A Brilliant Invention

In my early corporate days at Thomasville Furniture, I was given the opportunity to try many things to improve the performance and quality of the operation. This story isn’t about me, but another engineer, who came up with something so creative, he saved the company millions of dollars and improved quality of the product for our customers.

We used many types of wood to create the fancy veneer tops of tables, cabinets, drawer fronts, and other parts of the furniture. The most expensive wood we used was burled walnut. It’s wood that has many swirls in it and multiple knots. Because of this, it’s prone to damage easily, and much of it has defects and cracks.

Some of the cracks could be “filled” using tape. This tape, when applied, would add moisture to the wood, causing it to grow and actually join one cracked side with another. After gluing and pressing onto a wooden core, the tape was sanded off and most of the time, the crack would be invisible to the eye.

Some of the defects couldn’t be repaired using tape. Because of this, full sections of the burled walnut veneer would have to be removed, leaving very little usable material. Our yield numbers were quite low, and even though we were making money on furniture with burled walnut veneer, we knew there was huge opportunity to reduce scrap and improve our profitability.

Jack, a mechanical engineer, thought there might be an answer, based on our ability to bring cracks together with tape and moisture. He wondered what would happen if defects could be cut out and replaced with non-defective material, and taped in place before pressing. Some of the operators were using this technique by hand with mixed results.

Jack realized doing this by hand was challenging, as the cut-out defect had to be the same size as the replacement material. Our most experienced operators could get pretty close, but less-experienced operators weren’t successful.

Jack built a small punch press in our maintenance shop and then tried different shaped punches to see if the defects could be hidden with tape and pressing. He started with a few basic shapes: square, rectangle, and circle. These shapes could cut out the defect cleanly and then  create the replacement of the same size. When the new material was applied, taped, pressed, and sanded, you could “see” the line between the insert and the original hole. We weren’t sure why, but Jack had an idea. What if he created a random shape the naked eye wasn’t used to?

After a number of experiments, he came up with a shape that looked like a bumpy potato. We had all sorts of funny names for it, some I can repeat, others I can’t. My favorite was the “Doody Punch”! We stopped making fun of his idea when he showed us the results and challenged us to find the original defect. We couldn’t!

After showing his invention to the quality control director and other leadership, he got approval to implement his solution in the veneer plant. He created a variety of sizes for the Doody Punch and from then on, we were able to salvage almost every square inch of burled walnut veneer. Jack went on to invent many more devices and solutions for our manufacturing operations. This is the one that inspired me the most in my early problem-solving efforts.

With Persistence and Desire, Anything is Possible

I started working for Thomasville Furniture out of college as an Industrial Engineer.  Born and raised in Maryland and working in North Carolina, I was called “Yankee,” and I had to prove myself worthy every day.  I felt like I was up for the challenge.  My mother reminded me I was born south of the Mason Dixon line, but it didn’t seem to matter to North Carolina natives.

My first assignment was in Thomasville’s veneer plant.  At this plant, many types of veneers were brought together to make beautiful panels used in expensive furniture, more expensive than I could afford.  I was fascinated by the labor-intensive process of veneer making, and spent many hours in the plant observing what was going on and asking lots of questions of the workers.   They seemed amused by the Yankee who was willing to listen to them.

An Expensive and Inefficient Process

One afternoon, I was in the basement of the plant and watched workers put materials into and out of a hot press.  This press was a large, multi-opening machine used to cure and remove moisture from some of the most expensive veneers bought by Thomasville.  The machine looked like a large pizza-oven, and had eight openings, one above the other. 

I watched a crew of six workers place a large metal plate on a table.  After that, they took a “book” of burl veneer – 14 slices from the same log that look generally the same, and spread out each slice on the metal plate.  Then, they put another metal plate on top of all of the slices, creating a metal and veneer sandwich.  This sandwich fit into an opening of the press.  When all eight press openings were filled, a button was pushed, and the press closed on all of the sandwiches.  36 hours later, the sandwiches were removed, all extremely hot, by the same six workers.  Now, the workers had to remove the metal plates without burning themselves or damaging the veneer.  Heat and pressure had created a vacuum inside the veneer sandwiches, so when the plates were removed, the veneer would fly around and break, as it had become drier and more brittle.

This was the most expensive material used in the furniture and the plant was losing much of it in the course of the curing process.  It really bothered me, so one afternoon I decided to talk with the plant manager to see if there was something that could be done. 

