Squarely in the Middle of the Action
Kaizen Snapshot
Setting: Armstrong World Industries’ Pensacola ceiling tile plant
Challenge: Inconsistent board squareness affecting downstream processes
Stakes: Reliability, quality, and future changeover success
Approach: Observation, cross-functional collaboration, high-speed analysis
Outcome: Root causes identified and eliminated, lasting reliability gains
Key Lesson: Some problems aren’t solvable until you ask the right question
The Situation
During my corporate career at Armstrong, I was known as someone who would do whatever it took to help the team win.
In the late 1990s, we were reconfiguring the Pensacola plant to dramatically expand the range of ceiling tile sizes and shapes we could produce.
That meant one thing: far more changeovers.
Before we could make changeovers fast, we had to make the process reliable.
What Was Getting in the Way
After the dryer, large ceiling boards were cut down to size by a massive panel saw. We called it the Dry Saw.
I noticed something subtle but concerning.
The boards appeared to enter and exit the saw at a slight angle. That small misalignment was enough to create downstream quality problems and it was happening consistently.
Bob, a highly experienced engineer, was scheduled to rebuild the saw. I shared what I was seeing.
At first, he was skeptical. Then he looked and saw it too.
Going Where the Problem Lived
We locked out the saw and climbed onto the table.
We raised the blades and lay directly beneath them, close enough that I could see the teeth inches above my face. Nothing obvious appeared out of square.
Then Bob had an idea.
“What if we use high-speed cameras and slow everything down?”
At the time, this was cutting-edge technology.
We rented the equipment, set up cameras at critical points, and recorded the process.
What We Learned
When we slowed the footage down, three issues became obvious:
The pusher bar feeding the first saw was slightly misaligned
The conveyor chains feeding the second saw weren’t square
The saw shaft slipped slightly with each full rotation
None of this was visible at full speed.
What Changed
All three issues were corrected during the next maintenance downday.
Immediately:
Boards ran square
Downstream processes stabilized
Changeovers became predictable
Bob designed the fixes into the rebuild and added preventative maintenance to keep it that way.
The Takeaway
Until we slowed the process down, we were guessing.
Once we asked a better question, the answer became obvious.
Why This Matters
Many reliability problems persist not because teams lack skill, but because they haven’t found the right way to see the problem.
The right question changes everything.
Want More Predictable Changeovers?
If reliability issues are undermining your improvement efforts, it may be time to look at the problem differently.