Lean Introduction Video Available to Producers

Feb. 1, 2021

Thanks to a smart initiative by and invitation from Atlas Coffee Importers, our company offered an introduction to our copyrighted "Lean at Origin" training on-line to a global audience of producers. Most of them were cooperative leaders. The Sept. 16, 2020 webinar was the first in a four-part series Atlas produced, which included seminars on marketing, quality control for sample roasting, and "flavor formation in natural and honey-processing."

Our 50 minute session, titled "The Importance of Efficiency in Coffee Production" is available to view on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Jb0-s65VFAY . The video is thanks to the technical team and everyone at Atlas, but especially Drew Billups, Director of Education and Quality Control.

The webinar starts with emphasizing that the purpose of adopting a "Lean" culture for coffee processing is primarily to allow us to pay farmers more. It is our strong belief at Artisan Coffee Imports that by 2025, Lean concepts will transform the coffee supply chain. We started teaching Lean in 2015 and predicted back then that within 10 years lean principles at origin will transform the coffee supply chain, just as it has become the "bread and butter" of other global supply chains like automotive and aerospace.

Why is this operations management practice so compelling? Because it embraces what we all know as leaders makes organizations stronger: worker empowerment, growth and innovation, data-driven decision-making and teamwork. These are only a few of the many key principles that allow companies with a "Lean" culture to outperform their competitors. Toyota Motor Co. headquartered in Japan, is known as the world's best expert in "Lean". Not coincidentally, they are also the most profitable automaker on the planet.

Curious? Learn more by clicking here and listening for a few minutes to how this powerful training can help coffee producers operationalize Lean. We use an example: Kopakama cooperative in Rwanda.

Where has "Lean at Origin" been implemented? We've had the honor to train about seven coffee-producing organizations, both cooperatively and private owned, in three countries: Rwanda, Burundi and D.R. Congo. The training has been most completely adopted at Kopakama, where the efficiency concepts were also brought to the dry mill manager and staff. In D.R. Congo, we were pleased to offer the training as a tool to help the cooperative staff adapt their operations to include not just women and frontline workers, but also people who are amputees and landmine victims. Diversity training was easily added to that customized program.

Ready to learn more? Contact Ruth Ann Church (rachurch@artisancoffeeimports.com) today to arrange a FREE introductory 30 minute, interactive webinar for your group.

Happy New Year! - Highlights from 2019

As we look back on 2019, the items in our infographic (left) are the biggest highlights. They include:

Achieved Q Processing Level 1 certification! Took the three day course with Drew Billings at Atlas Coffee in Seattle, June 2019

8 new roaster customers of green coffee grown by Rwandan women.
1 new consulting customer
1 new shipping consolidation customer

Lean at Origin training was introduced to a third country - Democratic Republic of Congo! It was an honor to be sponsored by the Polus Foundation (Boston, MA) to work on beautiful Idjwi Island. Artisan trained leaders from 2 coffee cooperatives in Lean at Origin skills.

Finished in the black. Calendar year 2019 achieved a cash-basis profit. While we seek to do good, we have to stay in business and this means earning a profit.

Relationships Deepened. Relationship coffee requires investments of time and travel dollars to be present and observe what is happening at origin. Grateful to be able to travel to Africa three times in 2019.

Coffee Literacy Expansion. Artisan supported Grace Izerewe to follow an intensive 6-week course in Kigali, Rwanda covering many coffee topics including cupping, green grading, sample roasting, production roasting, wet mill processing and LeNez du Cafe sensory skills.

Coffee Career Mentoring. Artisan was proud to be selected as  mentor by Joel Arusha, a rising young coffee entrepreneur in Rwanda. Monthly calls were arranged by Joel where he could ask questions and Ruth Ann tried to guide. It was exciting for both sides to see excellent new career pathways develop for Joel!

IWCA Global Board Director. Ruth Ann was proud to serve on the board of the International Women's Coffee Alliance for a fourth year. The non-profit, all-volunteer group has overcome many obstacles in 2019, moving forward in its transition to a staffed model. Most exciting is when there are opportunities to see up-close what the now 24 chapters around the world are doing!

Artisan Coffee Group Now Offering Consulting

Artisan Coffee Group is pleased to offer our clients professional consulting for roasters. We can provide impact assessment at origin, monitoring and evaluation of programs and consulting to improve the efficiency of your supply chain through our unique “Lean at Origin” strategic process. These services are aimed at roasters who want to increase the productivity and sustainability of their business. Our consulting service uses a data-driven approach supplemented by Ruth Ann's 20 years of business experience and a passion for quality coffee.

What is "Lean at Origin"? It's a belief that producers are small business-people who make the best decisions they can about how to invest their scarce resources. With training, we help them "see" waste in their processes that is otherwise invisible. Through teamwork we improve leadership capabilities of every family member, friend and hired worker. These fundamentals of quality production have been proven over decades by thousands of small, mom & pop machine shops in the automotive industry. Ruth Ann grew up near the Motor City and for 8 years has helped manufacturers to compete better on the global playing field. With research and experience through Michigan State University, these concepts are now taking hold in coffee supply chains around the world.

Contact us for more information, or visit our website.