“Continuous improvement is an ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes. These efforts can seek “incremental” improvement over time or “breakthrough” improvement all at once.”
This year alone, Plymouth Foam has conducted and completed five Kaizen Events with more planned. “Kaizen Events are short duration improvement projects with a specific aim for improvement; typically they are week long events led by a facilitator with the implementation team being predominantly members of the area in which the kaizen event is being conducted plus a few additional people from support areas and even management,” Lean Manufacturing Tools.
Plymouth Foam Kaizen Events have been generating real results due to our company leadership support for the continuous improvement workshops. The events take strategic planning to efficiently function (and when done so) results and progress are shown over time.
We have focused on the improvement in efficiency and production in the following areas:
- Shape Molding Packaging
- Shape Molding Efficiency Improvements
- Autoline Streamlining Roofing Products
- Autoline Scrap Reduction
- Autoline Down Cutter Setup Reduction
Mark Schuh, VP of Operations shared that “the teams that have worked on these events have really taken ownership of the process and gained knowledge of the overall business allowing the implementation of more improvements after the completion of the events. Our team members have enjoyed the experience and really feel like they are part of something bigger. They know that they have important input into the business.”
“We actually have a Kaizen Event suggestion currently under review with one of our customers to help them reduce cost. We have true partnerships with customers who have “total cost” in mind” said Doreen Lettau, VP Market & Business Development.
Learn more how “We Can Pull It All Together” and ensure value added processes, please visit us at www.plymouthfoam.com.
*Pictured in our featured blog image are the participants in each of our five hosted Kaizen Events.