Leadership Commitment in a Most Challenging Situation

Last year, Dave, a network connection, reached out to me to see if I could help him in his continuous improvement journey. His wife had worked with me at Armstrong, and one evening he was talking with her about some of his frustrations at work. She said, “If you want to get the right help, call Adam. He is tenacious and won’t let you or your team fail.”

Dave invited me to his factory, which was quite large and had several furnaces that smelted and poured molten metal into ingots for high value customers. They had a problem with tools and equipment going missing, which led to significant productivity losses. He wanted to reinitiate and strengthen their 5S program. I knew I could help, and wrote a proposal for the work, which was approved quickly.

We scheduled the Kaizen event for eight weeks from my initial visit. This would allow Dave to prepare leadership and gather the proper team for the Kaizen. We had already chartered and scoped the event to cover one of the furnaces. Our idea was that our improvements could be replicated to the other furnaces in the facility.

In the meantime, I spent a day at the facility getting required safety training and preparing Dave for the event. We picked a conference room and identified the supplies necessary during the week.

Three days before the Kaizen event, Dave called to tell me he had contracted COVID. I asked him if he wanted to postpone the Kaizen. He told me no and if I could pick up the supplies from his home (in his driveway), one of the team members would fill in as team leader until he could participate at the facility. He would use Zoom to attend and participate on the first day of the Kaizen. His five-day isolation period would then end, and he could attend in person on the second day, but would have to wear a mask.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this. All my Kaizen events (up to that time) were in-person, and I didn’t really know how engaged Dave could be attending virtually. But I was willing to give it a try and make the best of it.

On the Sunday before kick-off, I met Lisa, who was going to fill in for Dave as team leader. She helped me prepare the meeting room. We talked about how we could engage all team members, including Dave on the first day of the Kaizen. We set up a laptop for Dave that we could point toward the team and the screen, so that he could engage with the team and keep up with the discussions. Luckily, he and I had spent time in the workspace, so he had a list of ideas to share during that portion of the Kaizen.

At kick-off on Monday, we introduced everyone and shared Dave’s story and said we were going to make the best of a difficult situation. For Dave’s part, he stayed on Zoom the entire time, engaging and speaking with the group at appropriate moments. When we went out to the facility floor, Dave waited for us to text him that we were returning to the meeting room. The team had many ideas and Dave was able to share his as well. When we prioritized the many ideas into a vital few, Dave was able to participate as if he were in the room. We took the laptop over to the list of ideas and Lisa voted on Dave’s behalf.

Now it was time to work on the high priority projects. Dave couldn’t really do that, so he signed off until we met to wrap up for the day. He listened intently to the team’s progress and gave them encouragement and told them he couldn’t wait to come in the next day and help them in their work.

The second day, Dave showed up with a facemask and kept his distance from the team members. He jumped on one of the project teams and was able to participate in the improvement work. Throughout the week, the team felt more comfortable letting Dave engage in the work and by the end of the week, he was able to help complete many critical tasks.

At the end of the week, the team had made significant improvements to their furnace area. We did a quick estimate on the impact on productivity and changeovers and felt we had made a huge impact on both. Time would tell, of course. For his part, Dave earned the respect of the team and had his first true win in his position as Continuous Improvement Manager. I was impressed by his dedication and commitment and was thankful we didn’t have to postpone or cancel this Kaizen event. I also learned it was possible to engage remote team members in Kaizen events.

A Picture is Worth More than a Thousand Words – It’s Priceless

Earlier this year, I received an email from someone I never met, asking about my approach to 5S – organizing a workspace to improve safety and productivity. He heard about me from another location in his company, who I helped six months earlier. Later that week, we were in a Zoom meeting, and he invited me to his factory in Oregon to see if I could help jump-start their 5S efforts.

Three weeks later, I was on a plane, heading to the west coast. I arrived early in the afternoon and met with Ben, my sponsor. We took a tour of the factory and strategized about my approach with the leadership team the next day. I saw many places where 5S and other Lean tools could help them out. People in the factory were engaged and appeared ready to take a first step on their continuous improvement journey.

That evening at dinner, Ben told me about past continuous improvement efforts. There weren’t many success stories shared. I was told one consultant had visited and said he couldn’t help them. I couldn’t understand how that was possible.

The next morning, Ben and I walked around the factory again. It helped ground me and remind me of the complexity of their processes. A little later, I attended the morning leadership walk around the factory. Although there were a dozen staff members attending, only one or two were engaged at any time. I took a risk and gave Roy, the facility manager, some feedback about how he might engage his staff more effectively. He took my feedback in stride (he didn’t kick me out of the plant, so that was a good sign).

After the leadership walk, Ben and I talked about what I had seen, and we prepared for the leadership review at lunch. We created a list of the top three areas that could use my help. There were unlimited opportunities for improvement at the facility.

At lunch, we crammed into a small conference room. There may have been a dozen people seated around a table designed for six. I introduced myself and thanked them for giving me the opportunity to visit and learn about their processes. I spoke about what I saw and where I thought I could help. I wasn’t getting much engagement from the leadership team and realized my words weren’t connecting with them. With a less than successful history of continuous improvement efforts at their factory, they were naturally skeptical.

That’s when it hit me – talk about the successful Kaizen event from their sister facility. I started describing the work I did with the team. We were able to reduce a critical changeover by many hours, leading to substantial savings for the company. The leadership team started asking some questions. Then, I asked Ben if he had the report out from the Kaizen. He projected it on the screen. Now the questions were flowing. People were amazed at the “before” and “after” photos. How did we do this? Is it still working? How might we apply a similar approach locally?

Next, Roy asked where I would start. I reviewed the three areas Ben and I had prioritized. Roy said those were good choices, but he preferred to start at the beginning of the process, where quality would be most affected. I was happy to oblige, as it was much more important to gain alignment than to worry about where to start. Ben agreed and now we were talking about when we could kick-off the first Kaizen event.

