 1 | I S S U E o n e | S U M M E R 2 0 0 7
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Dr. Robert W. Deutsch
PRODUCT UPDATE
RWD uPerformTM
LEAN MANUFACTURING
The Benefi ts of Thinking Green
COMPLIANCE: Across the
Globe & Across the Industry
S A V V Y S O L U T I O N S & B R I G H T I D E A S
1 3Lean Manufacturing and its Relationship to Environmental Performance and the Regulatory System
At the heart of successful lean implementation efforts lies a continual improvement-focused waste elimination culture.
Message from Dr. Robert W. Deutsch
Welcome to Your Newsletter
PRODUCT UPDATE
RWD uPerformTM
A performance-support tool that makes compliance
a matter of course. 5
PERFORMANCEMATTERS
We bring people and technology together.®
V O L 1 | I S S U E o n e | S U M M E R 2 0 0 7In
sid
e
GLOBALLY SPEAKINGRWD UK Receives IITT
Accreditation
Discover how RWD is commended for being a “forward-thinking” organization.
ANNOUNCINGPerformance Matters eCommerce Website
Capture this additional opportunity to tap into our resources.
6
In the nearly two decades since I started RWD
Technologies, the Company has been committed to improving the productivity and effectiveness of workers in complex operating environments. “We bring people and technology together”® became the RWD logo and succinctly describes RWD’s mission. RWD initially focused on serving the automotive industry. Over the years, the Company has expanded its offerings and the markets it serves and now provides human and operational performance improvement solutions to clients in over 20 industries, not just in the U.S., but worldwide.
In the process of helping other companies use technology more effectively, RWD became a very successful technology enterprise in its own right. Beginning in the mid-1990’s RWD started to develop custom software to solve clients’ problems. In our quest to help our clients simplify their training efforts and accelerate their enterprise software implementations, we developed RWD Info Pak®, which has been adopted by over 1,500 organizations, and is being used by over 4 million end users! RWD also developed the u360 Global eLearning System, a complete end-to-end solution that drives business performance by optimizing the creation, management and delivery of enterprise knowledge. Today, RWD offers
its clients a number of propriety software solutions, which are all designed to enhance their performance.
As technology in the workplace has become more complex over the last 20 years, RWD has been there to help our clients learn how to effectively use that technology. As the pace of technological change accelerates in the coming years and decades, we will continue to provide your workers with the means to master new technologies, from manufacturing systems to software to nanotechnology. To stay in the forefront of performance improvement, RWD will continue to develop new products and services.
This newsletter, Performance
Matters, is one of the ways RWD will stay in touch with you and keep you informed regarding what is happening in the fi eld of performance improvement. In future issues, we’ll discuss new technologies and share with you what RWD is doing to help its clients use technology to drive performance improvement.
DR. ROBERT W. DEUTSCH | CHAIRMAN
Welcome to the fi rst issue of Performance Matters, a quarterly publication focused on our readers.
You can expect up-to-date information on the latest technologies, current market trends and information that is pertinent to keeping your business profi table.
Our clients are the focus of everything we do. Impacting industries around the world, we continue to be committed to providing products and services that support continuous improvement.
We welcome your feedback regarding content and your suggestions for future issues. Enjoy!
SUE VARNER | EDITOR
Corporate Marketing & Communications
For questions and additional information on the content of this newsletter contact Sue Varner at 1.800.677.3688 or [email protected].
A MESSAGE FROM Dr. Robert W. Deutsch
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
XML: Why Do You Care?The wealth of existing product information is a vital asset contributing to brand value, and competitive advantage.
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1
™
Using RWD infoMaestro IMCS, a service
representative in a call center can
automatically assemble separate pieces of
product information into a personalized
response package without requiring
manual, error-prone authoring and
formatting tasks. This results in quicker
customer response times, higher produc-
tivity of call center staff, lower costs and
increased customer satisfaction.
