For the time being, it has been decided to not continue to maintain this page of the web site.

November 2008
Unprecedented results occurred at a multi-national (Italy, Germany, Mexico and USA) value engineering workshop in Italy. This was the first time this automotive supplier had all the "right" people in the room at the same time to develop a new design. The result was a complete buy-in to achieve a several million dollar cost savings.

Going directly from Italy to Indiana was quite an adjustment, but the results of the value anlaysis workshop for a lighting company were also excellent. The net savings was in excess of 20 percent of the variable cost that the team had control over.

Late in November, James A. Rains, Jr., CVS-Life,FSAVE, and Javier Masini, AVS, started a series of VE related activities in Mexico. These events were held in Guadalajara,Jalisco, also known as the “South Silicon Valley” because there is a wide cluster of electronics contract manufacturers in this urban area. First, on Monday, November 24, at the Guadalajara Campus of Universidad Panamericana, Rains presented a lecture promoting value engineering to postgraduate students of Industrial Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electromechanical Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering. In a two-hour lecture, professional engineers understood the importance of function analysis and the value methodology. The attendees were also able to see some real case studies showing the benefits of using value engineering. Networking time was given in this event so one-on-one questions were held. The following day, November 25, Rains and Masini led the workshop “Value Management, a Seminar for Executives” held at Camino Real Guadalajara Expo Hotel. This was a six-hour event where managers from all kinds of institutions attended and learned the powerful benefits of VE. Attendees ranged from top managers of electronics contract manufacturers, government, construction and education. This exceptional first step generated many good results and interest in VM from attendees of both events. This is the first solid milestone in the path of creating a Mexican society of value engineering.

October 2008
Jim Rains led a group of people to Japan to benchmark excellent Japanese companies and to attend the Society of Japanese Value Engineers (SJVE) 41st Annual Conference. The companies visited were Canon, Isuzu and IHI. All of these companies have institutionaled target costing, tear-down and value engineering as elements of their product development process. In fact Canon is a world-class leader of these holistic practices. The visit to Isuzu was highlighted by the fact that Mr. Yoshihiko Sato, CVS, FSAVE and known as the "Father of Tear-down" participated with the group and the dinner that followed. Because of Jim's unique relationship with Dr. Masayasu Tanaka, CVS, FSAVE the group was able to hear a two-hour presentation from him. At the SJVE conference Jim was part of a special international forum that discussed the topic of integration of value improving techniques. Jim discussed his use of integrating value engineering, Japanese method of tear-down and Design for Assembly.

September 2008
The VideoJet Division of Danaher had a Module I Certified Workshop on one of their print heads. The workshop was conducted in Wood Dale, IL. With 12 people attending the workshop the complete VE job plan was held. The workshop results were excellent. Overall product performance was enhanced as well as a significant cost reduction. All proposals developed had a less than one year payback.

August 2008
Jim Rains traveled to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to conduct a VE workshop on a new water pipe line and pumping stations for TRANSCO. TRANSCO is the government agency responsible for water delivery, in the UAE.

A Module I Workshop was conducted for six people in the Detroit Michigan area. Three different automotive suppliers, one large industrial conglomerate and one person from a construction firm from Vienna, Austria attended this public certified workshop. All those that attended, took and passed the Associate Value Specialist exam.

July 2008
Jim Rains facilitated a two team Certified VA Workshop for Grote Industries. At the conclusion of the workshop, the VP of Engineering at Grote told the entire group that the reported results exceeded his expectations for this event.

Jim Rains also conducted a workshop for Air Systems Components (ASC), a Division of Tomkins Industries. The project worked on had an objective to correct known quality issues. Most people participating in the workshop expected that to correct the known quality issues, that cost would increase. Not only was the team able to fix all known quality problems, they were also able to reduce cost as well.

June 2008
Jim Rains co-facilitated an intense four team tear-down workshop with Yoshihiko Sato. Sato is known as the "Father of Tear-down" in Japan and is well known for his expertise in this methodology. Jim Rains is the ONLY person to co-facilitate this technique with Mr. Sato. The workshop was conducted for the Security Technologies sector of Ingersoll Rans in Colorado Springs.

