PITTSBURGH - More than 600 collision repair center owners, managers and technicians have now graduated from PPG’s MVP Green Belt Training program. MVP Green Belt is a four-day comprehensive training program blending Lean Six Sigma fundamentals with practical application implementation detail that can be critical for shops to make simultaneous improvements in their operations.
Jim Berkey, director, Business Solutions for PPG, noted, “While it is an accomplishment to attain this number of graduates through a class as comprehensive as Green Belt, the end game is implementation and performance improvement. It is especially rewarding to see these shops make real improvements and take leadership roles within their markets.”
According to Rich Altieri, senior manager, MVP Business Solutions group, the training program, started in 2006, evolved from four years of extensive research and development led by a team of Master Black Belt Lean Six Sigma experts and MVP collision center consultants. Key program elements include:
· Success factors that allow some organizations to thrive in rapidly changing environments;
· Use of simulation games to learn Lean Six Sigma fundamentals and what cycle time reduction means to the collision repair processes;
· Practical application of Lean Six Sigma principles through X-Ray Repair Planning and fundamentals such as 5S and workplace organization;
· Leadership and implementation modules addressing the need for everyone in an organization to participate in building stronger processes in a process improvement culture;
· Integration of shop tours and assignments into the training to reinforce the understanding and confidence critical to successful implementation;
“Our Green Belt training and workshop programs have been very well-received,” said David Knapp, senior manager, Business Solutions. “The program provides constant education and execution support in all the critical areas of collision center operations. Many of our graduates are well along on their Lean Sigma Six journey, solidly on the path of continuous improvement.”
Joe Little, co-owner of Body Beautiful Collision Repair, Aurora, Colo. said, “We saw an 11 percent gain in our net profit in the first nine months. There's also drastic improvement in cycle times from going lean and implementing the things we've learned.”
“Green Belt Training gave me resources and tools that I could implement immediately. And it's not just tools, it's the map and the directions to get there. Without that we wouldn't be where we are today,” said Body Beautiful co-owner Janine Little.
Car West Auto Body, Danville, CA, CEO/president Craig Moe stated, “Our same store sales from '07-'08 are up 12-1/2 percent with net profits up 25 percent. All our managers have gone through the program. Now we're bringing the second tier production managers, assistant managers, and some estimators into it. We've had huge paybacks doing so.”
In 2008, the MVP Business Solutions group delivered the Green Belt Training program 10 times in locations including Syracuse N.Y., Los Angeles and Albuquerque N.M. The program will also be offered in Dallas, Sacramento and Nashville in 2009.
For more information contact the local PPG Territory Manager or PPG Distributor; call MVP Business Solutions at 440-572-6199 or email [email protected], Jim Berkey at [email protected] or Rich Altieri at [email protected].