Here’s what the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) has to say:
Extensible Markup Language,
abbreviated XML, describes a class of
data objects called XML documents
and partially describes the behavior
of computer programs which process
them. XML is an application profi le or
restricted form of SGML, the Standard
Generalized Markup Language [ISO
8879]. By construction, XML documents
are conforming SGML documents.
XML documents are made up of
storage units called entities, which
contain either parsed or unparsed data.
Parsed data is made up of characters,
some of which form character data,
and some of which form markup.
Markup encodes a description of the
document’s storage layout and logical
structure. XML provides a mechanism
to impose constraints on the storage
layout and logical structure.
XML ADDRESSES INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT HEAD ON
BY STREAMING:
Yet, close to 90% of companies’ information
is unstructured and stored in disparate repositories, making it diffi cult to locate and nearly impossible to reuse.
Organizations seeking a consistent, fl exible method for creating and managing content are now looking to XML technology to increase information access and content reuse. XML enables a holistic approach toward information management that makes it easier for companies to share information inside and outside the enterprise.
Many companies’ information management systems are tailored toward discrete, disconnected areas of the organization, such as Manufacturing, Sales, and Research. This fragmented approach reduces the fl ow of information and counteracts business strategies focused on the management and control of corporate content. In short, it means staff members are forced to spend valuable time
searching for, formatting, and recreating content that exists elsewhere in the organization. XML addresses this problem head on, streamlining the content creation, review, and approval process, and enabling companies to effi ciently search, reuse, and dynamically publish information.
For example, the use of XML for creating Operating and Maintenance documentation within the Energy industry enables signifi cant advantages over the current method of Microsoft Word, commonly used across the industry. By storing documents as reusable information components, organizations can lower their overall content creation costs and more importantly, create a detailed audit trail tracking compliance with management of change procedures. Additional benefi ts such as decreased regulatory and safety risks and increased operational effectiveness are also achievable.
Many of the benefi ts mentioned above have caused XML to become popular with both companies and the government
agencies that regulate them. For instance, the FDA is currently mandating a Structured Product Labeling initiative that requires companies to submit product labeling in XML format, and the FDIC requires all of the U.S. banks it manages to submit their quarterly reports in XML. Georgia and Massachusetts, among other states, are also promoting the use of XML in their state agencies.
The days of content silos and formatting nightmares may soon be gone. With the promise of increased compliance, decreased costs, and enhanced productivity, successful companies are rapidly adopting XML-based content management strategies. Are you getting the most out of your content?
Companies are in the midst of an information explosion, with the growth of content
created and managed by organizations increasing dramatically. The wealth of existing
product information is a vital asset contributing to brand value, competitive advantage
and the ability to meet customer expectations.
Just What is XML, Anyway?
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Content Creation
Review Information
Aid the Approval Process
Search Information
Reuse Information
Publish Information
DecreasedRegulatory
RisksDecreasedSafetyRisks
IncreasedOperational
Effectiveness
XML BENEFITS:
By storing documents as reusable information
components, organizations can lower their
overall content creation costs.
XML Why Do You Care?
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is remarkably similar to the organizational culture being promoted by public environmental management agencies. Standard work establishes clear procedures for the proper performance of jobs and tasks, and visual controls reinforce desired procedures and practices; Kaizen events involve employees from the shop fl oor in rapid process improvement events to identify and eliminate waste; 3P taps
worker creativity to develop innovative process and product designs that improve effi ciency and effectiveness; and total productive maintenance empowers workers to maintain and improve operations and equipment in their work areas, preventing breakdowns, malfunctions, and accidents.
Lean experts and implementers consistently point to culture change as the most diffi cult
LEAN MANUFACTURING and its Relationship to Environmental Performance and the Regulatory System
T H E B E N E F I TS O F T H I N K I N G G R E E N
At the heart of successful lean implementation eff orts lies an operations-
based, employee-involved, continual improvement-focused waste
elimination culture.
