Lean Executive Excellence Diploma

Columbia Forest Products’ lean effort gets a LIFT

Columbia Forest Products conducted a week-long Learning and Improvement Focused Transformation (LIFT) event at their Chatham, VA hardwood plywood manufacturing facility with ILS( 11/06/06 – 11/10/06). Going into the week, Columbia prepared for an aggressive plan to jump start their Continuous Improvement Program. The ILS instructors did not disappoint. They successfully engaged and educated our workforce, managers and operators alike, in the benefits of the lean work system. The training was not only motivating, but through the development of our workforce, Columbia was able to smooth out their material flow and develop a more stable work environment.

What set the ILS training apart from other continuous improvement events Columbia has conducted in the past is the level of education they were able to engage in. The week had just the right mix of floor activity, lean systems education, lean systems simulation and practical implementation. By the end of the week, operators felt both challenged and motivated. They began to see the opportunities that lay ahead and the waste that must be eliminated to become a more efficient manufacturing operation.

LIFTs are similar to rapid improvement events. However, there are important differences. The key is to base the event on a solid educational foundation. Relevant content from the ILS repertoire of educational programs is assembled, adapted, and delivered just-in-time to provide the LIFT team members a knowledge foundation upon which they can make informed decisions in restructuring their operations. At Chatham, for example, our pull simulations were modified to accommodate plywood flows through their plant so that they could understand the functionality, benefit, and key design issues for pull production control in their application.

This balance of education and action enables the folks who work the process every day to develop creative, effective, and sustainable solutions. They leave with knowledge and passion for lean that results in new implementations they undertake on their own.

CFP personnel were split into two teams for the LIFT events. One focused on materials supply and scheduling while the other focused on conversion operations. There was strong communication between the teams and their efforts were coordinated for maximum impact. Their accomplishments have been impressive:

• Major back flows of veneers have been eliminated between an offsite warehouse and the Chatham plant, eliminating double handling and non-value added transport.
• The warehouse was redesigned, eliminating dead stock, modifying layout, and improving material handling methods for offloading material supply trucks and delivery of cores and veneers to point of use. This resulted in major reductions in forklift requirements.
• The pair-up of veneers was located closer to spreading where the veneers are glued to the plywood core, reducing inventory, handling, and labor requirements. Pull systems were used in material delivery, capping WIP and reducing handling. The faster velocity through the facility also benefits veneer quality since cracking and handling damage can otherwise result. Plans have been made to fully integrate pair-up and spreading as a cellular type operation.
• Pull systems were put in place across the floor. WIP was reduced by 50%. FIFO handling mechanisms with strong visual controls were installed. Through these changes and standardized handling methods, jockeying of pallets was eliminated, enabling a dramatic reduction of forklift traffic. Safety, quality, and cost benefits are a direct result.
• A heuristic scheduling procedure for level loading the plant was developed that prevents dynamic bottlenecking. This is now being extended to better coordinate sales and production control operations.
• Immediately, there was dramatic gains in on-time delivery and customer service rates through these combined efforts to improve material flows across the plant. The need for order expediting was eliminated.
• 5S, visual controls, and standardized work was put in place in many key processes. This eliminated considerable waste. For example, in each case considered, walking (a major labor consumer in a plywood operation) was eliminated by 50-90%.The need for two non-value-added jobs, picking up scrap from a saw, was eliminated through installation of a gathering and chute mechanism that CFP personnel devised. Operating 3 shifts a day, this yields a major cost savings.
• The need for two non-value-added jobs, picking up scrap from a saw, was eliminated through installation of a gathering and chute mechanism that CFP personnel devised. Operating 3 shifts a day, this yields a major cost savings.

To date, the documented first year cost savings are more than 20 times CFPs investment in the LIFT events. This excludes important, but less tangible, benefits in safety and product quality. As follow-through projects are finalized, this total will grow substantially. But for Doyle Nelson, Plant Superintendent, perhaps the more important result is the change in culture that he now sees. More than acceptance, genuine passion for lean is building and is spreading from the folks on the LIFT teams to others in the facility.
 
With the success of these LIFT events behind them, CFP looks forward to execution of ILS’s Strategic Transformation Program at Chatham and several other facilities. At Chatham this will engage a broader cross sections of their people. It will enable bigger changes at the extended enterprise value stream level. This includes modifications to facility layout, improved integration along their supply chain to better coordinate purchasing and synchronize inventory flows throughout, and tacking tough processes such as their large presses. They expect to be a safer, more responsive, more flexible, higher quality, and lower cost as a result.

Current state of pair up line	Future State pair up line

Bill Duarte, Columbia Forest Products

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