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Page 1: Special Issue! Print Now - Tripod.comcarolpan.tripod.com/portfolio/411_lean.pdf · Special Issue! GrC 411 Lean in the ... common method used to implement this is the red tag method

Print Now

Lean in the Printing IndustryCarol Pan & Quincy Storm

Print NowPremiere Issue, Fall 2007

Printers’ Good Business Guide

Road to Success

Special Issue!

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 2

Executive Summary

Known for its stagnant, conventional behavior, the print industry can only become more successful by

considering, and eventually accepting and implementing, an efficiency-driven concept called lean. Lean

has already proven itself as a pathway for success in many industries and the key to taking advantage of

this pathway is understanding what lean entails. Lean is best defined by the techniques it encompasses.

The most representative of all lean techniques is 5S. Standing for Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize,

and Sustain, 5S is a method used to create an orderly and more efficient workplace. An “unofficial”, yet

equally important 6th “S” is safety. A variety of additional techniques that are a part of lean include Value

Stream Mapping, Quality at the Source, Total Productive Maintenance, SMED, Batch Size Reduction,

Standardizing Work, Takt-Time, Production Leveling, Point-of Use Systems, Kaizen, and Kanban.

Not only can implementing 5S and additional lean techniques improve efficiency, its additional

ramifications have equal impact. Improvements in quality, safety, changeover time, storage costs, and morale

has a large influence on sales, and in turn, the overall success of a business. In order to achieve this success,

a method of implementation must be arranged. Although implementation is unique to each business, there

are basic guidelines that are important for everyone to follow. Avoiding jargon, focusing on employees,

encouraging small steps, rewarding for achievement, addressing cultural barriers, and engaging leadership

are a few steps that can be taken to make implementation a smooth process.

The opportunities that lean can create are seemingly endless, as many print manufacturers have already

discovered. It is hard to deny the implications of lean after reviewing various success stories. In a stagnant

industry, it is time for every printer to have the opportunity to succeed so that printing can continue, and

possibly thrive again.

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 3

Lean in the Print Industry By Carol Pan & Quincy Storm

You’re on your way to success!

Lean practices have just begun to show their benefits

in the printing industry—and it’s about time. A

concept born from the automobile industry, lean

focuses on high productivity through the use of a

myriad of efficiency-centered tools and concepts.

Although its original purpose was to promote

efficient production for the Toyota Motor Company

in the 1950s, the model spread from Japan to the

United States, and with it came an opportunity

for the printing industry. Today, lean is increasing

its momentum in the printing industry. With its

undeniable presence, every printer considering lean

will benefit from some background information.

With this being noted, what exactly is Lean? How

is it present in the printing industry today? Why is

it necessary to implement and how can it be done?

These questions will be answered in detail to better

inform potential adopters of lean.

What is Lean?

The formal definition of lean is, “A business system

for organizing and managing product development,

operations, suppliers, and customer relations”

(What is Lean?). This definition, however, only

begins to touch on how lean is defined in the

printing industry. Lean can be broken into a variety

of techniques that work together to meet greater

production efficiency. These techniques include

5S, Value Stream Mapping, Quality at the Source,

Total Productive Maintenance, SMED, Batch

Size Reduction, Standardizing Work, Takt-Time,

Production Leveling, Point-of Use Systems, Kaizen,

and Kanban.

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 4

Breakdown of Techniques (Paraphrased from The Lean Manufacturing Employee Training Manual by Kenneth Dailey) Value Stream Mapping

The second lean technique is defined as, “the process

of identifying and charting the flows of information,

processes, and physical goods across the entire

supply chain from the raw material supplier to the

possession of the customer” (Dailey). Value stream

mapping is essentially a tool for identifying wastes

so that reorganization can occur to eliminate them.

Typically, management creates a map that visually

represents the value stream. By identifying areas

of waste, new visions of efficiency arise and are

considered for implementation.

Quality at the Source

Quality at the source is a “philosophy that places the

responsibility for meeting customer requirements

at the earliest possible point in the manufacturing

process” (Dailey). The two subcategories of this

concept are prevention and detection. Prevention,

“also known as Poka Yoke,” (Dailey), involved

redesigning production to avoid any defects that

may occur. In other words, prevention is the

process of removing defect-prone elements of

manufacturing. Detection is the process of detecting

these defect-prone elements in a timely fashion. To

do this, employees must consistently inspect the

printing process to identify any time and money

wasting defects.

Total Productive Maintenance

Total Productive Maintenance, better known as

TPM, is a technique that creates “higher levels

of equipment productivity through enhanced

utilization, performance, selection, maintenance,

and employee involvement” (Dailey). TMP involves

five strategies as outlined in the Lean Manufacturing

Employee Training Manual. They are the following:

1. Design products that can be easily produced on

existing machines.

2. Design machines, tooling and fixturing for

easier operation, changeover, and maintenance.

3. Train and retrain workers to operate and

maintain machines.

4. Purchase machines that maximize productive

potential.

5. Design a preventive maintenance plan that

spans the life of the machine.