I said I would charter the event with Ben, and then we could review it for approval. From there, I would write a proposal and then, once receiving a purchase order, the work could begin. I normally like to think for 24 hours before writing my proposal. But speed was critical. After chartering with Ben, I found a quiet office to write my proposal for the Kaizen. Then, Ben and I met with Roy and we were met with enthusiastic approval. I left the facility with a purchase order. The following month, I ran their first “successful” Kaizen event. But that’s another story for another day.

Go With Your Gut

I love giving out little trinkets. It’s fun to see people’s reactions to the things I hand out – coins, ninjas, books. This story is about ninjas.

I consider myself a Kaizen Ninja. Many years ago in Japan, Ninjas came out of the shadows to deal with a situation (usually violently), and then return to their home base, unseen. I’m not violent, but when I facilitate, I want the team to solve their problem and own their solution. It can’t be my idea. Don’t get me wrong, with over 350 Kaizen events under my belt over these many years, I have seen so many problem-solving techniques and ideas it’s almost impossible not to have a solution to offer to my team members.

Instead of telling, I influence team members to come up with ideas and solutions that may elude them otherwise. Sometimes, I must be direct, but most times, I can guide them from the side to a solution. Thus, I am a Kaizen Ninja.

I signed up to be a sponsor for the BTOES2021 (Business Transformation and Operational Excellence Summit) conference in Orlando, Florida. As part of my sponsorship, I was scheduled to run several workshops and was given a small booth on the conference floor. I had to decide what to bring with me. I was going to be doing a book signing, so that was an obvious choice – bring a bunch of books. Others had books, so what else could I bring? Working with a local promotional item company, we came up with a ninja stress-reliever. I ordered 200 and planned on bringing all of them to the conference.

Two months later, during a meeting with my marketing mentor, a retired marketing executive with Armstrong World Industries, I reviewed my plans for the conference. After talking about how to maximize the value of my time at the conference, I showed her a ninja. She wasn’t impressed. She told me, “Adam, people don’t really use the swag they pick up at conferences. They take it to be nice, and then they get back to their hotel rooms and throw everything away.” She liked some of my other ideas – sticky notes with ninjas imprinted on them, and my books too.

I was floored. I had just spent hundreds of dollars on my ninjas. I was committed to the idea. I knew she was probably right, but I was determined to make the best of my decision. I decided to go with a ninja theme and see if I could attract attention and make many connections during the conference.

I arrived at the conference and found my booth. There was a lot more space than I realized to place items. After putting books on the table, I started lining up ninjas. Sixty of them were set up like a little army of process improvers. I also had ninja-themed signage for my book signing, workshops, and roundtables I would be hosting.

Once the conference opened, people started milling around the booths. The first few asked me sheepishly about my ninjas and I told them about my talents as a “Kaizen Ninja.” They seemed amused. By the middle of the conference, ninjas were being shared with almost every attendee. They were a hit! I almost ran out. I realized it wasn’t the item attracting people, it was the backstory and the energy I was bringing to it. While most booths were very dry and professional, I was having fun and people seemed to appreciate my approach.

After the conference, with newfound confidence, I started bringing ninjas to all my Kaizen events. I would make team members earn them. By the end of the week, every team member had received at least one. Walking around offices, I found about half of all ninjas given out were displayed on desks. This continues to validate my choice of giveaways.

I reviewed the “ninja-effect” with my marketing mentor, and she said she was happy to be wrong about my ninjas. I was just happy that my investment didn’t go to waste and that people enjoyed having a “ninja-moment” with me.

Carrying a Heavy Weight on My Shoulders

When you are in the heat of battle, you don’t realize the toll it’s taking on your health. I was the business unit manager for a vinyl flooring operation for Armstrong World Industries for two years. During that time, we were in a continual state of downsizing. This didn’t help the relationship with our union. It seemed like everything we tried to do to improve safety, cost, quality, or customer service was met with resistance.

Because our business was shrinking, we were under constant pressure to reduce costs. It wasn’t unusual for upper management to threaten your job or to be told if you couldn’t get it done, someone else would be happy to take your place.

I decided the best course of action was to open a dialogue with our shop steward, lay out the situation, and work together to make the best decisions for our employees. For the first few months, he spoke with me, but little changed in our relationship. I was as transparent with him as possible, explaining the business environment and the reasons for the changes we were making. He didn’t trust me. Apparently, prior managers had burned him a few times and he wasn’t willing to forgive and forget what had happened.

We got to a point where traditional operating schedules weren’t practical for the amount of production we were required to make. We needed to make sure everyone had equal opportunity to work full-time, but providing a 40-hour workweek required us to rotate some of our established crews and revise our overtime policies.

I knew I couldn’t do this on my own. It was going to be complicated and if anyone made errors in assigning overtime, we’d be open to employee grievances and back pay. We couldn’t afford that. I called a meeting with the shop steward and my staff. I laid out the situation and my desire to be equitable for all remaining employees (we had to lay off some of our employees, which didn’t improve people’s moods).

In the past, when everyone worked a traditional schedule, overtime was offered by seniority. If the most senior employee didn’t want overtime, the next most-senior employee was offered the opportunity. This continued until someone accepted the overtime assignment. In our new schedule, it wasn’t going to be obvious who should be offered the overtime.

The group argued for a while, and I realized it would be too easy to make a mistake offering overtime unless we came up with a set of rules we all agreed to. I said I’d take a crack at it, and we could meet again to review my efforts.

After much deliberation and advice from others, I developed a table showing the various schedules and twelve situations where overtime might be required. The idea was to check each situation in order and once you found the correct situation, it told you how to assign overtime.

