This Stuff Works

At a gummy vitamin manufacturer in Pennsylvania, I was asked to facilitate a team of mechanics responsible for supporting and maintaining the manufacturing operation. They had difficulty keeping their maintenance area compliant with strict food production regulations. Our goal was to develop a system to guarantee compliance, while improving their ability to service their customers.

On the morning of the first day of the Kaizen event, I taught Lean principles and how 5S is used to optimize safety and productivity in a space. It all sounds good in a classroom. The team wondered how it applied to their situation. After training, we took a Gemba walk through their workspace. They thought they were in pretty good shape. The space was cluttered and lacked any hint of organization. They had nothing to compare to and hadn’t been exposed to other examples of 5S in the facility. After generating ideas in their work area, I took them to two locations in the plant that had used 5S: a production line and the Weld shop.

Our first stop was the production line. I asked one of the technicians operating the line to give the team a tour and point out what they had done and the benefits he had seen. He obliged and described 5S and its benefits as best he could. Team members were paying attention to what he was saying, but asked few questions and wrote fewer notes. I thanked the technician and took the team to the Weld shop.

On our way to the Weld shop, I asked team members what they thought of the production line. Feedback fell into two categories:

1. It looks pretty good.
2. I can’t see how it applies to our area.

I knew the next tour stop would be more inspiring. I was intimately familiar with what was done in the area. I could provide a more compelling review for the team.

When we got to the Weld shop, I noticed Jimmy working on a project. He was the team leader when we applied 5S to the Weld shop.

Jimmy: “What are you doing here?”

Me: “This is the Kaizen team from the gummy vitamin maintenance area. I’m giving them a tour of the Weld shop and showing them what your team accomplished.”

Jimmy: “Okay, just don’t get in the way. I’ve got lots of work to do.”

Me: “Thanks Jimmy. If you want to give the tour or share your thoughts, please do.”

Jimmy: “That’s fine. You can give the tour.”

Jimmy is not someone who likes to speak in front of groups or work with teams. Jimmy is also one of those folks who isn’t a fan of management or consultants. But, if he believes in something, it’s useful and helpful to him and others. He doesn’t give out compliments often (ever?) and doesn’t fall in line and do whatever he’s told.

I started the tour pointing out various ideas and improvements the Weld shop Kaizen team made six months earlier. Jimmy was paying attention to what we were doing, but didn’t say a word. I think he was interested to see how I’d describe the work of the Weld shop team. I did my best to represent their efforts and as I did, you could see the pride grow in Jimmy’s face.

My next stop on the tour was at the tool board created by the team during the Kaizen event. As I started describing and demonstrating the use of the tool board to the team, Jimmy got more and more interested. My new team was asking many questions and taking notes on my responses and their observations.

Rob (team leader): “This looks good and all. Does it really stay this way?”

Me: “I don’t think they cleaned up for us.”

Ben (team member): “Does this really work?”

Jimmy: “Look, this may sound silly and it may sound stupid. This $#*% works!”

This was the moment of clarity and credibility for the team. If Jimmy thought so, it must be so. I stopped the tour. The team had seen everything they needed.

I thanked Jimmy and took the team back to the meeting room to review their observations and ideas. On the way back, I challenged them to beat the results of the production line and the Weld shop. They told me they were up for the challenge.

The rest of the week, the team did amazing work, identifying the critical tools needed (All Tools Available), giving them the most visible and logical homes (Visible Evidence) and even telling the leadership team what they needed them to do to sustain the efforts from now on (Layered Audits and Accountability). I am not sure their area was any nicer or better thought out than the Weld shop or the production line, but they thought so, and that’s all that matters.