The Sexiest Man in Pensacola

Armstrong World Industries kicked off their Lean journey in 2010. They put a lot of effort into building a culture of Kaizen across their 22 manufacturing locations worldwide. I was sent to many facilities to assist.

Leadership, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceAugust 15, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCTeamwork, Kaizen, Results

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.

Kaizen Success Stories, Learning, LeadershipAdam LawrenceJuly 4, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCWheel of sustainability, Kaizen, Teamwork, Results

Charting a Course of Critical Information

I was asked to facilitate a 5S Kaizen at an electronics manufacturer. The specific area of interest was in a testing lab that was used to analyze components that failed in the field. There were an amazing number of parts and supplies in the lab. On first glance, the lab owner felt he needed everything in the lab to accurately perform testing. We must have removed 80% of everything in the space to improve the safety and productivity of the area.

Kaizen Success Stories, Leadership, LearningAdam LawrenceJune 20, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCKaizen, Leadership commitment, Teamwork, Wheel of sustainability

Three Principles for Funding

During my time living on the west coast, I wanted to give back to the community. Many of the staff at the St. Helens, Oregon plant participated in some way or another with the United Way of Columbia County. I was intrigued. I had participated in many United Way Days of Caring during my time in Pennsylvania.

Leadership, Learning, Operations, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceMay 9, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCLeadership, Alignment, Voice of the customer

Scripting Changeovers Leads to Consistent Performance

I moved to Armstrong World Industries’ St. Helens Oregon ceiling tile plant and took as Production Manager for three years. During that time, I was able to test many Lean principles and improve my understanding of how to manage an organization to high performance.

Kaizen Success Stories, Operations, LeadershipAdam LawrenceApril 25, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCKaizen, changeover reduction, Continuous improvement

Moving Mountains … of Paint

During my corporate career at Armstrong World Industries, I gained a reputation for many things: Lean zealot, “Conveyer Whisperer,” and someone who was willing to take on any challenge anywhere I was needed.

Kaizen Success Stories, LeadershipAdam LawrenceMarch 14, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCKaizen, Teamwork, reliability

Preventing Failures Leads to Success

I was assigned a project at the Armstrong St. Helens, Oregon plant. Our objective was to reduce production line changeovers from the historical average of 25 minutes to less than 15 minutes. This project had a capital budget, a corporate and plant team, and commitment to Kaizen (improvement) events. I was the most experienced in Lean and Kaizen on our team, so I facilitated many changeover reduction events and assisted with the tools to manage the overall project.

Kaizen Success Stories, LeadershipAdam LawrenceFebruary 28, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCPrevention, Teamwork

Visibility Equals Accountability

Do all your meetings happen in a room? Mine did, until I realized we needed to do something to shock the system and change our performance quickly.

I was the Business Unit Manager at Armstrong’s vinyl flooring plant in Pennsylvania. Our performance and profitability had been in a downward spiral for many years prior to my arrival and things weren’t getting any better while I was in charge.

Leadership, Innovation, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceJanuary 17, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCLeadership commitment, Alignment, Teamwork

Treat People with Respect

I worked for an amazing manager during my time at Dal-Tile in Texas. Wayne treated people with respect, cared for them personally, and was true to his word.

Kaizen Success Stories, LeadershipAdam LawrenceJanuary 3, 2023Process Improvement Partners LLCLeadership, Respect for people, voice of the customer

Raise Your Standards and Take Ownership

I was the industrial engineering manager at a ceramic tile plant in New York. We made mosaic tiles. The color went all the way through the tile. Mosaic is also a word used to describe the artistic patterns we made as special orders from our customers.

Kaizen Success Stories, Innovation, Learning, LeadershipAdam LawrenceDecember 20, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCteamwork, Leadership commitment

Change Your Perspective

I moved to Baltimore to be the industrial engineering and quality manager at a ceiling grid factory. We had just consolidated three plants into two, following a joint venture. Early on, changes were happening so fast that my plant manager informed his boss that he wasn’t comfortable with the direction of the new company. He offered to stay as long as necessary to bring his (yet unnamed) replacement up to speed.