It was complicated, but the team only found a few flaws that would leave us open to grievances. Once corrected, everyone agreed that if we followed it, it would be a fair approach to assigning overtime. Besides, it was so complicated most people wouldn’t understand it well enough to file grievances.

Once our shop steward saw I was fully including him in our processes and wasn’t trying to take advantage of anyone, our relationship changed. Not outwardly to the rest of the employees, as he still had to play the role of “management buster.” But we collaborated often on critical issues.

Five days after I transferred back to a corporate role, I was cutting my lawn. My neighbor came over and stopped me to say, “You look different.” I never realized that all the stress of my job was easily seen by everyone but me.

The Littlest Negotiator

There is always a compromise that can be made. You just must know what you want and figure out how it will benefit both parties. I have been negotiating since as far back as I remember. Sometimes it was bedtime, eating my dinner, or putting off homework to go outside and play. Parents don’t typically cherish those negotiations and kids rarely win (at least I didn’t most of the time).

I started collecting coins and baseball cards when I was three years old. Early on, I was able to convince other collectors (kids) that what I was offering was more enticing (or valuable) for them than what I was asking for in return. I don’t think it was always true, but it seemed to me both sides were getting what they wanted (or at least thought they wanted).

My uncle Morrie ran Zerns Farmers’ Market in eastern Pennsylvania. We used to visit him and my Aunt Adeline on their “gentleman’s farm” every summer. Uncle Morrie was a shrewd businessman, and he loved to tell stories of the amazing deals he made throughout his career. I was intrigued, and by the time I was eight, I was asking him questions that led him to think that there might be a little entrepreneur he could develop.

He was particularly interested in my love of coins. He didn’t think there was money to be made in baseball cards. This was the 1970s, after all. He told me there were three coin dealers at the farmers’ market and suggested I try to get something I wanted from them at a reduced price. “Never pay full price,” he told me.

He took me to the market and walked with me to the first coin dealer. I had ten dollars to spend. Uncle Morrie asked, “Do you see anything you like?” I told him I did, but I couldn’t afford it. It was priced at fifteen dollars. He said to the dealer, “My name is Morris Lipton, and I run this farmers’ market. I’d like to introduce you to my nephew, Adam.”

The coin dealer told me I could have the coin I coveted for ten dollars. I couldn’t believe it – he took five dollars off of the price. On subsequent trips, Uncle Morrie would walk with me to the coin dealers and encourage me to ask for a better price. I didn’t always get my price, but more often than not, I did. This built my confidence, and I learned how to determine a price that suited me, ask respectfully for it, be willing to hear the word “no,” and know when to walk away from a deal that didn’t suit me.

Eventually, I went to the various coin and baseball card dealers without Uncle Morrie by my side. I think some of them recognized me. But others were willing to negotiate with a child who was confident, respectful, and informed.

To this day, I use the same principles in all my dealings with vendors, suppliers, and customers. I understand when somebody wants to negotiate with me on my services as well. These principles have served me well and I believe they can help you too. Be willing to ask. You are more likely to get what you want if you do.

Go to the Source to Get the Correct Information

I was working at the American Olean ceramic tile facility in Olean, New York as the Industrial Engineering manager when we merged with Dal-Tile. I was offered a position as an industrial engineer at the corporate offices in Dallas, Texas. I was very impressed with the manager who I was going to report to, so I took the opportunity and moved my family south.

When I arrived, I learned our mission was to improve factory environmental, health and safety (EHS) compliance across twelve facilities in the United States. Although there was an EHS department, they weren’t hands-on or helpful for the facility managers. My manager and I would function as internal consultants and help improve the approach, relationships, and overall performance.

I had no prior experience in EHS and attended many workshops and training sessions with the EPA,  OSHA, and other agencies. We took tours of every plant and identified areas where we could help. Our focus was on annual safety training and environmental and safety reporting.

Over time, we built strong relationships with plant management at all locations, and they came to trust our work and invited us to help frequently. So much so, I got assigned the submission of the annual environmental reports for all facilities.

There were twelve reports that were all due at the same time. There were different requirements based on the state the facility was located in. Reading through all twelve documents, I noticed many similarities and some critical differences. With one month to go, I created a plan to complete all reports properly and on time. I would be signing each report and would be legally bound for completeness and correctness for the next seven years. I wasn’t willing to take any chances.

The first step I identified was to understand each form. Although I thought I knew what most of the questions meant, I decided it would be better to confirm my interpretations. The best way I knew was to call the state agencies and ask for assistance.

I started making calls, and invariably, was not able to reach a live person most of the time. I left many messages at most agencies. I put a sticky note on each report I had a question on and waited (and waited) for my calls to be returned.

When a call finally came, the first thing I did was ask the person what state they were calling from. Then, I pulled out the report for that state. Looking at the sticky note, I knew what I had to confirm. From there, getting the information was simple. Most state workers were happy to help me fill out their form, beyond my first question(s). They had a vested interest in completeness and accuracy and weren’t used to people asking for help. They were more familiar with fixing problems after it was too late.

I learned that these agencies work for us, the public. But some people don’t see it that way and think they’ll get in trouble for asking questions. I’m convinced it’s the best way to get these critical tasks done and avoid errors. I was able to complete all twelve reports on time, to the best of my ability and knowledge, and sign each document. Many years later, I am confident I provided the proper information to every agency. I also feel better knowing that the seven-year statute of limitations has expired.

Perfection Isn’t Always a Good Idea

In the 1980’s, Thomasville Furniture was the market leader in high-end furniture. They were extremely focused on process improvement in all areas of the business. I worked on a staff of industrial engineers. Each of us supported one or more of the many manufacturing facilities. We were tasked with finding ways to improve safety, quality, productivity, and customer service.

One of my colleagues worked at the plant that made tables and chairs. They took great pride in the finish of their tabletops. To achieve the desired look, many workers used powered sanding and rubbing devices. It was an extremely labor-intensive process. We had many muscle strains as a result from all the hand sanding and rubbing to get the desired look.

