Manufacturing excellence 路 Free
Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM
The shop-floor half of manufacturing excellence, built in the order a line is actually improved: value and the eight wastes, gemba walks and bottlenecks, lead time and takt time, value stream mapping, flow and cells, pull and kanban sizing, standard work and 5S. Then the two numbers a plant manager is judged on. OEE calculated from a real shift, the six big losses behind it, quick changeover, and total productive maintenance through its eight pillars and twelve implementation steps.
Inside the course
From the lessons
Lean: value, the five principles and the eight wastes
Academic Gain Tutorials
Seeing the waste: gemba, 5G and bottlenecks
IIT Roorkee July 2018
Value stream mapping
IIT Roorkee July 2018
Pull systems and levelling the workload
IIT Roorkee July 2018
Standard work, 5S and visual control
IIT Roorkee July 2018
The six big losses and quick changeover
Academic Gain Tutorials
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Calculate availability, performance, quality and OEE from one shift of real data and say which factor to attack first; sort a shift of downtime into the six big losses and name the one that is costing most; draw a current-state value stream map with observed data boxes, compute process cycle efficiency and propose a future state; calculate takt time and compare it against measured cycle times to find the constraint; size a kanban loop from demand, replenishment lead time and container size; split a changeover into internal and external elements and plan a SMED exercise; and set up autonomous maintenance on one machine with a rollout plan through the twelve TPM steps.
- Calculate availability, performance, quality and OEE from one shift of real line data
- Split a shift of downtime across the six big losses and name the one costing most
- Draw a current-state value stream map with observed data boxes, then a future state you can reach
- Calculate takt time and compare it with measured station cycle times to find the constraint
- Size a kanban loop from demand, replenishment lead time, safety factor and container size
- Set up autonomous maintenance on one machine and plan a TPM rollout through the twelve steps
For you
Taking Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$23.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project 路 about 14 hours
OEE from 59 to 70 % on a 12,000 bph bottling line: charter, Pareto, SMED and autonomous maintenance
Run an OEE improvement project on a PET bottling line at a beverage plant: compute the baseline availability, performance and quality from a month of shift data, map the value stream and the downtime by cause, rank the six big losses, cut the changeover with a SMED study, put autonomous maintenance on the filler with a standard the operators can follow, audit 5S, and prove the new OEE with the same arithmetic. You deliver your own charter, downtime register, loss report and standard work. The sample pack shows what a lean consultant leaves behind at a plant.
Sample document pack, 7 documents, filled in for the scenario
- PlanProject Charter: OEE Improvement, PET Line 2, Silverline Beverages Dubai
- RegisterValue Stream Map Data and Downtime Register: Line 2, August 2026
- ReportLoss Analysis and SMED Study Report, with the October 2026 Result
- ProcedureStandards: Filler Autonomous-Maintenance CIL Standard and Changeover Standard Work
- Register5S Audit: Line 2 Areas, Audit 1 (10-Sep-2026) and Audit 2 (28-Oct-2026)
- RegisterAbnormality Tag Register: Filler and Blow-Moulder Initial Clean, 21-Sep-2026
- Training recordTraining Record: Operators, Technicians and Supervisors, Line 2
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
15 modules 路 49 lessons 路 10h 47m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01Lean: value, the five principles and the eight wastes4 lessons34m
- 02The Toyota Production System and how lean grew4 lessons41m
- 03Seeing the waste: gemba, 5G and bottlenecks4 lessons39m
- 04Lead time, takt time and cycle time2 lessons44m
- 05Value stream mapping3 lessons43m
- 06Continuous flow, cells and single-piece flow3 lessons37m
- 07Pull systems and levelling the workload3 lessons1h 11m
- 08Kanban: how the cards work and how many you need4 lessons1h 9m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Beginner. No prior lean, quality or maintenance training is assumed. It sits naturally after any PLC or SCADA course, because the loss data OEE is built from comes off that layer.
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet for the OEE, takt time and kanban arithmetic. What to download, and how
- Hardware
- None. A stopwatch or a phone timer and a notebook for the line observations.
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Nothing to install
A spreadsheet is enough for the OEE, takt time and kanban arithmetic.
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 01Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM at a glance
Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for production, industrial and maintenance engineers. It has 15 modules and 10h 47m of video lessons by IIT Roorkee July 2018, Shakehand with Life, Academic Gain Tutorials, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Production, industrial and maintenance engineers
- Format
- 15 self-paced modules, 10h 47m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Beginner. Beginner. No prior lean, quality or maintenance training is assumed. It sits naturally after any PLC or SCADA course, because the loss data OEE is built from comes off that layer.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet for the OEE, takt time and kanban arithmetic.
- Hardware
- None. A stopwatch or a phone timer and a notebook for the line observations.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- IIT Roorkee July 2018, Shakehand with Life, Academic Gain Tutorials (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
PLC programming 路 FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.
Instrumentation 路 FreeInstrumentation for PLC EngineersThe half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.More free courses: Free maintenance and reliability courses 路 Free Six Sigma and quality courses 路 Free project management courses
Learner reviews
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Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Do I need any software, a licence or a plant of my own?
No. A spreadsheet does all the arithmetic, and a stopwatch or phone timer does the rest. Every practice task has a worked version you can follow on paper if you are not currently on a shop floor.
What do I need to know before starting?
Nothing about lean. If you have done any PLC or SCADA course the OEE modules will feel closer to home, because the downtime and count data usually comes off that layer, but it is not required.
Is this the same as a Lean Six Sigma belt or a JIPM TPM award?
No. This is preparation, not certification. Lean Six Sigma belts are issued by bodies such as ASQ and by training providers under their own schemes, and TPM Excellence Awards are issued by the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance. This course covers much of the same ground and none of their examinations, and EDWartens does not represent them.
Is the Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM course really free?
Yes. Every module, practice task and assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The certificate is the only optional paid item.
What certificate does the Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM course give?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you have finished every module and passed the final assessment at 60 per cent, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not a vendor credential and is never described as one.
Who made the video lessons in the Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM course?
The creators named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channels. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
Will this help me move from maintenance into continuous improvement?
That is who it is written for. The engineer who already fixes breakdowns is the one who can tie line data to loss categories, and OEE and TPM literacy is the usual gate for continuous improvement and shift-in-charge roles at auto, FMCG and electronics plants.
How long does the Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM course take?
About fifteen to sixteen hours of study across fourteen content modules and a final, which most learners spread over four or five weeks. The practice tasks add more if you do them on a real line, and they are where the value is.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Lean Manufacturing, OEE and TPM
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$23.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- IIT Roorkee July 2018the NPTEL Toyota Production System lectures: eliminating waste, lean manufacturing, lead time, value stream mapping, continuous flow, pull, levelling, kanban and its calculation, standardisation of task and lean implementation
- Shakehand with Lifethe TPM series: what TPM is, how it evolved, the eight pillars, what OEE is, how to calculate OEE with a worked example, and the twelve implementation steps
- Academic Gain Tutorialsthe lean tools glossary and the longer explainers: lean principles, what value is, the eight wastes, 5G, bottleneck analysis, takt time, SMED, poka-yoke, jidoka, the six big losses, 5S, kaizen, PDCA and focused improvement
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.