LIT – Lean Implementation Team

I have spent the last year and a half as a founding member of the Morey Lean Implementation Team, or LIT.  The charter for this team was to gather a group of mid-level key performers from multiple disciplines, educate them in Lean and where the company is headed, and then utilizes them to help spread lean concepts throughout the company.

Over the last year, we have gone from starting on one focus, 5S, to branching out into multiple directions that we review in quarterly segments.  We have focused to date on education, waste elimination, and standardization.  We have finished creating a curriculum to launch to the whole company and have already logged a good amount of efficiency improvements and cost savings in 2010.  Having people from multiple departments and disciplines allows us to utilize everyone’s talents.  Some are good teachers, others are good at leading an improvement team, and others are good the “marketing” of lean.

Like most lean implementations, we’ve had successes and failures, accomplishments and setbacks.  While the team is bought in to where we are going with lean, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone else is bought in.  We can’t discount that there are people that are excited and want to know more, but at the same time, there are people that are afraid of the unknown and prefer to keep their heads in the sand.  Our job is to show the value.  Show it in data, show it in dollars, and show it in saved time.  No one is going to be against making their lives easier.

We’ve learned that, in showing the value of lean, we need to take on a servant role and really help people through things, if not do it for them.  This is not an implementation that lends itself to firing off tasks at subordinates and expecting them to figure it out.  It involves a “go and see” mentality, a lot of “extra credit” work, and an amount of patience that normally is not reflected in today’s hectic environment.

We just had our meeting to discuss our goals for the next quarter and I’m very excited about the direction we’re going.  We’re chasing Standardized work, “leaning” of 3 major processes, a large dollar amount worth of savings, and education of one third of our office staff through our complete Lean curriculum.  Slowly but surely we are making progress to a wholly lean company.  Sometimes not as fast as we’d like, but we’ll continue to serve on this team until we get there.

David Seifrid is currently the Director of Strategic Accounts at The Morey Corporation.

Learning to Lean into It

Our first foray into Lean was to organize through implementation of 5S (Sort, Simplify, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain).  While it was initially tricky to get everyone used to the idea that a 5S’d area is a happy area, people started seeing immediate benefits both in production and our offices.  When a workspace on the production line has all the tools needed in a sorted and standardized location on that line, people quickly noticed how much smoother the line moved when people aren’t searching for tools.  We were no longer spending time looking for tools or parts.  Efficiency started increasing and quality improved as a by-product.

Then, the next logical step was to start “leaning” out certain production lines and shutting down the line at the hint of any problem.  While shutting down the line would have been taboo in the past, we adopted a “Fix it fast and forever” mentality.  Gone were the days of “It’s a known problem that we fix at such and such operation”.  Our focus shifted to quality, quality, and quality.  If the line is shut down for a problem, it can’t start back up until the problem is fixed – however painful.  In that first few weeks of the lean lines we piloted, so many issues were fixed that had been issues for years (some even unknown for years), that we saw immediate improvements in quality numbers for assemblies built on the lean lines.  The actual benefit then realized was, although shutting down the line to fix problems causes immediate tension, we not only save on doing rework on parts that would have been put to the side until later, but the overall savings of eliminating quality rejects that cost both us and our customers money (as anyone who follows the costs associated with rejecting a part on a production line and returning it to a vendor knows) is ever-increasing.  This will continue to benefit our customers as their products remain cost-competitive and reach world-class quality.

Moving forward, I’m even more excited to move all products to the lean mentality as it seems we’ve just gotten a taste of what is possible with this journey.  We’re seeing it every day:  Focus on quality: If your output is not good, shut the line down.  Focus on waste – What is value added for my customer?  Focus on savings – What improvements can I make that add efficiency and increase quality?