Common elements of this
organizational culture, as
identifi ed by public agency
EMS and pollution prevention
guidance include:
• A systemic approach to
continual improvement
• A systemic and on-going eff ort
to identify, evaluate, and
eliminate waste and
environmental impacts that is
embraced and implemented by
operations personnel
• Environmental and pollution
prevention metrics that provide
performance feedback
• Engagement with the supply
chain to improve enterprise-wide
performance
While environmental wastes (e.g., solid
waste, hazardous wastes, air emissions, wastewater discharges or excess consumption of costly, precious, or limited resources) are seldom the explicit targets of or drivers for lean implementation efforts, case study and empirical evidence shows that the environmental benefi ts resulting from lean initiatives are typically substantial.
The business case for undertaking lean projects – substantially lowering the capital and time intensity of producing products and services that meet customer needs – is frequently tied to “fl ow and linkage”. Although not explicitly targeted, environmental benefi ts are embedded in creating this smooth and rapid fl ow of products throughout the production process with minimal defects, inventory, downtime, and wasted movement. For example, reducing defects eliminates the environmental impacts associated with the materials and processing used to create the defective product, as well as the waste and emissions stemming from reworking or disposing of the defective products. Similarly, reducing inventory and converting to a cellular manufacturing layout lessen the facility space requirements, along with
water, energy, and material use associated with heating, cooling, lighting, and maintaining the building. The cumulative effect makes lean manufacturing a powerful vehicle for reducing the overall environmental footprint of manufacturing and business operations, while creating an engine for sustained and continual environmental improvement.
Fostering a Continual
Improvement, Waste
Elimination Organizational
Culture
Over the past twenty years, public environmental regulatory agencies have worked to promote waste minimization,
pollution prevention, and sustainability through environmental management systems (EMS), voluntary partnerships, technical assistance, tools and guidance, and pollution prevention planning requirements. A common theme emerges when one looks across such federal, state, and local initiatives: to make sustained environmental improvement progress that moves beyond the “low-hanging fruit,” an organization must create a continual improvement-focused waste elimination culture.
The organizational culture engendered by lean methods,
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aspect of lean implementation. Overcoming the inertia, skepticism, and even fear that can inhibit behavior change is typically the greatest hurdle to creating and sustaining an organizational culture conducive to lean production and waste elimination. Leadership and organizational need are two key factors affecting the success of efforts to change organizational culture. This is consistent with the challenge often identifi ed by environmental experts of incorporating pollution prevention and waste minimization into an organization’s culture in a sustained manner. Similarly, many organizations wrestle with the challenge of “breathing life” into their EMS and integrating EMS elements and procedures into organizational operations and activities, to avoid the EMS becoming just a paper pushing exercise.
Lean drivers for culture change – substantial improvements in profi tability and competitiveness by driving down the capital and time intensity of production and services processes – are consistently much stronger than the drivers that come through the “green door,” such as savings from pollution prevention activities and reductions in compliance risk and liability. When improved environmental outcomes can ride the coattails of lean
culture change, there is a win for business and a win for environmental improvement.
Mechanisms for
Environmental
Improvement through Lean
Implementation
With the expanding evidence consistently demonstrating that lean implementations yield environmental improvements, it seems appropriate to ask what are the mechanisms by which these improvements are being achieved. Conceptually, the link between lean production and environmental improvement is strong. The fundamental objective of lean systems is the systematic elimination of waste by focusing on production costs, product quality and delivery, and worker involvement. At a whole systems level, advanced manufacturing methods work to lower the resource intensity necessary to deliver a product or service to meet customer needs. This means that organizations implementing lean methods continually seek to reduce the materials, energy, water, space, and equipment needed per unit of production. Even though environmental endpoints, such as hazardous waste, air emissions, and wastewater discharges, are frequently not directly identifi ed in the types of manufacturing wastes targeted by lean initiatives, improvements in these areas are deeply embedded in other types of manufacturing wastes.
THINKING LEANThis table lists seven common types of waste that lean works to eliminate, along
with the environmental impacts that are often associated with each of them.
