Lean Manufacturing Initiatives

Technicon Industries Incorporated has launched its lean journey with three work center 5S events, and a process flow mapping event.  The 5S system is simply a step by step process to create orderliness, repeatability, and safety in the workplace.  The 5S’s, Sort, Set In Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain were implemented on the vertical laminator, the flatbed laminator, and the hot oil laminator. The vertical laminator was the first of the work centers to transform in a two-day event.  Team members included Tresea Cook, Tress Foster, Peter Jenkins, Brian Peek, and Floyd Starnes.  The next two work centers, the hot roll and flatbed, were done in tandem.  The team that transformed them both were as follows, Gary Harkey, Don Peterson, Mike Grimes, Kim Ballard, Brian Peek, and Floyd Starnes.

The picture on the left demonstrates the before, and the image on the right shows the final outcome at the Vertical Work Center.
The fourth event that was completed at Technicon was a process flow mapping event.  The event, in the fabrication and edge seal departments, focused on a goal of minimizing non-value added time in the processes.  The group included Kim Ballard, Joan Benner, Tina Goodwin, Gary Harkey, Willie Johnson, Jr. and Judy Lowder.