A Mid-Summer Dream (of Improvement)

Last May the One Write family gathered together to talk about how we’d spend the annual summer “slow period.”

The result of our time of discussion was the formation of a number of Kaisen teams. Each of the groups chose a different area of the company to observe and analyze, with an eye toward process improvement.

The groups included Shipping Reorganization which made suggestions to increase the efficiency of the way product left the plant. Different staging of packing materials was one of the results.

One team worked on our Digital File organization.  The outcome was a new way to archive records that takes less time to reference jobs and their folders.

Another group took on the Perfect Binding function and actually reconfigured the traditional U-shaped line itself. They also implemented more efficient daily inventory areas for the needed materials.

The Communication Kaisen team updated all the bulletin boards with current and relevant information. They also posted summaries of each of the regular meetings that are held throughout the plant.

Finally, the Creative Kaisen team focused on any and all ways to reduce waste in our day-to-day operation. Their improvements ranged from moving equipment so it was closer to the next process step to organizing and consolidating the storeroom for cleaning supplies. We are pleasantly surprised with the noticeable impact of the improvements and look forward to even more Lean activity.