An international lean qualifications provider in Cardiff has recently launched an online platform for continuing professional development (CPD) in lean practices.

The Lean Competency System (LCS) is a governing body for lean qualifications, delivering accreditation to organisations and individuals who meet the competency criteria of a lean training system.

Largely informed by the development of the Toyota Production System in post-World War Two Japan, the basic principle of lean is to continuously strive for improvement and increase customer value by cutting out ‘waste’ in everything you do, whether that be physical waste or time-wasting processes.

As a mechanism for continuous self-improvement, LCS has developed a brand new CPD facility for those who are already practiced in ‘lean’.

The brand-new CPD platform assists individuals with personal development and continuous improvement by proactively encouraging professionals to develop their abilities and skills in lean, through the planning and logging of personal continuous improvement milestones.

Participants can then submit their progress for feedback and even get their plan endorsed by the LCS once it is deemed complete.

Director of The Lean Competency System, Simon Elias, explains why they felt there is a need for such a system, especially during the current climate.

“We’re delighted to announce the recent launch of our lean CPD system,” said Simon.

“After a difficult year where many professionals have been using spare time to upskill or better themselves professionally, we feel that the LCS CPD platform offers an effective tool for those who are practiced in lean to continue in the same vein.

“The online CPD tool will become a springboard for professional and personal improvement across the lean community”.

Although lean started out in manufacturing, it has since been adopted in many different sectors and has proved highly effective helping organisations enhance the value they deliver to customers and assist in delivering a continuous improvement culture.

“The LCS CPD system is for the individual with a personal interest in lean, but also for organisations with in-house lean training systems to utilise amongst individuals within their workforce,” said Simon.

“We already have key members from LCS Accredited organisations signed up to the system, and we are excited to see how this will grow.”

The LCS CPD system was officially launched at the end of January 2021. To find out more about the system, you can visit their website www.leancompetency.org.