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 svarner@rwd.com.

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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™

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.

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™

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.®