Jim Rains was contracted by SAVE International to teach the Certified Module II Seminar at its annual conference in Reno, Nevada. Sixteen people from around the globe were participants in this event.

May 2008
The Advanced Value Group, LLC began work with a new client in southern Indiana. We were invited to present to the company's leadership to review our methods and how we would provide value nalaysis/value engineering services.

We conducted our 5th annual SAVE International Certified Value Engineering Workshop for the Climate Control sector of Ingersoll Rand. As in the past this multi-team workshop resulted in millions of dollars of potential savings ready to be implemented.
The Kuwait office of Projacs needed a SAVE International Module II Seminar. AVG was contracted to successfully complete this activity.

April 2008
A SAVE International Certified Module I Workshop was conducted for Projacs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A building project that was currently in the design phase was selected for the workshop project. Despite being value engineering before an additional SR21,000,000 of savings ideas were written and presented.

We conducted a Module I Workshop for a manufacturing company located in the Dallas Texas area. Over 20 percent savings resulted from the project work and all people that took the AVS exam passed.

January through March 2008
Highlights of the first quarter of 2008 are as follows. We began work with two new clients. Our effort with both of these clients is to assist in setting up successful VM programs. This includes working with the selected people that will become the internal expert to insure that they will become self-sufficient to perform VA/VE related activity for their company. This has involved one-on-one training, Module I Certified training and working together to perform results-oriented workshops to enhance their skills in facilitating workshops.

The Advanced Value Group has successfully accomplished a public Module I Workshop in Phoenix with everyone attending taking and passing the AVS exam.


December 2007
Jim Rains led a SAVE International Certified Module I Workshop for PROJACS in Doha Qatar. Fourteen people attended the workshop and earned their AVS certification. A 6 floor podium and 20 floor residential tower that is located in "The Pearl" was selected for this workshop.

November 2007
AVG conducted a results oriented value analysis workshop for a leading automotive supplier in the Detroit, Michigan area. The workshop led to superb financial and product performance improvements.

October 2007
Jim Rains facilitated a public SAVE International Certified Module II Seminar in Phoenix Arizona. Seven people from throughout the country attended this required seminar for CVS certification.

August 2007
Two SAVE International Certified Module I Workshops were conducted for PROJACS, a leading company with offices throughout the Middle East. The first workshop was held in Dubai, UAE. A luxury hotel was selected to be the workshop project. 10 people received their AVS certification as a result of this workshop.
The second workshop was held in Kuwait. An office tower and plaza was selected for this workshop's project. 12 people received their AVS cerficiation.

July 2007
A leading axle manufacturer in Elkhart Indiana had a two team value engineering workshop. The company Dexter Axle did value engineering many years ago, but the use of this technique disappeared. Knowing that the majority of their costs relate to material they felt the need to regain the use of the value methodology and use it to improve their competitive position in the marketplace.

June 2007
A value engineering training seminar was conducted for TUG Technologies and many of their key suppliers. The one-day training was first conducted for the internal people of TUG. A second similar one-day training was for the supplier community.

Jim Rains facilitated a 4-day workshop for Volvo. This facility was recently acquired from Ingersoll Rand's Construction Equipment sector. The workshop consisted of two teams that identified value improving recommendations for their new highway paving equipment.

As a result of new government regulations Bobcat needed a value engineering workshop to improve the cost of the engine that they buy from Kubota. The joint workshop of engineers and other disciplines from Bobcat and Kubota worked to solve emission issues at the lowest possible cost.

May 2007
The SAVE International Annual Conference was held in Houston. AVG attended the conference and made a presentation titled, "Cost Tables - The Secret Ingredient". Following the conference Jim Rains escorted the Japanese delegation to Detroit Michigan where two automotive suppliers were visited to share information on TRIZ, value engineering and tear-down workshops.

The Climate Control sector of Ingersoll Rand held a Module I Certified Workshop that was facilitated by AVG. The Associate Value Specialist (AVS) exam was proctored at the conclusion of this workshop.