Avis Tobin worked for Thomasville for many years.  He was short, very round, kept a cigar in his mouth at all times, and had the type of loud, gravelly voice that would frighten small children away.  I asked him if the “books” of burl veneer could be cured without separating them into single pieces.  He responded, “Son, you just don’t know anything about the veneer business. It can’t be done.  The veneer would stick together and we’d lose everything.”  I wasn’t satisfied with his answer, but it was the most he had ever said to me during my time in the plant.

Opportunity for Change

Six months later, Avis retired and was replaced by a younger plant manager named Bob Ashley.  Bob and I developed a strong working relationship over the next few months, as I was able to complete many projects he requested of me.  One day, while sitting in his office, I brought up my idea of curing the burl veneer in stacks, rather than pieces.  I thought there might be a better way to do it.  Bob thought a minute or two, looked intrigued, and placed a call to the veneer buyer at the plant.  “Do you have any contacts who cure veneer in the general area?” he asked.  The buyer had one in Beaufort North Carolina, which was about four hours from the plant in Thomasville, on the East coast of the state. 

Two weeks later, four of us, the plant manager, veneer buyer, truck driver, and me took a truck load of burl veneer to Beaufort to see if we could cure it without de-stacking it.   When we arrived at the plant, we saw a piece of equipment we had never seen before:  a combination hot press and cold press.  The Beaufort plant cured straight grain veneer in this combination press with two people, one loading a conveyer in front of the hot press, the other unloading a conveyer at the back end of the cold press.  The stacks of grain veneer would be conveyed into the hot press, pressed for a few minutes, conveyed out of the hot press to the cold press, pressed for a few more minutes, and then conveyed out of the press to the operator.

The stacks of straight grain veneer came out of the end fully cured, with no pieces sticking to each other.  Would our burl veneer do the same?  We were invited to put a few stacks of burl veneer into the combination press and try it out.  We did, and when the stacks came out the other end, most of the pieces of veneer were stuck to each other.   We were disappointed.   The operations manager for the plant said, “Oh, I forgot to change the heat and dwell time for the burl veneer.  It has more moisture in it, so I need to adjust the settings for that.”  After he made the change, we tried a few more stacks of burl.  Lo and behold, most of the veneer was cured and hadn’t stuck to any other pieces.  Approximately 20 percent was still stuck.

A Valuable Lesson

We decided that was all we needed to see.  We felt like we would be able to identify the settings required to eliminate the sticking completely.  We drove the four hours back to Thomasville with grand plans to change the way we would cure veneer forever.  I wrote an appropriation request for approximately $250,000 and bought Thomasville’s first combination cold and hot press.  Six months later, it was fully operational.  Manned by two operators, we found the proper settings cured burl veneer in one tenth the time of the prior process, with much less scrap and zero risk of being burned.  After that, I realized the only limitation to solving difficult problems was preconceived notions of what was possible.  If you are willing to take a risk, you may get a breakthrough.  I still use this thinking today, as I help Kaizen teams of all sizes and structures worldwide.

The Pursuit of Creativity

In my years of running Kaizen events, I never saw anything as powerful as a creativity approach called 3P – Production Preparation Process. The goal is to eliminate waste in the design of a new or existing process or product in the maximum way possible, unlocking the creativity of the team in ways most of them have not experienced. In 2016 I was fortunate enough to experience this approach through the eyes of the man who invented it, Chihiro Nakao. Sensei Nakao was a former Toyota employee who was sent out to help other companies at the behest of the originator of the Toyota Production System, Taiichi Ohno.

There are eleven steps to the approach, and although they may seem simple or counterintuitive on the surface, they are truly deep and complex and can lead to amazing breakthroughs. A short article will not do this justice, but perhaps it will motivate you to learn more about 3P.

A typical 3P Kaizen event takes 4 ½ days. They are long days, extremely engaging and exhausting, but at the end, the team will have a solution to an important problem that they are seeking. They will also have simulated their solution at a scale that will tell them whether or not it is truly viable.

Background – The team needs to understand certain key Lean principles and terms, such as Takt time, just in time, right sized equipment, and 5 whys prior to initiating the 11 steps of 3P. They also need to know how to use certain tools, such as the Standard Work Combination Sheet and the Fishbone Diagram.

Voice of the Customer – The team needs to hear directly from the customer to understand what is expected from them. There should be a direct exchange with the customer, so there can be no doubt about what is needed. Criteria for the solution is shared, so the team can measure their efforts against the criteria during the 3P.

