MRC provides far more than certifications and funding assistance. We offer job creators access to specialized coaching, mentorship and a variety of business and marketing assistance normally outside the reach of most manufacturers.
No matter what’s happening with your business, MRC has probably seen it. We know the problems that keep CEOs up at night, and we know how to help solve them. Our staff has more than 100 years of combined experience working side-by-side with business owners to evaluate, strategize, discover and implement solutions that address both strategic growth needs and organizational transformation.
MRC breaks down the barriers that prohibit manufacturers from realizing their full potential. Our proven tactics and methods can help nearly any company at nearly any stage of its evolution. Whatever the hurdle – going green, becoming lean, entering new markets, rebranding the company – MRC can help you clear it.
Developing Future Workforce with programs like: What’s So Cool About Manufacturing®, PA Dream Team, the Inside Manufacturing Series, and Manufacturing Day.
Through our partnerships, we are able to bring the horsepower of the best-in-breed experts to you. Imagine having access to the second-largest technology institute in the world, a corps of ex-Toyota executives trained under the best Lean practitioners in the world or world-renowned business strategy groups. MRC makes it possible.
For over 30 years, Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) has helped small and mid-sized manufacturers become more competitive, adopt lean and agile processes, strategically grow their companies and invest more effectively in their existing human capital.
September 9, 2025
8:00 AM
Hilton Lexington
The Kentucky Lean Tour is a three-day experience guided by Mike Hoseus, co-author of Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way. This unique training opportunity is designed and offered only for MRC’s manufacturing community in Eastern Pennsylvania. This is an exceptional platform to network, collaborate, benchmark, and establish best practices with peers from local cross-industry organizations.
Through a blend of workshop sessions and site visits, participants will observe and experience the principles of high-performance Lean cultures. Several models of organizational development will be illustrated, including the 4P model that emphasizes People, Process, Purpose and Problem Solving. This framework will offer guidance on how Toyota structures their purpose, people, process, and problem-solving efforts.
A key discussion opportunity will be focused on starting both your individual and organizational action plan that will take your Learning & Development to the next level of performance.
Price: $4,650 Early registration discount price $3,950 by May 16, 2025
Cancellation Notice: Payment must be received in full by July 31, 2025 in order to guarantee your reservation. Due to the logistics, effort, and prepaid costs that go into this event, no refund will be given after July 31, 2025. However, companies may send a substitute.
*Subject to changes and/or modifications
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 | |
7:00 AM | Breakfast |
8:00 AM | Welcome, Expectations, Ice-Breaker & Lean Leadership System | Mike Hoseus |
9:15 AM | Break |
9:30 AM | Lean Leadership System Continued | Mike Hoseus |
11:00 AM | Depart for Advanced Manufacturing Training Center & TMMK |
11:30 AM | Working Lunch – Presentation & Discussion on Toyota Training |
12:00 PM | Walking Tour – Toyota Advanced Manufacturing Training Center |
12:45 PM | Travel to TMMK |
1:00 PM | Tour of TMMK and TSSC Workshop |
5:00 PM | Return to Hotel |
5:30 PM | Evening on your own in Lexington, KY |
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 | |
7:00 AM | Breakfast |
8:00 AM | Leading Lean Work System | Mike Hoseus |
9:15 AM | Break |
9:30 AM | Leading Lean People | Mike Hoseus |
10:45 AM | Break |
11:00 AM | Testimony of former Toyota Team Leader – The Role of the Lean Floor Leader |
12:00 PM | Lunch @ Hotel |
12:45 PM | Depart for Plant Tour & Gemba Walk (nearby Toyota Supplier/Lean Manufacturer) |
2:00 PM | Plant Tour & Gemba Walk and Discussion with Leadership Team |
4:15 PM | Team Dinner at local venue |
8:00 PM | Return to Hotel |
Thursday, September 11, 2025 | |
7:00 AM | Breakfast |
8:00 AM | Depart for Plant Tour and Gemba Walk | (nearby Toyota Supplier/Lean Manufacturer) |
9:00 AM | Tour and Gemba Walk and Discussion with Plant Leadership Team |
11:00 AM | Return back to Lexington Bus Ride Discussion – Tour Debrief |
12:00 PM | Lunch at Hotel |
1:00 PM | Leading Lean Management System | Mike Hoseus |
2:15 PM | Leading Lean “High Level Lean Assessment” and Participant Report Out |
2:45 PM | Final Debrief and Summary |
3:00 PM | Dismiss |
Mike Hoseus, Author, Executive Director Center for Quality People & Organizations (CQPO), Lexington, Kentucky
Mike is Executive Director for the Center for Quality People & Organizations (CQPO), an organization developed in 1999 as a vision of Toyota Motor Manufacturing to share Lean Quality philosophy and human resource practices with education, business, and community organizations.
Mike is an adjunct professor with the University of Kentucky’s Center for Manufacturing, and a member of the faculty of Lean Enterprise Institute. Prior to CQPO, Mike was a corporate leader for 13 years at Toyota Motor Manufacturing’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant both in Human Resources and Manufacturing. Mike currently supports organizations with Lean Culture transformations focusing on the roles of Executive Management and Human Resources and how the quality people value stream connects to the production value stream.
In the mid-1980s, Toyota decided to solidify its growing presence in the United States by constructing its first wholly-owned U.S. manufacturing plant. Georgetown, Kentucky was selected to be the site for this historic endeavor and in May 1986 ground was broken on Toyota Motor Manufacturing, USA (TMM), later renamed Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK).
Two short years later, in May 1988, the first vehicle rolled off the lines in Kentucky, a white 1989 Toyota Camry LE. Since that time more than 13 million vehicles have come off our lines including the popular models we produce today, which include the Camry, RAV4 Hybrid and Lexus ES 350.
Toyota always strives to find a better way of doing things while putting customers and quality first. This commitment to “kaizen,” or “continuous improvement,” and a customer-first mindset, is why Toyota Kentucky has been home to many firsts for Toyota in the U.S. including being the first to build a Camry, the first to produce a Lexus, and the first to produce a Toyota Hybrid.
The Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC) is a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Started in 1992 and celebrating 30 years in 2022, Toyota has shared its know-how gained from years of its auto-making experience with over 500 small to mid-sized manufacturers, government entities and non-profits involved in disaster recovery, hunger relief, healthcare and more. Based on the philosophies of the Toyota Production System, Toyota collaborates with these organizations to help them become more productive, maximize available resources and improve quality and safety.
TSSC recognizes that sharing knowledge this way helps their partners stay competitive and preserve jobs — or help more people in need — and that benefits us all. TSSC’s 15 full-time advisors travel weekly throughout North America and execute 50 projects annually.
Contact Nicole Pierce at (484) 655-4873 or nicole.pierce@mrcpa.org.
Note: All registration fees must be received in advance of the date of your event. MRC must be notified two weeks in advance of this event if you need to cancel, otherwise we can only grant a credit to another MRC event. Remember, you can also send a substitute.
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* Fees, time, and location subject to change.
** Not applicable for virtual events