As a representative of SAVE International and the Miles Value Foundation, Jim Rains attended the Institute of Industrial Engineering (IIE) Conference in Nashville. The objective of his attendance is to promote SAVE International, value engineering and the mission of the Miles Value Foundation.

April 2007
An automotive supplier located in Florida was interested to improve their production/manufacturing process using value analysis. AVG has a unique "LeanVE" workshop that accomplishes the integration of synchronous and lean concepts into the value methodology job plan. Workshop results are measured in improvements to productivity, leadtime, floorspace and work in process inventory. Integrating function analysis into the lean workshop activity, energizes the team and allows greater mental freedom to improve the process.

A SAVE Certified Value Engineering Module I Workshop was conducted for a sector within Ingersoll Rand. Three teams focused on improving the design of the products brought to the workshop to be studied. Potential savings identified at the workshop, approached approximately $3,000,000 in annual savings.

March 2007
There is a multi-billion dollar project to build a new university in Kuwait. This initial workshop was focused on the infrastructure and landscaping. Due to size of this project several utility buildings with numerous chillers are required. The team reviewed the several kilometers of underground tunnels looking at the required length, width and depth. Part of the landscaping is an oasis that separates the men and women campuses. Of the 19 design alternatives that were written, 9 had economics estimated at the conclusion of the workshop. The total dollar savings for the 9 alternatives that were written exceeded $100,000,000.

February 2007
Pre-workshop meetings and a value analysis workshop was conducted for Bobcat in Bismarck, North Dakota. Three different major sub-assemblies of the Bobcat excavator were studied. Significant cost savings, performance improvements and quality issues were resolved.

January 2007
A two-day value engineering overview and training was conducted for a supplier of electrical component parts. The training performed north of Boston, included people from many different organizational disciplines.

The commercial battery workshop started in December was completed. Superb results that exceeded the pre-planned goals and objectives were recorded.

Jim Rains facilitated a public SAVE International Module I Certified Workshop in the Phoenix Arizona area.

A private Module I Certified Workshop was held for an automotive supplier located in northern Utah. Three teams consisting of seven people each participated in the workshop. Each team accomplished their pre-workshop determined goals and objectives.

December 2006
A results oriented value engineering workshop comprised of people from the USA, Mexico and Japan was facilitated in Mexico. Prior to the workshop the product development team had performed numerous cost reduction activities, so they were reluctant to accept a conservative 10% additional cost avoidance target on the product to be studied. The final result was in access of 35%. This proved the validity of the value engineering methodology. Needless to say the client was extremely satisfied.

A producer of commercial batteries wanted a results orient study to help them make both cost and performance improvements to a new battery that was undergoing change. The workshop began in December and will be concluded in January.

The HVAC part supplier mentioned in August 2006 held a lean manufacturing workshop on one of their product assembly lines. The resultant layout improved productivity by almost 20%, improved floorspace utilization by 40%, and reduced lead-time and work-in-process inventory by over 50%.

November 2006
Jim Rains held his third target costing and value engineering benchmarking trip to Japan. This trip is designed to give participants an inside look at how leading Japanese companies organize their product development activities. This year Canon, Nissan and Yokohama Electric Corporation were selected for our visits. Canon is recognized as one of the global leaders in target costing. The group felt extremely fortunate that we were able to discuss in detail how Canon uses target costing and value engineering, with the very top leaders of Canon. As part of the visit to Nissan we were provided with a detailed tour of their 1.8 - 2.0 liter engine line. It is easy to see why Nissan regularly ranks as #1 in labor productivity year after year.
As part of this trip the delegation attended the Society of Japanese Value Engineering Conference held in Tokyo. This two day conference was sold out. Participants included many large corporate CEO's, Presidents and Cost Engineering General Managers. Cost Engineering organizations (which do not exist in the USA) are held accountable and responsible to meet corporate profit objectives. Two key methods utilized are cost tables which help to manage cost expenditures before money is committed and value engineering as a means to reach the target cost objectives. References of those that attended these once in a life time event can be obtained at j.rains@avgconsulting.com

Right from Japan, Jim went to Shenzhen China to review the manufacturing operations of a leading US electronics company. Then he went to Shanghai to perform value engineering, tear-down and target costing training for about 30 engineers of the same company.

