The Farwest Seminars are close to wrapping up for the morning. We dropped in on several of the seminars and all have been well attended. People are discovering or getting re-acquainted with interesting plants, and they’re also learning better ways to tackle their organizational issues and improve their bottom line profitability. One of the best examples of this is “High Performance Work Teams,” presented by Bill Paugh of the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and Elizabeth Peters of the Oregon Association of Nurseries. Peters is the leader of OAN’s Lean Team initiative, while Paugh is a consultant who has helped many businesses make their procedures more effective, efficient and predictable. Paugh emphasized that consistent and well-designed procedures — “standard work,” in the lingo of Lean — inevitably will lead to more consistent results and less waste. “When things don’t go as planned, they can cost a tremendous amounnt of money,” he said. “Anytime you have to do any re-work, it’s pure waste.” With Lean, it’s possible to not only save time and money, but document your time savings and see exactly how much more effective your team has become. For more information, log on to the OAN Lean Team site. The program is available soley to OAN members.