by Paul V. Arnold

Plant-floor employees at Parker Aerospace’s facility in Irvine, Calif., provide lessons they learned from implementing lean manufacturing principles:

Randy Irvin, CSD manufacturing operations team leader: “It’s a long transition to become lean, and you never get there. It’s a goal, not a destination.”

Jim Anderson, CSD team leader for cellular manufacturing: “You have to create an environment, an organizational structure, that links everybody together. Managers have to show commitment to the people adding the value. People on the shop floor have the best ideas. Support them.”

Craig Thompson, CSO assembly and test technician: “We went to a teams structure around 10 years ago. That laid the foundation. It sets you up for implementing lean.”

Terry Bridges, CSD manufacturing operations team leader: “Everyone must contribute. Some people think they aren’t smart enough to come up with an idea. There are no bad ideas or wrong answers. The only wrong answer is, ‘I have nothing to say.’”

Steven Rivera, CSO scheduling team leader: “Identifying waste and eliminating waste is the premise of lean. You have to be passionate about wanting to do that. In some cases, it can get old. You may say, ‘We aren’t getting anywhere.’  But you have to keep plugging away.”

Beth Benz, CSO parts supply administrator: “If you’re a manager, go down to the shop floor and see what they are doing. Those people want you to see what they are working on. They want to know that it matters to those higher in the organization.”

Richard Rodriguez, CSO team leader / operations manager: “Focus on key measurements. We can measure the heck out of this organization, but what are the key measurements that people relate to every day? When you play a football game, the strategy changes during the game. If you aren’t keeping score or are unable to change your strategy, how can you win?”

Everett Cooper, CSO Continuous Improvement team member: “The role of the team leader is to encourage, motivate and validate. That’s the person that says, ‘Yes, that’s a good idea. Yes, go ahead and do that.’”

This article appeared in the April/May 2004 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright, 2004.

Back to top                                  Back to MRO Pro archives