September 2006
Club Car a major component to Ingersoll Rand had its second Module I VE Workshop performed by AVG. This workshop had three teams. Two major suppliers were a part of the workshop. The workshop projects came from Club Car's new vehicle the Precedent.

August 2006
A leading electronics company in Huntsville Alabama received Design for Assembly/Design for Manufacturability training. This training was performed under the guidance of Mr. Ken Crow. Jim and Ken teamed up to provide the training for several design engineers. The third day of the training includes a hands-on workshop of one of their own products.
Later in the month two major workshops were conducted for the HVAC parts manufacturer mentioned in the July news. As a result of our expert assessment, the company choose to follow our recommendations commencing with our selection of one of their leading products to be included in a tear-down workshop and a value analysis workshop. The tear-down workshop followed the Japanese method developed by Yoshihiko Sato. In addition the Dynamic Tear-down method was performed using Design for Assembly techniques. It is believed that this is the first time that this type of workshop has been performed in the world. The same product was then the subject of a value analysis study. Using the information from the tear-down workshop and then using the value analysis methodology, the team developed two major solutions. First, significant improvements to their current design and secondly, they developed a brand new product offering. This new product offering proposal had its own business case developed as part of the workshop.

July 2006
A certified and results oriented value engineering workshop was held for an aircraft parts manufacturer in the Cleveland Ohio area. Three teams participated in the workshop. Participants included several disciplines within the company.

Two trips were made to a leader in HVAC manufactured assemblies in the Northeast. This privately owned company sought out expertise in value engineering. Our initial service was to provide a detailed assessment of their product offerings, manufacturing operations, organizational structure and quality data. The 31 page assessment report including our findings and complete list of recommendations.

June 2006
The Target Costing and Profit Engineering Seminar mentioned in May below, was taught as a public seminar in conjunction with the SAVE International Annual Conference conducted in Savannah. Again Jim Rains and Dr. Tanaka worked together to present the seminar.

Jim Rains attended the SAVE International Conference. During the conference Jim participated as a panelist on the Fellow's Forum and at the Manufacturing Forum. He also presented two papers, one on target costing and one on the integration of lean manufacturing and value engineering.

Later in the month, Jim Rains facilitated a Certified SAVE International Module I Workshop for a leading automotive supplier. The twenty-one attendees identified savings potential in excess of $2,000,000. All in attendance took the Associate Value Specialist (AVS) exam.

May 2006
The highlight of this month's work was to co-present the first ever Target Costing and Profit Engineering Seminar in the United States. Jim Rains has studied and learned about target costing for over fourteen years. The leading academic guru in target costing is Dr. Masayasu Tanaka from Japan. Dr. Tanaka agreed to team up with Jim Rains and offer this seminar to corporations in the USA. In late May over 40 executives from Ingersoll Rand participated this seminar. Dr. Tanaka's knowledge on this subject is second to none. To be able to teach with him is certainly a privilege.

A Certified SAVE International Module I Workshop was provided to the Climate Control Sector of Ingersoll Rand. Twenty-three participants worked on three separate projects during the workshop. All participants took the Associate Value Specialist (AVS) exam, with excellent results.

Jim Rains, SAVE International Director and liaison to the Institute of Industrial Engineers, attended the IIE Conference in Orlando. The main purpose of attending is to promote SAVE International and the value methodology. This is accomplished by manning an exhibit booth at the conference. The secondary purpose is to promote the Education Plan of the Lawrence D. Miles Education Plan. This plan is designed to assist colleges and universities to create curriculum in value engineering. This was accomplished via a three hour seminar on value engineering and presenting details of the Education Plan to the many academic conference participants.

April 2006
AVG conducted a full assessment of a leading appliance manufacturer's facility. The assessment included a review of its manufacturing operations, purchased parts, financial controls, quality metrics , sales and marketing information, etc. Following the assessment a 33 page report was presented that included our findings and offered several detailed recommendations that could be implemented to improve conversion costs, material costs and design improvements that would lead to improved levels of profitability.

