Topic(s)
- Business operations improvement
Step into the future of enterprise excellence with this immersive, hands-on workshop designed to equip practitioners with practical tools that merge lean thinking with the power of AI. Participants will dive into a dynamic Enterprise Value Stream Flow simulation, enriched with real-world challenges from sales, product development, operations and supply chain.
Working in teams, attendees will identify hidden wastes and inefficiencies across the value stream. Using accessible AI software, machine learning applications and structured work analysis methodologies, they will explore how technology can drive smarter decisions and breakthrough improvements. Real case studies — spanning predictive sales analytics, accelerated product development, automated data workflows and AI-assisted motion analysis — bring the learning to life and showcase enterprise-wide impact.
The workshop culminates with teams applying their AI-enhanced improvements directly into the simulation, followed by guided use of AI-assisted canvases to build scalable transformation plans. Participants will quantify their results with tangible before-and-after metrics, reinforcing real-world applicability.
Designed for intermediate-level practitioners, this session is equally suited for those new to AI. With over 60% of the day dedicated to active participation, attendees will gain hands-on experience, proven methods and replicable strategies to lead transformation across functions.
Come ready to be immersed, inspired and empowered — and leave equipped to drive value, innovation and impact at scale.
Key learning objectives
- Map and analyze enterprise workflows to identify opportunities for enhanced flow, alignment and effectiveness.
- Review case studies and apply AI and learning techniques to optimize value across enterprise functions.
- Test and validate improvements through hands-on exercises grounded in real-world challenges and metrics.
- Develop a scalable transformation plan using AI-assisted canvases and dynamic impact visualization.
Interactive components
This full-day workshop is structured around four hands-on sessions: growth, value, improve and scale, with over 60% of the time dedicated to interactive learning.
After exploring principles for selecting prioritized transformation areas in the growth session, the first interactive activity begins 25 minutes into the workshop, launching participants into an enterprise value stream simulation. This simulation reflects real challenges across sales, product development, operations and supply chain.
In the value session, working in teams, participants use structured templates — such as swim lane maps, prioritization matrices, and improvement canvases — to analyze enterprise workflows and surface key opportunities for enhancement.
In the improve session, teams apply insights from real-world case studies, tackling areas like forecasting, workflow automation and motion analysis. These improvements are then tested through a future state enterprise value stream simulation, allowing teams to observe tangible before-and-after impacts in flow and performance.
The final scale session focuses on building a transformation plan. Teams use guided canvases and visual tools to map how improvements can be scaled across their enterprise, supported by measurable outcomes.
Facilitated by an experienced team, this workshop format is designed to adapt seamlessly for groups of 14 to 56 participants, ensuring high engagement and lasting value through practical, team-based learning.
Companies
Honsha is an international association of more than 40 lean professionals with deep Toyota experience, focused on developing organizational capability through principle-based transformation. For nearly two decades, Honsha has supported clients across sectors — automotive, healthcare, government, finance and manufacturing — through coaching, leadership development and TPS-based systems design. Its approach emphasizes respect, humility and continuous improvement as the foundation for sustainable excellence. Beyond enterprise work, Honsha contributes to global impact initiatives like Lean for Hope and Wise Madness, reflecting its commitment to improving lives through purposeful practice. https://honsha.org/
Niwaki is a global enterprise education and transformation consulting group that helps organizations align systems, behavior and purpose to achieve enterprise excellence. The firm invests in data analysis and insight generation to inform thoughtfully designed transformation canvases and templates. Coupled with integrated storytelling and visual design, these tools equip practitioners to lead meaningful, structured change. Niwaki’s interdisciplinary teams combine lean systems, AI-enabled optimization, people-centric structured processes and problem-solving to deliver measurable outcomes. It also supports initiatives aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, helping build adaptive, values-driven organizations prepared for a world in constant change. https://niwaki.global/
Presenters
Ryan Burrowbridge is a systems thinker, engineering leader and continuous improvement practitioner with a passion for sustainability and enterprise growth. With over 20 years of experience in the renewable energy industry, Burrowbridge was one of the first employees at Borrego, where he played a pivotal role in scaling the company from a small start-up to the largest private commercial engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) organization in the United States. He established and led Borrego’s professional engineering services department, helping the company become a recognized leader in the U.S. solar and energy infrastructure market.
Over the past decade, Burrowbridge has championed lean systems thinking and continuous improvement across industries — facilitating enterprise-wide change through structured improvement events, value stream analysis and systems alignment. He has co-created and delivered multi-year leadership and management development programs that engage leaders at all levels in driving meaningful, measurable progress.
