Wausau Equipment Company

1329 Words6 Pages
What should the management’s next steps be in (a) making further Lean improvements, and (b) in the implementation of Lean? Before making further lean improvements, WECO should recognize current condition of Lean. Lean improvement and implementation of lean was generally successful in two fields. On one hand, Weco built an excellent management team and selected proper tools and approaches that are applicable to the poor performance. On the other hand, this management team had a specific goal of reducing waste and achieved it by using correct actions. These two aspects were the key to the whole project. Initially, the management team used the general approach Lean Dynamics took with the Gap Analysis and Improvement Process. With this approach, the company could specify value and identify the opportunities in throughput, work of flow, and maintenance. After the team found out the disadvantages and non-value-added actions within processes, they knew where to improve. Then they formed eight specific teams to begin the equipment-improvement process with the collection of loss data. In this way, every worker could involve in lean processes that allow people to better focus on their own performance and they became familiar with lean concepts, operation tools, and safety metrics. However, although they knew that every employee in the workplace had to be getting involved and actively participating in the lean process to sustain improvements, they did not develop any solutions for employees’ resistance to change. The team needs to focus on the human factor, about how to build up a company culture characterized by commitment for continuous improvements and everybody's one hundred percent involvement. WECO was facing a shortage in experienced labor, so they should develop “T” people, meaning workers who have broad experience in lean and also with deep skill in lean[1].

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