March 2006
The first ever private Tear-Down Workshop facilitated in the United States by Yoshihiko Sato, CVS, FSAVE of VPM Technical Institute, Inc. was conducted for an automotive supplier near Detroit. Approximately $6,000,000 of potential savings was identified. Mr. Sato known as the "Father of Tear-Down" in Japan has been publishing and conducting professional tear-down reviews, seminars and workshops in Japan for over thirty years. This workshop was planned and coordinated by Jim Rains of the Advanced Value Group, LLC.

Jim Rains of the Advanced Value Group has had a business relationship with Mr. Sato since 1989. Rains' believes that Mr. Sato's tear-down methods are necessary for western world companies to compete on a global scale. Mr. Sato has taught and consulted in Korea, China and other Asian regions. The Advanced Value Group, LLC is now fully prepared to offer tear-down workshops with or without the involvement of Mr.Sato.

January 2006
A very successful public SAVE certified Module I Value Engineering Workshop was held in Phoenix, Arizona. Participants came from Minnesota, Colorado, Pennslyvania, North Carolina, Washington and Arizona. Two projects, one construction and the other manufacturing oriented were used to display the techniques of the value methodology to those that attended. The AVS exam was proctored at the conclusion of the workshop.

December 2005
The final pilot supplier VA/VE workshop was successfully concluded for Ingersoll-Rand.
A public Advanced Value Engineering SAVE certified Module II Seminar was held at the SAVE International Headquarters in Dayton, Ohio.

November 2005
Two more Ingersoll-Rand supplier VA/VE workshops were held in November. Savings potential for both Ingersoll-Rand and each supplier has been significant. In an effort to expand its target costing activity, Bobcat, held an in-house Target Costing Seminar for its leaders in engineering, finance and marketing.

October 2005
This month began in Kuwait where six teams from two different Kuwaiti government agencies particpated in a SAVE Certified Module I Workshop. The workshop sponsored by and conducted at the Kuwait Society of Engineers had 42 people earning their certificate.

We began work with another Ingersoll-Rand supplier. The pre-workshop meeting was well attended with the workshop to occur in November.

September 2005
Jim Rains led eight people to perform target costing and value engineering benchmarking in Japan. This five day trip helped all particpants to better understand how the most successful companies in Japan manage their costs and use value engineering. The first visit was to the Innovation Center of Omron Corporation. Here we saw up-front product and process development as performed by a leading and highly technical and successful Japanese company. A tour of the Innovation Center which is the center of their research and development was also accomplished. The second day the group visited Denso headquarters and also had an opportunity to tour one of their manufacturing facilities. Denso is part of the Toyota family. Denso presentations focused on their Cost Planning activity. Cost Planning is ultimately responsible for the company's profitability. This part of the organization controls the target costing and value engineering activity, which when not controlled in minute detail cause less than successful profit results. The third day we heard presentations and toured the Toytoa Inabe Auto Body Plant. Among other information details of the Toyota's CCC21 program were discussed. It s not an accident that Toyyota is the most financially successful automotive manufacturer in the world. The fourth and fifth days the group attended the Society of Japanese Value Engineering (SJVE) 38th Annual Conference in Nagoya. Excellent presentations from Nissan and Airman were the highlights of the conference.

While attending the SJVE Conference Jim Rains made a presentation titled, "The Intersection of Quality Function Deployment and Value Engineering".

August 2005
The first of many VA Supplier Workshops for Ingersoll-Rand commenced. The workshop demonstrated a substanital commitment between Ingersoll-Rand and its designated supplier. The savings potential identified at the workshop exceeded the original objectives established by both companies.

June 2005
AVG performed a three team SAVE certfied Workshop for Bobcat Corporation in Gwinner North Dakota. Nineteen people applied for and were tested to become Associate Value Specialists. Jim Rains was selected by SAVE International to conduct its pre-conference Module II Seminar. Thirteen people from around the globe attended this seminar. Finally the SAVE International Annual Conference was held in San Diego. Jim Rains presented a paper titled "Creating and Maintaining an Effective and Successful Value Analysis Program". Jim was also a member of the Manufacturing Forum panel.

