Like a Pro

For the early part of their Lean journey, I was the interim Lean Leader for Armstrong World Industries’ Hilliard Ohio plant. I was returning to the corporate office in Lancaster Pennsylvania from my assignment as Operations Manager at the St. Helens Oregon plant. I spent two out of every three weeks at the plant, until my family moved from the West coast to join me.

During my time at the plant, we ran many Kaizen events and made impressive improvements to safety, productivity, quality, and customer service. We involved everyone, from hourly technicians to the highest plant management positions.

One week, we focused on changeovers at the main fabrication line. This line was responsible to reduce 4-foot by 8-foot boards to 2-foot by 2-foot tiles and many other sizes. After the proper size was achieved, panels received a finish coating of paint. The bottleneck of the changeover was the equalizer (table saw) that had to be changed precisely to the finished size of the tiles. Over the years, operators had marked the equipment with lines for the many different tiles that were cut on it. Unfortunately, these marks were interpreted differently by the personnel, and it caused extra scrap and time to get things into specification.

Our team was comprised of several production, maintenance, and supervisory personnel. One team member was Henry, the acknowledged equalizer “expert.” He was soft-spoken and meticulous. He liked to take extra time to dial the equipment in to the appropriate size, as it was critical to the customer’s expectations.

During the week, Henry made sure we didn’t sacrifice the integrity and repeatability of the equalizer. We realized we could make more consistent cuts if we precisely measured and pinned the top 10 sizes cut by the equalizer. Once the pin was in the appropriate hole, it guaranteed our tiles would be cut within specification without additional adjustments and testing. This was going to save tremendous amounts of changeover time. We labeled all pin holes, so even the most inexperienced technicians could easily and quickly find them, guaranteeing a consistent, quality ceiling tile. All changes reduced changeover time by more than half and reduced changeover scrap by more than ninety percent.

On the day of the report out, Henry said he didn’t want to speak in front of an audience. He didn’t know what to say and told us he was shy. This wasn’t surprising, but it was a requirement for everyone on the team to say something during the report out.

I encouraged Henry to tell the audience about holding the team accountable to protect our customers’ interests through cutting quality tiles. He said he would try to say something, but he couldn’t guarantee anything.

The report out started, and team members spoke proudly of their Kaizen event experience and how they had reduced changeover time, while improving quality, safety, and consistency. Then it was Henry’s turn. He started quietly. Yhen his voice rose as he shared his pride and ownership of the changes we had made during the week. Then he was lecturing the audience about the benefits of Lean and changeover reduction. It was as if he was the professor and we were the students. Five minutes later, he was done. We were in awe! No one had ever heard Henry speak so passionately. The experience had moved him, and it showed. I knew I wanted all my future team members to have a similar experience. I have honed my approach to create the same level of ownership and passion that I saw in Henry that day.