Gillinder Glass has implemented new procedures to incorporate Lean Manufacturing for Process Improvement. Lean Manufacturing is a method that focuses on minimizing waste within manufacturing, while identifying value and maximizing productivity. Reduced operating costs, improved product quality, and reduced lead times are some of the known benefits to Lean Manufacturing.
“Gillinder is focused on providing their customers with high quality products, at competitive prices, while providing exceptional customer support and industry leading lead times,” Martin Hand, Gillinder Glass’ new Vice President of Operations quoted. “The first step in the lean journey is to identify and develop Key Performance Indicators that are based on customer expectations and company-driven goals.” Initially, Gillinder measures and reports the following key components to meet stakeholders expectations; “ON TIME DELIVERY; QUALITY; YIELD; PRODUCTION THROUGHPUT.
Gillinder Glass develops metrics based on these components in addition to the 4 aspects of the “Manufacturing Success Diamond,” which is Safety, Quality, Time (Delivery), and Cost. Daily morning meetings have been implemented on the production floor to enforce these new processes and review the goal-based metrics. “Once we develop metrics, we review our performance daily and track our progress from the previous business day, as well as monthly; this is called Lean Visual Management,” Hand explains. “It is designed to expose problems in real-time that are preventing the manufacturing departments from meeting company goals.” Mapping the value stream will help identify and eliminate non value-added steps in the manufacturing process and assist the team in achieving pre-determined KPI’s.
With these established metrics and tracking system in place, the team determines corrective action plans, delegates responsibility, and identifies deadlines to complete those actions. “These process improvements allow the employees to take ownership and make decisions to improve Gillinder’ s performance.”
New Lean Manufacturing processes and data collection allows Gillinder Glass to track trends and determine further opportunities to deploy lean initiatives such as Kaizen; a concept referring to continuous improvement for all business activities and functions that involve employees company-wide.
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Press Contact: Christina Jansure, VP of Sales – Industrial/Commercial Markets
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