May 2005
In early May, we worked with a division of Cooper Industries on a high volume electrical component. This 4-day intense value engineering workshop provided valuable new insights for this company. The Climate Control sector (Hussman and Thermo King) of Ingersoll-Rand had a three-team SAVE Certified Value Analysis Workshop. 19 people in this workshop passed the SAVE Certified exam to become Associate Value Specialists (AVS). Jim Rains represented SAVE International and the Lawrence D. Miles Value Foundation at the Institute of Industrial Engineering Annual Conference in Atlanta. This volunteer effort is done to expand the exposure of value engineering to more people, especially the large number of academic population that attend this conference. After leaving the conference, Jim departed for Kuwait to perform another SAVE Certified Value Engineering Workshop. This workshop was performed for an architectural firm. The workshop project was a Greek themed island resort off the coast of Kuwait.

April 2005
April was a great month for value engineering and the Advanced Value Group. Activity was widespread across many industries. A tremendous effort in applying the methodology was performed at LuK. LuK is an international manufacturer of torque converters. Another automotive supplier used the methodology to attack three separate projects in one workshop. Two of the teams were process oriented and the third was design oriented. The reported results were again fantastic. Also in April, the world's largest appliance company received training in target costing, quality function deployment (QFD), voice of the customer (VOC) and value engineering. This series of training is essential for a company to become the best-in-class and a world leader.

March 2005
The Advanced Value Group, LLC worked to solidify a relationship with DRM Associates. The services of DRM Associates integrate well with and overlap the services of AVG. As a result of this increased effort of collaboration the Advanced Value Group and DRM Associates will work together on two projects with clients in the near future. In fact one of those projects commenced this month with providing value engineering pre-workshop direction and management training to a leading automotive torque converter manufacturer.

February 2005
Jim Rains performed two 12 hour value engineering training sessions for Product Engineers at two Bobcat locations. The training was intended to provide an overview of the methodology and to better prepare the attendees for when they are selected to be on a value engineering team. A Module II Seminar was conducted for Ingesoll-Rand personnel and their key suppliers at their Bobcat headquarters in Fargo, North Dakota.

January 2005
In early January a public Module II Seminar was conducted in Detroit Michigan. This activity was well attended and represented by industry and construction professionals. A public Module I VE Workshop was held in Goodyear, Arizona. Again an excellent blend of construction, academic and manufacturing expertise attended. The group worked on a real project to improve the rehabilitation of a dam in California. This project was brought to the workshop by the Bureau of Reclamation. Finally a Module I Workshop was conducted for an automotive supplier company. Over $2,000,000 of savings and cost avoidances were identified.

December 2004
The Advanced Group, LLC is pleased to announce that in calendar year 2004, Jim Rains has trained and advised 97 people from around the globe to become certifed as an Associate Value Specialist (AVS). To become an AVS one must participate in a SAVE International Certified Module I Workshop, apply to the SAVE Certification Board and pass a written exam.

October 2004
The Advanced Group, LLC has agreed to partner and share services and courses with DRM Associates located in Palos Verdes, California. These courses and services are found on this website.

September 2004
Two Module II Seminars were conducted. This seminar is an advanced value engineering course that is required for professional certification. The first was performed at Qatar Gas Company at their location in Qatar. The second was done for Ingersoll-Rand that their Schlage lock location in Colorado Springs. Jim Rains performed his second Module I Value Engineering Workshop for Bobcat. This one was conducted in Bismarck, ND.

August 2004
This month was reserved for marketing and advancing our education. Trips to Detroit were made to advance our skills and knowledge to better understand the use of our new software tools Cost2Target and Proplanner products. While in Detroit several demonstrations of the Cost2Target product were made to leading automotive suppliers.

July 2004
AVG took its first trip to China. We conducted a two-day value engineering semninar at the Beijing Normal University for full-time working students. The participants were degreed in architecture and civil engineering. This was a wonderful opportunity to expose this part of the world to value engineering. One of the highlights of this trip was to meet with the top leaders, including the President, of the Value Engineering Society of Beijing (VESB). VESB has been recognized by the Chinese government as the lead organization in China for VE. VESB is very excited to grow VE in China. They are also looking to become an International Affiliate to SAVE International.