DEFECTSWASTE TYPE EXAMPLES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Scrap, rework, replacement production, inspection
• Raw materials consumed in making defective products
• Defective components require recycling or disposal
• More space required for rework and repair, increasing energy use for heating, cooling and lighting
WAITING
Stock-outs, lot processing delays, equipment downtime, capacity bottlenecks
• Potential material spoilage or component damage causing waste
• Wasted energy from heating, cooling, and lighting during production downtime
Manufacturing items for which there are no orders
• More raw materials consumed in making the unneeded products
• Extra products may spoil or become obsolete requiring disposal
Human motions that are unnecessary or straining, carrying work in process (WIP) long distances, transport
• More energy use for transport• Emissions from transport• More space required for WIP
movement, increasing lighting, heating, and cooling demand and energy consumption
• More packaging required to protect components during movement
Excess raw material, WIP, or fi nished goods
• More packaging to store WIP• Waste from deterioration or
damage to stored WIP• More materials needed to replace
damaged WIP• More energy used to heat, cool, and
light inventory space
More parts, process steps, or time than necessary to meet customer needs
• More parts and raw materials consumed per unit of production
• Unnecessary processing increases wastes, energy use, and emissions
Lost time, ideas, skills, improvements, and suggestions from employees
• Fewer suggestions of waste minimization opportunities
OVERPRODUCTION
MOVEMENT
INVENTORY
COMPLEXITY
UNUSED CREATIVITY
Funny You Should Ask...Signifi cant environmental benefi ts typically ride the coattails of lean initiatives. The powerful economic and competitiveness drivers behind lean drive a willingness to undertake substantial operational and cultural changes, many of which have important environmental
performance implications.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
October 2003 – EPA100-R-03-005
Lean Manufacturing and the Environment:
Research on Advanced Manufac-turing Systems and the Environ-ment And Recommendations for Leveraging Better Environmental Performance
This table lists seven common types of waste that lean works to
eliminate, along with the environmental impacts that are often
associated with each of them.
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As you implement enterprise-wide
solutions such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, and sales force training programs, you are likely seeking ways to improve application functionality, ensure consistency and compliance, and maximize your return on investment. We all know that successful implementations hinge on human performance. If your employees have the knowledge, skill and performance support to do their jobs effectively, your business will succeed. So, what do employees need to achieve success? The answer is simple—RWD uPerformTM. By incorporating this powerful performance support tool into your learning
Systems and Learning Content Management Systems. RWD uPerform works with most standard enterprise applications and Microsoft® Windows web-based applications.
Other new RWD uPerform enhancements include additional website customization for the end user interface and enhanced language support including support for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
The latest release of RWD uPerform may be just what you need to meet your compliance requirements and ensure employee performance. RWD uPerform allows you to combine the potential of your workforce with the effi ciencies that can be gained with your enterprise software to maximize your technology investment.
Company-Wide Compliance Is on a lot of People’s Minds These Days
RWD uPerformTM transfers into
Best Practices & Process to
off er users benefi ts such as:
• Better collaboration
• Cost eff ective
• Effi cient workfl ow
• Enables business process
consistency
RWD uPerform™ is a performance-support tool
that makes compliance a matter of course.
functionality to empower users to create and deliver eLearning courses quickly and easily. RWD uPerform now gives companies a more cost-effective and effi cient approach to developing eLearning materials while offering your end users contextual, on-the-job performance support and collaboration benefi ts. The rapid eLearning feature uses pre-defi ned stencils (eLearning templates) to ensure consistency across the materials you create. This feature empowers authors to create both new courses in the RWD uPerform environment as well as import and repurpose existing content such as presentations. This feature is critical to ensure 100-percent compliance during complex and urgent technology rollouts. All published courses are SCORM-conformant, making them compatible with most Learning Management
strategy you’ll put the information employees need at their fi ngertips.