Kaizen Success Stories, Leadership, InnovationAdam LawrenceDecember 6, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCTeamwork, Leadership commitment

Sometimes You Have to Let Things Go

I was a supervisor at a small ceiling grid plant in Franklin Park Illinois. I could see all the way from one end of the factory to the shipping docks at the other end from my second-floor office.

Kaizen Success Stories, Leadership, LearningAdam LawrenceNovember 22, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCTeamwork, Leadership commitment, Process improvement

Gemba in the Big City

Four years into the Lean Transformation at Armstrong World Industries, we started expanding Lean beyond our manufacturing operations. Forward-thinking leaders came up with an idea to help us better understand the customer experience from the inside. That is, we would conduct a “Customer Experience” Value Stream Mapping event, with the Gemba being the place where the customer interacted with our ceiling products the most – at their job site(s).

Leadership, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceNovember 8, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCvalue stream mapping, Voice of the customer, gemba walk

Image is Everything – Understand How Your Reflection May Look to Others

I have been a small business owner for a few years. My company consists of me, my wife, my son, and my dog. I quickly learned I am responsible for everything that goes on. Nowhere is this more critical than customer acquisition.

Learning, Leadership, Innovation, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceSeptember 27, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCLeadership, voice of the customer

Make It Real

I created the Wheel of Sustainability many years ago. It’s been applied to many different industries and problems. On the first day of every Kaizen event I facilitate, I introduce the concept of the Wheel and help teams utilize it to sustain the solutions they create during the week.

Kaizen Success Stories, Leadership, LearningAdam LawrenceSeptember 13, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCLeadership commitment, Wheel of sustainability, Kaizen

Sometimes the Right Choice isn’t the Convenient One

I was the operations manager at the St. Helens Oregon ceiling tile plant. I was responsible for the board forming and the fabrication units. It was here that I made a major rookie mistake that would stick with me throughout my career. Here’s the story.

Learning, Leadership, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceAugust 23, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCLeadership, Teamwork, problem solving

Pick It Up and Move It

I was an early Lean practitioner at Armstrong World Industries. I’d spend a week with a production and maintenance team on a production line, helping them implement improvements to safety, quality, productivity, and customer service. At the end of the week, we’d give a tour of our changes. Because of our numerous successes, I was requested to help many of our manufacturing sites around the world.

Leadership, Learning, Operations, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceAugust 2, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCTeamwork, Quality, Leadership

Alignment is Vital to a Successful Relationship

During a virtual Lean summit, I met the CEO of a large furniture retailer from Florida. He had implemented Lean in his business for 15 years and was reaping the rewards of it. During our conversation, we talked about Kaizen events. He regretted his company had stopped conducting them a few years earlier and missed the energy, excitement, and engagement they created.

Leadership, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceMay 31, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCLeadership, Alignment, voice of the customer

Even the Weather Couldn’t Beat the Team

Recently, I facilitated a Changeover Reduction (SMED) Kaizen event for a leading whiskey bottler and distiller at their facility in Indiana. Their goal was to reduce changeover time by 50 percent or more, while improving safety and not negatively impacting quality or customer service.

Leadership, Kaizen Success StoriesAdam LawrenceMay 10, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCTeamwork, changeover reduction, Kaizen

One Call is All That Was Needed

I spent the early part of my career working at Thomasville Furniture as an Industrial Engineer. I was responsible for supporting our veneer plant. One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my time in this role was a stark example of never, ever overlooking the simple or the obvious – in this case a single phone call could have saved 18 months of work from being. Here’s the story.

Kaizen Success Stories, Leadership, LearningAdam LawrenceMarch 8, 2022Process Improvement Partners LLCVoice of the customer, communication, Leadership