The First Area Owner at the Furniture Company – the Story of Abraham

I was facilitating a Kaizen event for a large furniture retailer in Florida. They offer many services that set them apart from their competitors. They have a nice sales and service advantage and impressive customer loyalty. The Kaizen topic we were working on was the use of replacement parts in their process. Our goal was to reduce the amount of replacement parts needed.

After Lean training on Day 1, we went out into the Gemba (a Japanese term, meaning the place where the work is done) and saw many areas where parts could be misplaced or lost. There was an area where parts were stored for the entire distribution center. It looked as if it had been hit by a tornado. There was so much clutter that the team knew it would be a high priority project for the Kaizen week. The number of parts and clutter was overwhelming. Would they be willing to put in the effort and time it would take to get things organized?

Three very ambitious team members picked the parts storage area as their project. Abraham, who normally worked in the area, said that they had been working on it for years. He didn’t think they’d be able to do anything to correct the situation, especially in a week. As facilitator, I had to rely on my team. They decided it was so important that they would go for it.

The three team members got help from people outside of the team. By the end of the week, the parts storage area looked like it was brand new. Everything was organized, clutter was removed (at least 75% of what had been stored there), and there were barcode labels on every bin to help manage the parts inventory. They worked many hours beyond the scheduled team hours and refused to stop until they were done.

On the morning of the third day, when we realized that it might be possible to organize the parts storage area, I reviewed “area ownership” with the team. I told them that at my prior company we had area owners who managed things and held people accountable to always do the right thing. Leadership “had their backs” and it made things safer and more productive. I also told them that it took a while to train leadership to behave that way, but once they saw the value of area ownership, they got on board.

Abraham raised his hand and said, “I want to be our first Area Owner.” I was stunned. Here was someone who had been skeptical on the first day and now he was courageous enough to step up and try something new. We were excited for him. The rest of the week we did everything possible to get the area into the best possible shape and designed our system to sustain it, using the Wheel of Sustainability.

The report out at the end of the week was well attended. When we took the leadership team into the parts storage area, you could hear a pin drop – they were blown away. Then, something magical happened. Abraham told them that he was the Area Owner and he needed their help and support to keep the area in its optimal condition. He shared his expectations for himself and for leadership. He showed them how he wanted to be audited on a weekly basis. I was proud of him and the rest of the team.

The area has been working as well as or better than the Kaizen team left it.I now use it as an example of what can be achieved in a short period of time and how well it can be sustained. Many newer Kaizen team members take a tour through the space and when Abraham is there (which is most of the time) he shares his story and tells them how important it is to meet his expectations. He is a model for what’s possible when you take ownership and care about your customers.