We heard about companies using robots to reduce labor intensity and safety risk. It seemed like an opportunity for us. If we could figure out how to get robots to sand and rub each tabletop, we could realize significant labor cost reduction and eliminate one of our top safety risks.

My colleague, Frank, connected with a robot supplier who brought in some of his robots for a 30-day “test drive.” The first few weeks were spent teaching the robots how to find the surface and perimeter of the table, apply the proper pressure, and cover the entire surface of the table consistently.

Eventually, they were able to achieve their objectives. The robot was able to sand and achieve a rubbed finish on the tabletops, without human intervention. The tabletops looked great. We were ready to roll out robots to take over the sanding and rubbing process.

Before fully committing to the robots, they decided to show the results to a focus group, to get their reactions to the results. The feedback was surprising. Initially, the group loved the finish and look of the tables. In fact, they said the finish was better than anything they had ever seen. But, after more review and conversation, there was something that bothered them. A series of questions drew out the issue: the tops were too perfect. There was no variation across the surface. We had lost the “handmade” look and feel of the furniture. Instead, the lack of variation made the tables look mechanically made, plastic, or unreal.

We couldn’t give up the thing that made Thomasville Furniture a market leader. Frank and his team went back to the robot vendor to see if he could program variability into the process. After many attempts, they gave up. The technology at the time wouldn’t allow the robots to randomize the pressures applied across the tabletops.

The team removed the robots and returned to the time-tested approach to hand sand and finish tables. Over time, robot technology improved, but it was never given another chance at Thomasville Furniture. Instead, we worked on ways to simplify and reduce the safety risk of hand finishing tables.

An Unlucky Break

Critical problems seem to happen over a holiday weekend when there is less coverage. For me, Thanksgiving provided many challenges. Early in my career, I had to come into the ceramic tile factory the day after Thanksgiving to supervise a crew trying to clear a jam in the kiln. Many years later, a water main in St. Helens Oregon broke and shut down the ceiling tile plant. Once again, I was the one covering, and had to respond quickly and deal with a near disaster.

I got a call late on Thanksgiving night. The plant had been running very well, and then water stopped flowing. In ceiling tile manufacturing, water is the main ingredient. Ceiling board starts out as 98% water, then as it passes over vacuum and then through a 400-foot dryer, the water is removed. If too much water is removed prior to the dryer, the crew must dump all materials into a pit located prior to the dryer and hope the water comes back on before the pit fills up. It can be messy and difficult to recover from.

The water didn’t come back on. The pit filled up. The crew shut the plant down and was cleaning up a big mess. Some of the material had entered the dryer and they were using 14-foot-long rakes to clear the jammed material out of the dryer.

I arrived at 10 pm and joined the crew. Nobody knew what caused the water to shut off. The EHS (environmental, health, and safety) manager was out of town. I had to figure out who to contact with the city. There was a Rolodex on her desk (I had no access to her computer). In it, I found the number of the city manager. To my surprise, he answered his phone immediately.

He told me the main water line had burst and water had to be shut off for all residences and businesses. He was trying to use back-up systems to get water on for the residents first. I reminded him we employed almost 200 people at our plant and without water we couldn’t operate. I asked him to keep me updated as they brought their back-up water system on line. He said he would and considered us a priority, as we were the number one employer in the area.

I stayed most of the night and helped the crew clean up the mess. We developed a plan for what to do when the water situation was resolved. It wasn’t just the water that we worried about, but also the pressure with which it was delivered. At too high a pressure, it could damage sensitive equipment in our process. I had several calls with the city manager and he assured me he’d let us know when the water was scheduled to be turned back on.

Except he didn’t. All of the sudden, water pressure went up and we thought we were in business again. We started up and began making ceiling board. And then the water was shut off again with no warning. I placed a call and asked the city manager to give us a warning when the next attempt to start the water system would occur. He assured me he would this time. But again, he didn’t. We devised our own plan. We watched our water meters and sent a crew member to monitor the valves in the basement of the process.

For the next 2 days, we played the “start and stop” game with the water. This kept the damage to the process and product at a minimum. In the middle of the third day, the water stayed on, and we could operate as normal.

We learned a valuable lesson about contingency planning: the more you can control in an “uncontrollable” situation, the better.

A Challenging Place to Work

During Armstrong’s Lean transformation, we took many benchmarking trips to learn from companies that were further along in their Lean journeys. One memorable trip included visits to Boeing and Nucor Steel in South Carolina on an extremely hot day in July.

At the Boeing plant, we were amazed by the one million square feet of air-conditioned space where the newest Dreamliners were being assembled. These amazing aircraft were filled with the latest technologies and miles of wiring. Using Lean principles, everything came together in a choreographed way. The area was bright, everyone wore clean clothes, and no one looked like they didn’t know what to do. At the end of the tour, we were escorted through a gift shop and many of our attendees bought souvenirs to take home with them.

Our next stop was Nucor Steel. As we walked into the facility, the environmental contrast with Boeing was stark. It was dark, dirty, and hot. No air conditioning to be found. The Lean approach was almost the same as at Boeing. People were clearly aligned around critical metrics. They were following standard work, and everyone knew what was most important during their workdays.

We entered the furnace control room (which was air-conditioned) and were shown many cameras and monitoring devices that assured the steel wouldn’t have any contaminants. Everyone’s pay and bonus was dependent on the amount of quality tons of steel produced during the day. This aligning metric kept everyone focused on the most important thing their customer valued.

From the control room, I watched a worker on the deck of the furnace wearing a Tyvek suit. He was using a ladle to take a sample of molten steel to test its purity. As hot as it was in the plant, wearing a Tyvek suit had to add to the discomfort of his task. To make matters worse, there was a hole where the molten steel was sampled from. The heat coming off it almost pushed me back when I walked by.

