Reprinted with permission from the Winter 2017 issue of Target, an AME Publication.
Authored by Lea Tonkin
Part Two of a Four Part Series. Miss Part One? Click Here to Read!
Great People, Ideas, Processes and Products
“For us, lean is about people and people growth,” said Sitton. “It’s not something that is simply implemented. You can’t just drop it on people.” Key elements in creating lean understanding include lean classes for all new hires using “2 Second Lean” as a guide, and then taking them out to the shop floor and asking them to stand there and look for the eight types of waste. “Within ten minutes, they typically see 20 to 50 wastes,” Sitton said.
The company also gives employee time on the clock to read “2 Second Lean” and to discuss the book in a team setting, encouraging employees to “go and see” waste and to develop remedies for eliminating waste in their work areas. “With ‘two-second lean,’ you have simplicity, breaking things down so everybody can make a great process and a great product,” said Sitton.
This expectation reflects a significant transition from Cambridge’s initial lean efforts, when senior leadership and engineers usually initiated lean improvements. “That idea only works for owners of the company,” said Sitton. “We realized that we needed more people who buy into the culture, with a sense of ownership. Now we develop people with a sense of trust, who are able to see waste and fix what’s bugging them, and they now all respond as owners.”
Fast start for new employees
New employees are encouraged to jump right into lean improvements at Cambridge. Justin Meade, a general laborer who works on wiring panels,said he got started with innovative changes in the first week after he joined the company, about two and a half years ago.
“When I first started an assembly job, it wasn’t very fun,” said Meade. “Then, after seeing some others’ videos, I started on improvements – first, a small project, putting tools that were scattered all over onto a shadow board.” Over a period of six months, Meade developed a cart furnished with parts, plus a trash can and tools needed to eliminate wasted movement and space during his daily tasks. He made videos of several improvement iterations, modifying and later eliminating the old cart. Along the way, he got help from a sheet metal team member, a welder and others in creating the new cart. Now, everything that’s needed, tools and parts, is in one area. “It used to take an hour and a half to do a particular job. Now the process takes 20 to 25 minutes a unit,” said Meade. “I just went ahead with it, after talking with my team lead, Scott Moore, who encouraged me to make the changes.”
Meade said he continues to gain improvement ideas and inspiration from participation in morning employee meetings. “I like that everyone here updated about how the company is doing financially. We’re also encouraged to give input on company goals,” he said.
“Lean and clean time” – about a half hour from 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. every day, is when every employee is encouraged to scout for improvement ideas. It also provides opportunities for “finding out what bugs us most and then fixing it,” said Meade.
Part Three of this Series will be released on Thursday, January 18th! Make sure to check back to finish the series!