The Society of Manufacturing Engineers’s lean certification bronze-level exam will be used as an outcome assessment as part of the 360vu Research and Education Foundation’s Lean Enterprise Certification Program, the companies recently announced. The exam will be used for lean enterprise certification programs offered through the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a network of manufacturing extension centers throughout the United States. The 360vu Foundation has set a goal to train and certify more than 1,900 people between this month and December 2007, and opted to work with SME to adapt its training schedule rather than create one of its own.

The 360vu Lean Enterprise Certification Program was developed in partnership with the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the U.S. Department of Labor. It combines classroom learning with hands-on, factory-floor application of lean principles used within the participant’s company. It’s designed to provide workers with the knowledge and skills that will help increase the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

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