Through the collaborative creation, storage, and management of application simulations, procedural documentation, and eLearning courses, RWD uPerform offers a systematic way to ensure compliance by enabling business process consistency. The tool’s advanced collaboration features, central XML-based authoring capabilities, and scalable architecture empower employees to obtain and exchange the knowledge and materials critical to their job function. This allows your users to transfer best practices and processes every time they use the tool.
The latest release of RWD uPerform brings new
features and
RWD uPerformTM EnvironmentA rapid eLearning feature uses pre-defi ned
stencils (eLearning templates) to ensure
consistency across the materials you create. This
feature will empower authors to create both new
courses in the RWD uPerform environment as
well as import and repurpose existing content
such as presentations.
5
™
In conjunction with the release of our newsletter,
Performance Matters, RWD is also launching an eCommerce site with the same name. The Performance Matters eCommerce site will be hosted through RWD’s University360 learning management system and will make available to the public for the fi rst time all
of our eLearning titles. Course topics include: Applied CRM Strategy, PlantMentor® and eSimulation, Accelerated Learning for SAP, and SAP and Oracle Navigation Courses. We also offer a series of Life Sciences courses on topics such as Biopharmaceutical Technology, Regulatory and Compliance, and a number of Therapeutic Categories. Courses can be purchased on a per course basis or bundled using a credit card.
COURSE TOPICS AVAILABLE
The IITT was founded in 1995 to promote
excellence within the IT training profession. IITT accreditation identifi es providers as a “forward-thinking organization that is seeking to deliver quality solutions to its clients, with potential for delivering real competitive advantage.”
The accreditation comes as the result of a rigorous, 10-week validation program that included an assessment visit and an examination of core RWD services and
GLOBALLY SPEAKING RWD UK Receives IITT Accreditation
infrastructure. During the process, IITT executives assessed all aspects of the organization, including the quality of training and development staff, delivery methods and procedures, business integrity, sales and marketing operations, and customer feedback evaluations.
Upon completion of these assessments, the IITT awards accreditation to companies that continuously raise standards of professionalism within the training industry. Only 250 training organizations are
currently accredited worldwide.
As an Accredited Training Provider, RWD publicly commits to adherence with the IITT Code of Practice. The code maintains a strict set of product and service quality standards, such as compliance with best practices and ethical conduct, trainer qualifi cations, course control, publicity and promotion, and complaints procedures. RWD has long demonstrated a commitment to providing quality solutions that exceed customer expectations in the learning arena.
RWD received the accreditation in March 2007. It will be renewed annually based on additional assessments and efforts to continuously improve RWD’s product and service offerings.
• Quality of training
• Development staff
• Delivery methods
• Delivery procedures
• Business integrity
• Sales & marketing operations
• Customer feedback evaluations
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
RWD is honored to receive this distingished plaque.
The Institute of IT Training (IITT) recently awarded
training provider accreditation to RWD’s United
Kingdom group. The award puts RWD on the elite list of
IITT accredited companies.
To visit our Performance Matters eCommerce site go to: http://www.university360.com/performancematters
Applied CRM Strategy
Plant Mentor® and eSimulation Courses
Accelerated Learning for SAP 4.6
SAP and Oracle Navigation Courses
Biopharmaceutical Technology
Regulatory and Compliance
Various Therapeutic Categories
ANNOUNCING Performance Matters eCommerce Site!
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PERFORMANCEMATTERS
RWD Technologies
5521 Research Park Drive
Baltimore, MD 21228
1.888.RWD.TECH
RWD U P COM I N G EV E NTS
August 21-23, 2007
LandWarNet Conference (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
September 17-19, 2007
Gartner CRM Summit (Hollywood, FL)
September 24-27, 2007
Innovations in Learning Conference
(Santa Clara, CA)
September 25-27, 2007
Assembly Tech (Chicago, IL)
October 21-24, 2007
Learning 2007 (Orlando, Florida)
December 2-5, 2007
CSTD (Toronto, Canada)
We bring people and technology together.®
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