I had to believe this task was one where workers rotated throughout the day, as no one could take the heat for extended periods of time. When I asked our tour guide about the job, he told me it was a high paying position. People in the plant coveted it. They would work anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a day.

I couldn’t believe it was humanly possible to survive a full day doing that job! I would’ve passed out in the first hour. Surely this was a mistake. I was told I could speak with the technician in-between the samples he was taking. My curiosity was strong, and I asked him about his experience. He told me it was his favorite job in the plant. He was assuring their customers were getting the highest quality steel possible. He did admit it was extremely hot, but he was used to it, having worked there for three years. I thanked him and rejoined the tour group, my mind blown.

As we walked out of the plant to our cars, I was struck by the cooling wind outside. It wasn’t until I saw the car register 103 degrees that I realized just how hot it was in the plant and the extreme lengths people go through to do their jobs.

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.

The Journey of 100 Google Business Reviews

When I opened my business, I tried many ways to attract clients. After spending money on advertising that didn’t lead to business, I focused on delivering a great customer experience and then let my business grow organically through word of mouth and referrals. This is a slower path, but it fits my principles of how I want to conduct my business.

I set up my website, LinkedIn business page, and Google Business page, with the hope of acquiring clients through these (mostly) free resources. I noticed most businesses that had a Google Business page had reviews posted by their customers. I wanted reviews too. How would I ever get someone to share their thoughts, I wondered? After all, I was asked many times to leave a review for other businesses, but I rarely did.

The first thing I did was ask members of my Kaizen teams for Google Business reviews. Most people don’t naturally leave reviews of businesses. When I got my first one, I was excited to see it. Now, I wanted more.

For a while, I asked people to leave reviews. I wasn’t receiving many. Eventually, I got an idea. After I completed a Kaizen event, I sent an email to team members with a link to my Google Business page. Using this strategy, I’d get one or two reviews per event. My numbers were slowly creeping up. Eventually, I crossed the “10 review” threshold. Then 20. I wanted more!

It took over three years to get to fifty reviews. Next, I set a goal to get to 100. I needed a more compelling way to ask for reviews, without being too “salesy.” One day, at a happy hour following our Kaizen report-out, I was discussing my goal of receiving 100 Google Business reviews, when one team member suggested I get a QR code for reviews and post it on the screen at the end of the next Kaizen event. Team members could scan the code with their phones and be directed to my Google business page and the review section. I did some research and found a service that generated a QR code for free.

During the next few Kaizen events, I posted my QR code on the screen. I was able to get 2 or 3 reviews using that approach. It was progress, but still very slow. Then, I got an inspiration. I printed out a slide with the QR code on it and handed it to team members, so that they could scan it from their seat. By handing it to them, it put a little unspoken pressure on them to leave and immediate review. By waiting, most people forgot to leave a review. But, if they could do it in the moment, and I was there to see it, most team members would leave a review.

I was now getting 5 to 7 reviews at each Kaizen event. I broke through the 100-review goal earlier this year. It’s gratifying to see what all of those people have to say and that they believe I have positively impacted their work lives.

The next challenge? I need to reset my goals for this year. I’m very competitive and want to see how I can improve my process even more!

All Night Long

Admit it. After reading the title of this story, some of you are hearing the famous Lionel Richie song in your head. This story isn’t about that, but rather it concerns a challenging Kaizen event I recently facilitated for CITY Furniture. The business problem we were trying to solve was a series of computer programs that ran after all showrooms closed each evening. There was a period of time where no revenue could be generated through their e-commerce website, until all programs completed their reconciliations. Our goal was to cut the time by 75%, so that we could free up overnight revenue generation.

I’m an early riser and am typically in bed by 10 pm each evening. My wife says I take my “pre-sleep” nap from 8 pm to 10 pm. This Kaizen event would be held overnight, as our Gemba (the work that we needed to see) happened between 9 pm and 1:30 am. I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to make it through the night.

I met with the team leader to prepare weeks before the kick-off. We agreed to start the Kaizen event at 7 pm Sunday and work through the night for four out of five days. Then, we’d take one day off to adjust our sleep schedule and rotate to day shift. Report out was scheduled for 3 pm on Friday.

I normally fly in to Ft. Lauderdale on the Sunday before the Kaizen starts. Due to starting on Sunday, I knew I couldn’t take any chances and had to figure out how to get proper sleep prior to the event. I flew in on Saturday, got some dinner, and went directly to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night. Somehow, I was able to go back to sleep.

After Sunday breakfast, I did some work, and took a short nap. At 5 pm, I met my team leader. We set up the meeting room and discussed the Kaizen plan. She was excited to tackle this critical business problem and had assembled a diverse team of highly skilled programmers and managers. They arrived at 6:30 pm for dinner. Afterwards, we kicked off the Kaizen. Our sponsor, the chief information officer (CIO), demonstrated his leadership commitment by staying overnight with the team and participating as a full team member.

After getting to know each other and reviewing Lean topics, we walked downstairs to watch a showroom close. We saw so much waiting and paperwork being generated. We knew there was opportunity for improvement. Then, we walked back upstairs to the meeting room and proceeded to watch the computer programs do their thing. It may have been the longest four and a half hours of my life.

The team was enthralled by what they saw and wrote many ideas on Post-its™. It looked like a lot of gibberish to me. I kept telling myself all that mattered was team members seeing waste and opportunities. I had to stay awake at all costs. It would look bad for the facilitator to fall asleep during the Kaizen!

Mercifully, the Gemba walk through the computer programs ended and I stayed awake. Ninety-two minutes became our baseline for the program reconciliations that kept the e-commerce revenue from being generated. Now it was time to Value Stream map the process, identify pain points, waste, and finally, the ideas to reduce the time it took to complete the reconciliations.

