BONTOC, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board – Cordillera Administrative Region (RTWPB-CAR), in partnership with the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Mountain Province Field Office, convened micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) owners and private sector employees at the Ridgebrooke Hotel and Restaurant on 16 April 2026, for a comprehensive seminar on modern productivity, workplace efficiency and an orientation on Employees Compensation Commission programs. 

The training aimed to equip local businesses with the foundational principles of Lean Management and explore the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in streamlining operations. 

The sessions covered the core concepts and principles of Lean Management, emphasizing the elimination of non- value-adding activities to maximize customer value. A significant portion of the discussion focused on identifying the Eight Types of Waste. Trainers highlighted how recognizing these inefficiencies is the first step toward building a more agile and cost-effective enterprise. 

Further advancing the discussion, RTWPB-CAR introduced the Integration of AI into Lean Management, illustrating how data analytics and automation can accelerate the identification of waste patterns and sustain continuous improvement cycles. 

The event underscores RTWPB-CAR’s commitment to bringing high-level productivity methodologies to the grassroots level, fostering a culture of continuous improvement among the region’s vital MSME sector. (Albert M. Palma)