Stories of Leadership, Lean, and Learning
When my team leader came down with COVID, I thought it would be wise to delay the Kaizen event. He wanted to push through and joined us virtually on the first day. Even without him physically in the room with the team, we didn't miss a beat and made some significant improvements.
Read MoreWe were conducting the first 5S Kaizen at the plant. With so much disorganization and clutter, it was affecting the team's changeover performance. When I introduced the concept of Spaghetti Diagrams, it opened their eyes to the possibilities and reduced the changeover time by more than 50%.
Read MoreWe had a challenging relationship between our hourly workers and management. I never realized how much it affected me, until I left and my neighbor saw the difference in me.
Read MoreWhat appeared to be the hardest and hottest job in the company was the one valued most by the technician doing the work.
Read MoreThanksgiving was always my nemesis at work. Things always seemed to happen over the holidays. This time, a water main break in the city of St. Helens Oregon shut our plant down and we had to figure out a way to get things running again without more disruptions.
Read MoreThere were twelve different reports from eight different states all due at the same time. The only way to stay compliant was to contact each state agency and ask for their help.
Read MoreOne of our team members was shy and reserved and didn't want to present during the report out. We were able to convince him and he was so passionate about our improvements, the audience was inspired.
Read MoreWe brought robots into our dining room table factory, thinking that they could make a much better looking and consistent product than we could by hand. They succeeded, only to be rejected by our customers.
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