The team generated many ideas and picked three they believed would drive the time down significantly and could be completed during the week. We adjourned at 4:30 am Monday morning and agreed to reconvene at 8:30 pm Monday evening.

I went back to the hotel, surprised I didn’t feel sleepy, but that was due to adrenaline. Four hours later, I woke up. I decided to exercise and work on other projects. Then, I took an afternoon nap. Returning on Monday evening, team members were excited to work on their projects. They broke out into three sub-teams and got to their work, which was all on the computer. I felt useless, but they were fully engaged. From time to time, we’d reconvene and share project status and problem solve. On Tuesday morning, the team decided they didn’t need to work through the night anymore and that we’d take a 27-hour break, reconvening at 8 am on Wednesday morning.

Now it was time to reestablish my normal sleep pattern at the hotel. I slept almost as soon as my head hit the pillow at 6 am. I woke up at 10 am. Now what was I going to do? I got up, showered, exercised, and ate lunch. Then, I worked on other things for a few hours. I decided I should stay awake until at least 9 pm. Time went by slowly, but I made it. I went to bed, and woke up around 4 am. That had to be good enough.

Everyone seemed happier to be working in the daytime. Team members felt they were making programming changes that could be implemented by the end of the day. They installed the changes to see how the system would react on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, we learned the program ran faster than ever previously recorded. Our 92-minute process was now taking 57 minutes, a significant impact to the system. They had more changes in mind that would reduce time, but those would have to wait for the weeks following the Kaizen event.

The report out was well attended, and our sponsor remarked the initial results had saved the company considerable money. The team has implemented a follow-up process, with meetings every two weeks. The time continues to come down and our sponsor is now ready to tackle another critical business problem in his department.

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.

In 2011, I facilitated a Kaizen event in Pensacola Florida. I don’t recall the topic but I definitely remember the team and the feeling of camaraderie.  I followed standard work to guide the team through the week, culminating in a report out to management on Friday afternoon.

Armstrong required every team member to present at the report out. Our teams were comprised of a diverse group of individuals, including hourly production, maintenance, and management personnel. Some team members had never presented to a group, so we practiced our presentations prior to the final report out. We wanted to make things as comfortable as possible.

Most people tend to “fumble” through what their presentation on the first practice run. Then, on the second run, things get easier. By the third practice, they sound confident in telling their story. I was about to find out how their confidence would manifest itself.

During our first practice run, the third presenter said, “my name is Tyler Dare and I’m the sexiest man in Pensacola!” The rest of the team roared with laughter. Everyone else practiced what they were going to say without funny comments. I figured that Tyler was trying to loosen up the team. I felt sure he wouldn’t actually say that in the final presentation.

On our second practice, Tyler reiterated how sexy he was. Then, another presenter said, “I’m Kevin Jones, and I don’t care what Tyler thinks, I’m the sexiest man in Pensacola.” By the third round, everyone was cutting up. I didn’t know what to expect for the final report out. I was just hoping I wouldn’t be fired for having an “out of control” team.

We entered the main conference room. There were at least 25 people waiting for our presentation. In those days, representatives from Armstrong locations around the world called in to hear the presentation. This was before video conferencing was a standard form of communication.

The report out started, and sure enough, Tyler stepped up and said, “My name is Tyler Dare, and I’m the sexiest man in Pensacola.” The audience laughed and clapped. What could I do? Nothing; just enjoy the show! The rest of the team presented their results. They were met with applause. After asking for questions from the audience, a voice on the phone said, “My name is Paul Meyers, and I’m the CEO of Armstrong World Industries. I just have one question. Is Tyler Dare really the sexiest man in Pensacola?”

I almost passed out. There was more laughter, clapping, and congratulations. The team owned their results and had a blast presenting it to their sponsors. From then on, I made sure any team I facilitated had fun presenting their results. If they were nervous, I’d share the story of Tyler Dare, the sexiest man in Pensacola.

Five Lessons from My First Five Years in Business

On May 15, 2018, I registered Process Improvement Partners LLC as an official business. Since then, I have had so many adventures, made lots of mistakes, and hopefully learned from many of them!

As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. In the spirit of continuous improvement, I have been challenged by a peer to share my top five lessons from my first five years in business (thanks Stephanie!)

ONE: Focus on meaningful relationships, not vanity metrics.

Truly valuing and connecting with the people in your network is way more important than how many followers, views, likes, and comments. Be sure to focus on what really “moves the needle” for you, and this will look different for everyone. Bottomline: you can't fake caring. If you can help even one person, you are doing important work.

TWO: This is a marathon, not a sprint.

It takes time to build up a following that values what you do and how you can help. I used to think the next activity or post would get someone to do business with me. Now, I realize people want to feel comfortable with you and the value you bring. It takes time, but once it happens, meaningful engagements follow.

THREE: Alignment is vital to a great working relationship.

The work I do is narrowly focused and isn't for everybody. I want to and should work with clients that value my approach and are ready for it. I stopped chasing money and started looking for people I can help and want me to help the way I provide value. If you like fast, sustainable results, I'm your guy!

FOUR: Experiment, experiment, and experiment some more.

I have tried writing (a book, no less), podcast interviews, speaking engagements, paid advertising, and many other things. I always learn from those experiences and know there are many more in my future. I am pretty sure that I won't write another book (never say never), but I'm glad I did. If it helps just one person, it was worth it. And I learned I can do it!

FIVE: Pay close attention, or you might miss an important opportunity.

It's easy to gloss over the last "like" on a post and just chalk it up to someone just being kind. But that person might need my help, so reaching out to someone who is engaging with my content is never a bad idea. In fact, one time it led to a meaningful business relationship. I don't follow up on every post engagement, but I definitely should!

I read that most businesses fail in the first five years, and I can believe it. Having your own business is challenging work and it's not for the faint of heart. Luckily, I have an incredible and supportive family and network. I thank you all for giving me the opportunity to serve you and look forward to many more years of doing so.

