Lean Manufacturing Visits Alaska
Thursday, April 14, 2011
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Posted by: GFC Connect
Michael Schmich, MGS Trainer and Consultant will be conducting an "OOPS!" - Lean Manufacturing Simulation At Global Food Alaska On June 8th and 9th. Learn how this benefits your bottom line below.
Mr. Schmich will also be available for individual consultations at manufacturing sites as part of a program offered by the Alaska Manufacturers Extension Partnership on June 6, 7 and 10. Inquire about specific site appointments by contacting Eric Downey T: (907) 777-7331 or C: (907) 301-5629.
Mr. Schmich is a Certified Training Within Industry Instructor and is Bilingual English/Spanish.
Principles of Lean Manufacturing for Food
Processors
This highly interactive, informative, and enjoyable course
provides an overview of the principles of Lean Manufacturing and how they apply
to food processors. The course
combines lecture with a simulation known as "OOPS!” (Olivia’s Organic Pizza Specialties). Designed
specifically for the food processing industry, the simulation provides
participants with an immediate opportunity to apply the principles learned in
class to a "workplace” process. By
applying Lean principles, participants are able to transform a chaotic,
inefficient process to one that is highly productive and efficient.
Applying Lean to Food Processing
On a recent (2004 – 2008) Department of Labor (DOL) grant
project, four MEPs (Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Nevada) contracted with 54
food processors throughout the four states to provide Lean training and
implementation services. Employee
training in Principles of Lean Manufacturing for Food Processors was a critical
and fundamental component of the project. The MEPs also provided subsequent customized training as
needed and helped companies to apply Lean principles to their processes over a
period of several months. Heralded
as a success, the participating companies realized tremendous positive economic
impacts as a result of the project services:
The national NIST/MEP system requires that all
Manufacturing Extension Partnership projects be evaluated by independent survey
method six months to one year after the end of a project, quantifying project
economic impacts in terms of increased or retained sales, cost savings, jobs
created or retained, and investment in training, technology and equipment.
By the end of the DOL project, survey data was
obtained on 31 of the 54 participating companies. The aggregated data demonstrated $68,093,338 in economic impact:
|
Increased/Retained
Sales
|
$40,130,000
|
|
Capital
Investments
|
$10,596,830
|
|
Cost
Savings
|
$17,366,508
|
|
Job
Created/Retained
|
333
|
Case Study:
MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP Success Stories from the Field
Quest International Fruit and Vegetable Products
Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Lean Improves Productivity at Givaudan
Client Profile:
Givaudan, formerly known as Quest International Fruit and Vegetable Products, is a manufacturer of dried fruits and vegetables used in formulations primarily for the consumer market. The company employs 45 people at its facility in Silverton, Oregon.
Situation:
Givaudan wished to operate their business with more bottom line emphasis to support stronger financial performance and business growth. While traditional approaches to manufacturing characterized the layout and operation of the facility, the management team's initial exposure to Lean manufacturing concepts and Constraints Theory had helped them recognize the potential for improvement. Issues for improvement included: 1) productivity and throughput improvements in all areas of the manufacturing facility, and 2) the need to develop and include the Hispanic workforce in operational improvement.
Givaudan was a good fit for a U.S. Department of Labor grant awarded to the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP), a NIST MEP network affiliate, to bring Lean Enterprise strategies to food processors that also have a contingent of Limited English Proficient employees. This grant provided an extensive array of training and implementation activities, including a) the initial assessment; b) identification and training of 'Lean Champions'; c) Lean training for limited English speaking workers; d) introduction to Lean for Food Processors; e) Value Stream Mapping application, and f) implementation guidance and coaching to direct and facilitate improvements to the production lines.
Solution:
OMEP and professional consultants worked with Givaudan to complete a Lean diagnostic to determine which skill gaps exist in the company's workforce and which areas would be most effective for training. One bilingual 'Champion' was identified to provide leadership, sustainability, and ongoing support for Hispanic workers in the area of Lean manufacturing. Management and staff participated in a Lean manufacturing simulation exercise designed specifically for the industry. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) was applied to the company's processes as the foundation for customized process improvement activities.
The assessment and VSM revealed an inability to 'make to order' and indicated the need to create buffers of inventory to allow for on time delivery. OMEP helped Givaudan set up these buffers for corn production, allowing more efficient processing of this main product and also allowing the company to process additional product orders during the rush period. There was also an improvement in first pass yield and a reduction in existing inventory, as well. OMEP helped Givaudan implement a change in the quality system to allow for a more immediate identification and analysis of the root cause of off-grade quality. Finding the problem sooner enabled them to minimize the amount of inappropriate material produced and held. Set-up reduction training and implementation resulted in shortened changeover
www.mep.nist.gov
NIST is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce
MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP Success Stories from the Field
times. As a result of the preparatory training, Hispanic employees were also fully able to participate in and implement set-up reduction activities. Givaudan also improved their 'order to cash' information flow. The existing process had incompatible software and manual driven components, resulting in redundant work and inaccuracies. With OMEP's help, they invested in a new software package that supplied all the needed elements, eliminating redundancies and manual repetition. This resulted in reducing errors and time to order completion.
As a result of participation in the training, the Spanish speaking employees became more proactive, as well as more interactive with non-Spanish speaking coworkers and management. This included asking leads and coworkers for help as well as offering help. These same employees also participated in a Set-up-Reduction class, something never offered or even considered for the Spanish speaking employees in the past. This brought about significant changes to the way work was performed and dramatically reduced the non-value added time changing over equipment between products.
Results:
* Increased sales by 30 percent. * Increased production capacity by 10 percent. * Fulfilled 100 percent of orders during seasonal corn 'rush.' * Reduced changeover from 30 minutes to less than 10 minutes. * Invested in Lean training and a software system. * Created/retained 13 jobs. * Improved confidence of employees.
Testimonial:
"OMEP's John Valachovic has been an excellent resource. With his understanding of processes he has
been able to provide good advice and solutions. OMEP's bilingual
consultant, Michael Schmich, easily identified with Limited English
Proficient workers in order for them to gain confidence and move forward
with new ways of thinking."
Mark Sheppard, Operations Manager
www.mep.nist.gov
NIST is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce
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