Step 1 – Determine the Function of the Product or Transformational Step. As a first step, the team must identify what the customer would like them to accomplish in the simplest of terms. They will be challenged to describe this in two words, using a noun and a verb only. For example, a lightbulb does many things, but at its essence, it either “gives light” or “provides heat”. What is the product or process that the customer is most interested in? The team must avoid thinking about what is currently happening, but rather the bare essence of what the customer is willing to pay for, no more, no less.

Step 2 – Define the Essence of the Function Using Keywords. What words are the simplest way to describe what the customer is asking for? The team should generate as many key words as possible and then sketch them out on paper or sticky notes for everyone to see. The act of identifying the key words and sketching them is a way to drive the creativity of the participants forward. Some examples of key words are: drill, shear, guide, roll, and fasten.

Step 3 – Look for Examples of Keywords in Nature. In this step, team members do research and find examples in nature of the keywords. No examples should be man-made. Nature has used millions of years to perfect the simplest ways to accomplish tasks. Again, it is better to draw the examples than just list them. For example, if a key word is grip, then an example in nature could be an eagle’s talon gripping its prey. This step takes time and most team members will initially resist putting great effort into it, but with perseverance, they will make important discoveries about simple ways to perform complex tasks. Each team member should draw at least three examples, so that they expand their thinking beyond what they already know.

Step 4 – Sketch Examples and Examine “What is Happening” to Enable the Function. This next step is to examine in greater detail what allows nature to accomplish the keywords. What causes an eagle’s talon to grip its prey? Team members attempt to attain a greater understanding of the mechanism that is being utilized by nature through research and drawing. More examples are encouraged, as team members dig deep into their understanding and creativity.

Step 5 – Sketch Background and Conditions of the Function. This step takes a deeper dive at the function and the surrounding conditions that allow the function to occur in nature. More than just the eagle’s talon gripping the prey, what is happening with the muscles and nerves in the talon that allow it to grip? What interactions are occurring, and how are they able to do so?

Step 6 – Combine Ideas from Nature and Create Sketches. Each team member is challenged to come up with at least seven ways of solving the original problem using what they have learned from nature and other ideas that they may have. People generally have three alternatives in mind, so getting to seven causes them to think beyond their normal approach and have a bit of fun. It is not unusual to hear laughter during this step as people start to relax their creative minds and let go of their paradigms of what is possible.

Step 7 – Rapid Prototyping (Moonshine). This is the step that brings everything together and turns the ideas into reality. By reviewing, grouping, and prioritizing all of the many ideas shared across the team, the team picks two or three ideas to build. The team should break up into sub-teams so that each idea can be worked on simultaneously. The team is encouraged to use any materials available to them to demonstrate their concepts. The team assesses their prototypes against customer criteria and the
Seven Flows: Flow of People, Flow of Material, Flow of Parts, Flow of Products, Flow of Equipment, Flow of Information, and Flow of Engineering. They learn and improve as they go and are expected to make multiple iterations as they build. This build should be in three dimensions, so it is critical to have enough space and materials for team members to work. The term “Moonshine” refers to the historical practice of building stills in the woods by the light of the moon during Prohibition and using any available materials.

Step 8 – Conduct Trials and Gather Real Data. After building prototypes, they must be tested. Data is collected and compared to the customer criteria. As the comparisons are made, improvements are identified but not yet implemented. Often, the team identifies a better way to approach the problem and plans out the improvements for the next round of prototyping and moonshining.

Step 9 – Select the Three Best Designs Based on Criteria. During all of the prototyping and moonshining, it is not unusual to create variations on the original ideas and have many options to choose from. In this step, the team uses the original customer criteria to score all options and narrow down to three best designs to continue working on.

Step 10 – Continue Simulating and Gather and Evaluate Data on the Top Three Proposals. The team continues to do work on their proposals, learning about them, simulating them, and improving them. Any problems that occur are fixed on the spot, with as little discussion as possible. The act of building rather than discussing expands the creative process. At some point in this step, time will run out, so the team should set a target time to get all information and simulate how their idea will work.

Step 11 – Presentation of Solutions. The team demonstrates to the customer how each option works and shares the data and criteria evaluation. It is similar to a high school science fair, in that the customer acts like the judge and delivers constructive criticism and asks deep questions to the team. Rather than a Power Point presentation, this is a demonstration in 3D, with physical activity, so it’s easier to understand what the team is presenting.

The 3P approach is a highly engaging way to drive breakthrough creativity in teams that have the opportunity to participate. It has been shown to save precious project time and drive cost out of the finished product or process. Some teams saved 6 months in their Innovation cycle time by using 3P. Other teams have said that using 3P revealed viable options that they would never have pursued otherwise. I encourage you to consider this approach and learn more about it.