My First Process Improvement Project

I graduated from Virginia Tech and went to work as a corporate industrial engineer for Thomasville Furniture in North Carolina. Harriet was my first mentor. She was working on a project to improve the productivity of one of our bedroom furniture manufacturing facilities.

I was totally inexperienced supporting manufacturing operations, but Harriet could tell I was curious and interested in helping her in any way she needed support. After a few trips to the plant, she decided to use my help organizing a wood drying and storage facility that supplied the vital materials to the plant. The wood was received from an outside source and had to be dried for a few days before the plant could process it into bed rails, canopies, dresser drawers, and other furniture components.

It must have been over 100 degrees when we took our first walk through the Butler Building (the storage facility). Inside was a massive amount of wood stacked up all over the dirt floor. There didn’t seem to be any organization to it. Two workers were sitting on a stack of wood talking about the latest NASCAR race.

I told Harriet I wanted to spend time in the building and convinced her to let me go “solo” for the rest of the week. The next morning, I showed up at 7 am. The two workers, Sam and Joe, were surprised to see me. I was an engineer who was willing to hang out with them. More than that, I was a “Damn Yankee” from up North (their words, not mine).

I got to know Sam and Joe and followed them around as they did their jobs. Whenever they got a call on their walkie-talkie, they’d jump on their forklifts and dig out requested loads of wood and bring them to the main plant. They dealt with two key problems:

1.      The forklifts would dig ruts into the dirt floor, making it difficult and dangerous to maneuver through the building.

2.      Different species of wood were stored in the same aisles of the building, forcing the workers to move big stacks of wood to get to what they needed. Oftentimes, it would take many minutes to find the stack of wood they were looking for. Sometimes, the stack would fall over and they’d have to pick everything up and restack it.

At the end of the week, I reviewed my findings with Sam, Joe, and Harriet. They confirmed these two issues were hampering their work and reducing their productivity. Together, we came up with a plan to pave the floor and organize the wood by species.

Within a month, we reorganized the building and paved it. We put up signs on the walls indicating storage locations. I visited the building many times to verify it was helping Joe and Sam do their job more safely and productively.

A month after we paved the floor, I stopped by and asked Joe and Sam if things were still working the way they wanted. They were proud to show me they had made a few improvements of their own that made things even easier. It was a win. Then, they told me that even though I was a “Yankee,” I wasn’t a “Damn Yankee” anymore. Now I was a “Good Yankee.”

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.

After Lean training on Day 1, we went out into the Gemba (a Japanese term, meaning the place where the work is done) and saw many areas where parts could be misplaced or lost. There was an area where parts were stored for the entire distribution center. It looked as if it had been hit by a tornado. There was so much clutter that the team knew it would be a high priority project for the Kaizen week. The number of parts and clutter was overwhelming. Would they be willing to put in the effort and time it would take to get things organized?

Three very ambitious team members picked the parts storage area as their project. Abraham, who normally worked in the area, said that they had been working on it for years. He didn’t think they’d be able to do anything to correct the situation, especially in a week. As facilitator, I had to rely on my team. They decided it was so important that they would go for it.

The three team members got help from people outside of the team. By the end of the week, the parts storage area looked like it was brand new. Everything was organized, clutter was removed (at least 75% of what had been stored there), and there were barcode labels on every bin to help manage the parts inventory. They worked many hours beyond the scheduled team hours and refused to stop until they were done.

On the morning of the third day, when we realized that it might be possible to organize the parts storage area, I reviewed “area ownership” with the team. I told them that at my prior company we had area owners who managed things and held people accountable to always do the right thing. Leadership “had their backs” and it made things safer and more productive. I also told them that it took a while to train leadership to behave that way, but once they saw the value of area ownership, they got on board.

Abraham raised his hand and said, “I want to be our first Area Owner.” I was stunned. Here was someone who had been skeptical on the first day and now he was courageous enough to step up and try something new. We were excited for him. The rest of the week we did everything possible to get the area into the best possible shape and designed our system to sustain it, using the Wheel of Sustainability.

The report out at the end of the week was well attended. When we took the leadership team into the parts storage area, you could hear a pin drop – they were blown away. Then, something magical happened. Abraham told them that he was the Area Owner and he needed their help and support to keep the area in its optimal condition. He shared his expectations for himself and for leadership. He showed them how he wanted to be audited on a weekly basis. I was proud of him and the rest of the team.

The area has been working as well as or better than the Kaizen team left it.I now use it as an example of what can be achieved in a short period of time and how well it can be sustained. Many newer Kaizen team members take a tour through the space and when Abraham is there (which is most of the time) he shares his story and tells them how important it is to meet his expectations. He is a model for what’s possible when you take ownership and care about your customers.

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.

When we were done, we assessed the critical elements of the process to see what we could improve on and optimize for the total system. We prioritized the fume hood area as the most critical part of the process. Essentially, every component that came back from the field had to have all internal gasses purged before it could be assessed and repaired. This was a critical safety requirement.

Different components had different gasses internally and some of those gasses were hazardous. They had to go through a full purging cycle before any other work could begin. Paul, the lab owner, had worked there for many years. When he wasn’t sure which gas was present, he would contact Jeff, an engineer. Jeff could help Paul identify the gasses present and the proper purging cycle.

Customers were anxious to get their equipment back in a timely fashion. The lab couldn’t rush the purging cycle and the testing that came afterwards. Many times, Jeff wasn’t available when Paul needed the critical purging information and the equipment waited days or weeks before purging could start.

It just so happens that Paul and Jeff were on the Kaizen team. When this critical issue was raised, Jeff told us that he had an idea and would need some time to work on it.