Speaking of SAVE, AVG attended its 43rd annual conference in Montreal, Quebec. The conference was well attended and had many excellent prsentations. Prior to the conference Jim Rains was selected by SAVE to facilitate its annual Module II Seminar.

June 2004
AVG conducted a Module I Value Engineering Workshop in Hong Kong for several construction professionals. The workshop was sponsored by the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. The workshop received high praise from the participants. The Hong Kong Daily Journal interviewed Mr. Rains, Dr. Mei-yung LEUNG (the event coordinator) and several attending participants.

Other June events included target costing and functional analysis training for Maytag. We also facilitated a Module I VE Workshop for Club Car; Division of Ingersoll-Rand.

May 2004
The Advanced Value Group, LLC signed a consulting agreement with two new, but very significant software firms. CostVision has a cost database system that when used in conjunction with value engineering and target costing will help a company make cost an input to the design process rather than an output.

Proplanner's products when used in conjunction with lean manufacturing and line balancing offer improved value-added operations and significantly improved material flow paths for reduced direct and indirect labor costs.

April 2004
PRESS RELEASE:
Washington D.C. - NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds announced that James A. Rains of Goodyear has been selected to represent the State of Arizona on the new Presidential Business Commission.

The PRESIDENTIAL BUSINESS COMMISSION (PBC) is an elite group of leading business and professional people who will be advising the Republican leadership on how to protect the President's Majority in the House in the upcoming elections. Mr. Rains was selected based in his outstanding contribution as an Honorary Chairman of the Party's Business Advisory Council, a position he still holds.

Commenting on Mr. Rains' selection, Congressman Reynolds said, "The 2004 election will be critical in determining the course of our nation, particularly in terms of tax relief and national defense. I am grateful to have Mr. Rains' support and personal input as a resource". Mr. Rains will be invited to join other business leaders and Republican Members of Congress in Washington to discuss economic and pro-business issues.

March 2004
March was another extremely busy month. One large team with an hydraulics component supplier in Illinois, yielded extemely successful results. The following week we were at Bobcat, a Division of Ingersoll-Rand. Three projects were value analyzed with savings potential in excess of $500,000. Finally an automotive supplier near Detroit that is the world's largest manufacturer of automotive safety systems had three teams value analyze three of its products. The results will help insure continued profitability and growth for this company. The last two weeks were SAVE International Certified Module I Workshops.

February 2004
February events were wide-spread. A three team SAVE Certified Value Engineering Workshp was facilitated for a leading company in climate control products. Each team studied different components from various products of this company. Significant cost savings and value improving proposals are currently being implemented. Jim Rains spent three days at a well known appliance company to assess their products, manufacturing operations and material flow. At the conclusion of this visit a formal presentation including numerous recommendations was made to the leadership of the facility. The first of those recommendations are targeted for May, 2004 implementation. Finally a trip to the Middle East in Al Khor, Qatar resulted in significant savings to that country's largest company, Qatar Gas. Two projects were analyzed for improvements; one on a pipe line system and the other on an expensive software system that controls pipeline valving.

January 2004
A VE Module I Workshop certified by SAVE International was conducted at a precision metal stamping company in Arizona. This workshop was encouraged by the customer of this company, and the customer participated on one of the teams. One proposal from this team resulted in a potential savings of over $1,600,000 and two other proposals yet to be fully evaluated.

December 2003
A leading manufacturer of furniture used the value engineering job plan in an effort to make radical design improvements in their product line. This VE workshop was a Certified Module I Workshop by SAVE International.

November 2003
Jim Rains organized and led a delegation from the United States to Japan. The delegation toured two leading companies in Japan; Isuzu Motors and Hitachi Construction Machinery Company. The group learned how these companies apply value engineering and target costing in the operation of their business. The delegation then attended the Society of Japanese Value Engineering Conference held annually in Tokyo

October 2003
Jim Rains facilitated two teams for a United States Army depot in value engineering.

September 2003
Jim Rains facilitated three value engineering workshops all for a leading hydraulic pump company. One of these workshops was performed in Sweden, while the other two were in the USA.