What’s Lean Mean? …

At InteliCoat, all of the employees have been involved in the Lean effort in some capacity. “The program training started with the senior management team, then trickled down until every employee at every level of the company understood and participated in the Lean initiative,” says Weiss.

All of the company’s employees are participating in the 5S program, with internal competition set up with the different work areas for the best achievement of 5S. In addition, Weiss says Kaizen events are held periodically to identify ways to become more efficient in specific areas or functions within departments. “Ten week-long Kaizens have taken place during the past 15 months with the operators making up the bulk of the Kaizen teams. These teams have improved processes and eliminated millions of dollars of waste,” he reports.