Burrowbridge holds a bachelor of science from James Madison University in integrated science and technology, with a concentration in energy and environment. He brings a people-centered, sustainability-driven approach to transformation — bridging engineering, project execution and leadership development to drive operational rigor and long-term enterprise success. 
Ray Littlefield is a transformation strategist, facilitator and educator who helps organizations design the systems, behaviors and cultures needed to achieve enterprise excellence. As a founding partner of niwaki, Littlefield has shaped a multidisciplinary approach to transformation — integrating lean systems thinking, AI-enabled value stream optimization, cinematic storytelling, visual design and people-centered structured problem solving.
Littlefield's career includes engineering and production system roles at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, where he supported Powertrain operations, followed by his work with the Lean Systems Group — a collaboration between Toyota and the University of Kentucky College of Engineering — where he taught and researched lean transformation methodologies.
He has led multi-year, cross-functional transformation programs across the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Asia in industries ranging from manufacturing and healthcare to food processing and services. Littlefield works closely with executives and frontline teams to align strategy, systems and behavior — bridging operational clarity with cultural alignment. His work helps organizations build the internal capability to scale learning, accelerate performance and sustain high impact. This includes supporting health, safety and well-being cultural transformation through structured systems, visual management and behavioral design.
Littlefield holds a master of science in manufacturing systems engineering with a lean systems emphasis and a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, along with certifications in TPS, Toyota problem-solving, lean accounting and culture transformation. 
Lando Nishida is an internationally recognized transformation leader, systems thinker and educator with over two decades of experience designing and deploying operating systems that integrate lean principles, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence. He works with organizations across industries — including manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare and logistics — to architect high-performance systems that drive enterprise excellence and adaptive capability.
Nishida specializes in the application of AI and machine learning to industrial environments, including predictive quality systems, digital flow control and self-learning decision-support tools. His recent work includes integrating APIs and visual platforms to enable continuous problem anticipation and source quality in supply chain and production systems.
Known for his clarity, discipline and global reach, Nishida has supported executive teams and transformation leaders in over 30 countries. His work blends rigorous engineering with behavioral insight — empowering organizations to scale learning, close performance gaps and build regenerative operations that thrive in dynamic environments.
He has held senior advisory roles at Lean Institute Brazil and Institut Lean France and is a co-founder of Lean Academy Portugal. Nishida's professional grounding in mechanical engineering informs a practical, systems-based approach to sustainable transformation.
Rina Sinha is an internationally recognized transformation leader and educator with over two decades of experience designing and delivering enterprise operating systems that elevate performance, build internal capability and drive cultural alignment. She has led multi-year enterprise transformation programs that integrate lean systems, design thinking, storytelling, business intelligence, data automation and AI-enabled value stream optimization.
Sinha is known for translating strategic ambition into executable systems by aligning process design, leadership behavior and team capability. Her work spans industries and functions, supporting organizations to embed continuous improvement through immersive training, structured coaching and end-to-end enablement — from the frontline to the boardroom.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources and organizational learning, an MBA and a graduate certificate in competitive enterprise and environmental sustainability. She has completed advanced studies in industrial and organizational psychology, curriculum design, pull systems, product management, value stream design and scheduling, and structured problem-solving. She has also participated in and co-led executive study missions to Japan and the United States.
Sinha's disciplined, people-centered approach helps organizations accelerate enterprise excellence by integrating systems thinking, behavioral science and technology to respond effectively to complexity and scale meaningful, sustainable change.
Darril Wilburn is a globally respected teacher, advisor and transformation leader with a passion for continuous improvement and enterprise excellence. During his career at Toyota, he played a key role in the development and implementation of the Toyota Way and piloted the Toyota Business Practice globally. He also helped launch Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas and was mentored by Toyota’s internal TPS sensei group — experiences that deeply shape his approach to transformation.
Wilburn has supported multi-year, cross-functional, enterprise-wide transformation initiatives across industries. His work integrates lean systems, human-centered design, data-driven decision making, AI-enabled kaizen and storytelling to activate deep and sustainable change. He is known for connecting principle-based thinking to real-world systems, empowering leadership teams and frontline employees alike.
With a background in instructional design and education, Wilburn brings both empathy and clarity to his engagements. He has delivered keynotes and coaching engagements around the world — from Harvard Business Review Latin America’s “Lean in Action” series to lean summits in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
His client list includes Johnson Controls, Kimberly-Clark, Volvo Trucks, Valero, Mars and government agencies such as the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry and Port of Seattle.
