Reinventing CardPak

"You can see how we attacked the business from all sides—Lean Manufacturing, financial management, and product development—all during a down market for the industry," Petrelli notes. "And many of the improvements have resulted directly from our Lean Manufacturing efforts."

CardPak conducted Lean training sessions in conjunction with the University of Akron in the latter part of 2006. "Buy-in was achieved by presenting Lean as a proactive initiative and critical element necessary for us to differentiate ourselves, stay out in front of the competition, and give us an edge in becoming the low-cost manufacturer with quickest order turnaround," says Lamm.