Continuous process improvement and eliminating waste should be the goals of any organization, but it requires leadership and vision to stay the course. With commitment, the benefits of lean manufacturing emerge as better teamwork on the shop floor, bigger profits and increased growth.
Cutting tools manufacturer Hypertherm Inc. witnessed those transformative benefits first-hand. Around 1999, the company changed one of their products from a “craft style,” in which one person built the entire product from start to finish, to a team approach. When products were made by one person, it usually took about 1.5 to two days to build, and then if it passed quality testing, it shipped. If not, it would go back to the original person. The company moved to a cellular manufacturing system in which the product was made by teams of four to six people, which lead to more eyes on the process. “It radically improved our quality levels as well,” says Charles Hackett, director of corporate improvement at Hypertherm. When he joined the company in 1995, there were about 250 people. Today that number has climbed to about 1,400. And although many other factors were involved, lean has helped along the way.