What we are seeing here is that although it’s a lot of work, we are seeing it as a fun challenge.  Diligent problem solving and relentless improvement have become part of our culture!  What can I improve?  How much can I help the company with quality and costs?  A simple improvement here can yield a savings for the company that lowers our next quote to the customer, and ultimately, wins us business that may have gone to a competitor.

We allow any employee to stop the line because we have faith in our employees’ ability to identify and solve problems.  The look on an employee’s face when you praise them for shutting the line down and fixing a problem is priceless.  All this poses a very bright future for The Morey Corporation.

David Seifrid is currently the Manager of Planning and Customer Support at The Morey Corporation.

Factory Simulation

We’ve just started to have training exercises with members of our different departments to simulate a lean facility versus a traditional manufacturing facility.  The results have not only been eye-opening, but have really helped people understand the benefit of moving to lean.

Essentially, we have pulled people together in a mini simulation where they have to build towers out of plastic blocks.  The first mode they go through is to set up a receiving line where they follow the current batch build process.  They are given “builds”, kits of material to build sub-assemblies similar to traditional manufacturers and then, when the “subs” are completed, they can build them into the towers.  All this is given through the standard manufacturing process of gathering parts from a stockroom and bringing them to a mock production area.  At the end of 30 minutes we identify how much money they have made by looking at the amount of towers built and “shipped” vs. the remaining in process material, vs. the amount of “labor” that they put into it, and finally the cost of bad quality.  The results are always discouraging.

We then allow them to make whatever changes they want.  This usually leads to the traditional manufacturing approach of throwing more people at whatever operation(s) seemed to be lacking.  This usually results in hilarious consequences because rather than quieting, the chaos continues to rise.

Finally we re-set up their line in a lean, one piece flow operation, and allow them to work off material stores.  I don’t want to spoil it, but there are noticeable differences in this method that extend beyond the money.  You don’t realize how draining it is on people when they can’t work because they are waiting and how this waiting leads to other problems, including human interaction issues.

David Seifrid is currently the Manager of Planning and Customer Support at The Morey Corporation.

Dave Piet to Join Morey Corporation as New Business Development Manager

Woodridge, Ill., January 25, 2010 – Morey Corporation, a leading provider of comprehensive electronics manufacturing services, today announced the appointment of Dave Piet to the position of Business Development Manager. Reporting to MOREY’s Executive Vice President Dana Morey, Piet will be responsible for spearheading the company’s new customer diversification initiatives.

Most recently, Piet was responsible for the development of Arrow Industrial Automation, a strategic initiative within Arrow Electronics focused on the North American industrial automation market. He brings over 17 years experience in sales and business development. Piet has had proven success in strategy development and execution that delivers profitable revenue, improved process performance, cost reduction, and increased customer service. Prior to joining Arrow in 2006, Piet spent several years at The Home Depot as a national account manager as well as several years with Emerson Electric as a regional account manager responsible for sales growth with Original Equipment Manufacturer accounts.

“Dave’s track record will help him succeed in the crucial function of diversifying Morey’s customer base into the Industrial market.” said Dana Morey, Executive Vice President of MOREY. “His industry prowess, skill as a strategist and long history of increasing sales and profitability will make him an invaluable addition to our team.”

About MOREY

MOREY is an award winning, 75-year-old Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) company providing comprehensive design, engineering, manufacturing, and testing services for Original Equipment Manufacturers, Applications Service Providers, Suppliers and other enterprises relevant to the aerospace & defense, industrial, utility, communications, heavy off-road/on-road and agricultural vehicles markets. MOREY-manufactured electronics can be found in every region of the world powering mission-critical applications in the most demanding environments on the planet. MOREY leverages deep expertise in telematics, power electronics, controls, sensors, displays, cord reels and handsets for its customers and complements its EMS offerings with value-added expertise in program management, ruggedization, legacy support and global supply chain management.

MOREY is based in Woodridge, IL, and operates a 200,000 square foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and design center.

Press Contact: Tony Woodall | 630.754.2196 | twoodall@moreycorp.com