An hour later, Jeff came back to the lab and showed us his idea. It was a chart of the top components. They comprised more than 98% of the total possible items that could come through the lab. He identified the gasses and the purging requirements for each one. Now, Paul could start his work without having to track down Jeff. Customers would get their results much sooner.

In the end, it worked out even better than we could imagine. Paul retired shortly after the Kaizen and his replacement was quickly trained to perform to the standards Paul had set for the lab. The customer never waited too long for their results due to the contributions of Paul, Jeff, and the rest of the Kaizen team.

A Random Birthday Message Leads to a Strategic Planning Session

We hear so much about lead generation, Search Engine Optimization, and other marketing methods. I don’t know much about marketing, but I do know strong relationships can lead to business partnerships.

Many years ago, I was Business Team Manager for one of Armstrong World Industries’ flooring business units. I had a co-worker named Jonah, who was the Business Team Manager for another business unit at the same site. He helped me in my early days on the job. He was promoted soon after I got there. Eventually he left the company to go on to bigger and better things.

Many years later, I connected with Jonah on LinkedIn. After that, I would send him birthday greetings and messages related to his career changes that were highlighted on the platform. Recently, I sent him a message that said, “Happy birthday my old friend, I still remember and appreciate all of your help and support during our days together at the Floor Plant.”

To my surprise, he responded, saying, “Thanks Adam, have you ever done capacity analysis?” I had, and when I asked him for more information, it led to a call and eventually a visit to his custom door facility in Florida.

We spent the day together and realized we could accomplish his capacity analysis request and build a strategic plan for business growth using a Value Stream Mapping event.

Two months later, I was facilitating Jonah’s team through their first ever Kaizen event. They were eager to be a part of the change and were engaged throughout the week. It went so well, they were able to achieve all of their objectives and create a vision of the future the rest of the facility and leadership could align around and support.

I understand why others may think they need to use expensive marketing methods to attract clients. I prefer to think strong relationships produce greater dividends, if you truly care about the people you work

Strengthening a Kaizen Culture

A good friend of mine asked me to speak at his Virtual Lean Summit. I was scheduled to present on the Wheel of Sustainability on Thursday. When I looked at the agenda for the week, I found several presentations I wanted to attend. One stood out to me as a must – the Tuesday presentation by the President of a large furniture retailer in South Central Florida.

He was going to speak about the 15-year Lean journey at his company. Even more interesting to me was that he was the impetus for it. I looked forward to hearing the top leader in the company talk about building a continuous improvement culture from the ground up. Support all the way to the top of the organization is the ideal situation. I had never had the opportunity to see what it looked like.

The presentation was inspiring and I learned so much from it. When it was over, I wanted to know more. That evening, I sent a LinkedIn connection request to the President of the company and told how much I enjoyed his presentation. I mentioned I was an “old furniture guy” with many years of Lean experience and that it would be fun to share some furniture “war stories” with him.

Within an hour, he responded, and we set up a Zoom meeting for the next day. We talked for a few minutes, and I shared stories about the adventures I was having with my Kaizen teams. He remarked that they had held many Kaizen events in the past. They hadn’t done any in a few years and he missed the energy and excitement of Kaizen events. I said, “It turns out I know a guy who can help you with that.” He asked who that was. Of course, the answer was me! He said I should come for a visit to see if there were any synergies that we could both benefit from.

Two months later, I traveled to their corporate offices. I had the opportunity to meet with many staff members to see their continuous improvement culture. I shared my approach to Kaizen and continuous improvement. At the end of the day, I went to dinner with the President and he told me that pending a few more discussions, he wanted to know if I could support and facilitate 12 Kaizen events over the next year. What could I say? I said yes!

The following month, I signed my first contract to facilitate one Kaizen event per month. The President, who had now become company CEO, told me that beyond results, he wanted to focus on strengthening the Kaizen culture of his company. I was asked to focus on what I enjoy the most: engagement, empowerment, and sustainability.

The first year of working with the company was a true pleasure and a joy. The culture of continuous improvement is already strong and the leadership does what it takes to support every Kaizen team I facilitate. We have experienced breakthroughs and setbacks during our Kaizen weeks together, and the response has been extremely positive throughout. They value learning and culture more than pure results. Make no mistake, results do matter.

Things went so well, they signed up for a second year of facilitated Kaizen events. I am looking forward to a bright future with my client.

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.

The plant manager had been the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the local chapter, and she suggested that I volunteer on their Board in some way. I liked the idea and once I met the people in charge of the United Way, I knew I had found my place.

There were three ladies who did most of the work. They were working out an old school building that had been donated for their use and other community activities. They had a very limited budget, but they were able to get many things donated so they could touch many areas of the community without spending huge sums of money.

They accepted me onto the Board of Directors, and I had to figure out how I could best help them. I went out on many outreach efforts and noticed that no matter how much money or time we had, it was never enough.

During our annual preparation for the upcoming budget year, I noticed there were more requests for funding than the United Way could handle. It was apparent every request had merit and the board members wanted to fund everything. That would be impossible, of course. We had to come up with a way to narrow the requests for funding down to the highest priority for the allocation of resources. Now I knew how I could help.

I offered to facilitate the annual budgeting meeting and created an agenda to help make the tough decisions on what to fund and what to deny. I got each board member to name their top focus for funding and then using a prioritization technique called “multi-voting” I was able to help align everyone around the three top priorities for United Way funding:

1. Early childhood education – starting kids out on the right foot early sets them up for success in later years.

2. Food security – provide meals to those who cannot provide for themselves.

3. Home security – giving everyone a roof over their heads every day.

Once we identified these priorities, we could allocate funding to those requests that were aligned with them. Anything that didn’t fit the top three would have to be funded in another way. It made a difficult message easier to support and share. We were clear in our principles and the reasoning behind them.

For the next few years, we checked back in our priorities and adjusted where necessary. As we did our work in the community, we could verify our priorities truly aligned with the needs of the people we served.