Visual Management

Visual management is the process of “making

information about production processes and

fundamental daily activities visually available in a

coherent, timely, and regular manner” (Dailey).

In other words, it is displaying “performance

data and goals” (Dailey) in visible areas. The

subject of these displays varies from safety, to

productivity measurements, to housekeeping.

Visual management allows employees of a printing

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 5

5S

To understand lean, you must understand its core principle: 5S. Representing a “fundamental change in the

attitude towards the workplace,” 5S emphasizes the evolution towards a more productive environment through

the implementation of the five “S’s”. The 5 “S’s” stand for Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain.

One step that a printing business must take in order to follow 5S is Sort. Sorting requires employees to remove

unusable inventory, supplies, and equipment. In essence, it is the removal of junk from the workplace. A

common method used to implement this is the red tag method. Red tagging involves placing tags on all items

that are unnecessary. This is often an eye-opener for all employees because more often than not, the number of

removable items is overwhelmingly large. A choice of action is noted on the tag, and the useless items are sold,

donated, or disposed of according to their status. Infrequently used items are encouraged to be stored out of

the way of production.

The next two “S’s” in “5S” stand for Set in Order and Shine. Setting in order involves organizing the work

place, giving every item a place. While organizing, it is important to place items based on the need for

accessibility. Labeling storage units aids in the organization process because it allows employees to quickly find

items. Shine follows organization. The cleaning of the work area is essential for workplace morale and pride.

Taking the time to clean and buff an area can prevent various accidents from happening including personal

injury from slipping on an ink spill, clothing stains, and damage to a job. Although cleaning takes some time,

in the long run, it reduces even more time-consuming accidents.

Standardization and Sustainability are the final elements of 5S. Standardization involves creating guidelines

or standards for employees to follow. This could include end-of-the-workday chores such as organization and

cleaning to sustain the order of the workplace. This leads to the last element—Sustainability. Maintaining 5S

is the most important step because it guarantees future

productivity improvements. In order to sustain, a printing

business must make a commitment to following the

standards.

Although not one of the original 5S’s, another “S” exists

that many businesses practicing Lean have adopted as a

sixth “S”. This “S” is safety. In a Lean atmosphere, “all

potential safety hazards should be eliminated...[and]

everything should meet or exceed government safety

standards” (Henderson).

The following chart is a visual representation of 6S:

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 6

company to learn from their history and enhance

their performance based on the areas displayed.

SMED (Setup Reduction)

Streamlining is the best single word to describe

SMED. Simply put, SMED is a method of reducing

setup time. Reducing setup time results in better

efficiency and lower costs.

Batch Size Reduction

The production stream often encounters

“bulging”—a result of large batches. These bulges

are brought on by a number of constraints during

production including traditional constraint (“we’ve

Kaizen

The final technique, kaizen, is “a philosophy of continuous improvement” (Dailey). It is a form of

evaluation that leads to improvements either in “time, resources, or quality” (Dailey). The following

image illustrates the kaizen cycle, starting with assessment, evolving into a plan, implementing this

plan, and then evaluating creates a continuous circle of improvement.

always done it this way”), a lack of instructions,

equipment limitations, material limitations, and

codependency. To solve the problem of “bulges”

in production, batch size reduction effectively

recognized these constraints, and changes

production to eliminate them.

Cellular Manufacturing

Cellular manufacturing is the arranging of

equipment and workstations in an efficient manner

to reduce movement waste. Proximity is the key

to continuous-flow, economical production.

Cellular manufacturing aims to create a floor layout

Continuous Improvement

Assess/Reassess

Planand

Design

Implement

Evaluate

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 7

that reduces material movement and improves

communication between stations of production. A

typical arrangement that improves efficiency is the

U-shape arrangement. The three advantages to this

layout are as follows:

1. It combines the shipping and receiving areas.

2. It helps minimize the travel distances within the

cell.

3. The compact shape typically fits well into a

plant layout.

Cells are also typically set up to flow counter-

clockwise to aid 85% of the people who are right

handed. (Dailey)

Standardizing Work

An attempt to eliminate variability, standardizing

work is one of the most important techniques

in lean manufacturing. To eliminate variability,

the most efficient procedure is documented and

becomes the standard. Usually employees who have

worked in a printing shop for a significant amount

of time create the most effective standards, even

when compared to the designer of the product

because they have had the most hands-on experience

with various work flows.

Takt Time

T= T/D is the equation that best describes Takt

time, where T represents the production pace, T

represents the available time during production, and

D represents demand. To clarify, the measurement

of Takt time is crucial in balancing the production

line because it represents the “optimal cycle time for

sequential operations in a production line.”

Production Leveling

Production leveling is a technique aimed at

smoothing out sales extremes. Under the lean

philosophy, it is better to have steady sales

throughout the year than to have extreme peaks

and dips (during specific seasons, for example).

Production leveling is important because it avoids

“burnout and idleness”. In other words, it creates

a predictable, steady, workplace which gives

employees the security with which they can thrive.

Point-of-Use Systems

The key to point-of-use systems is availability. More

specifically, it is positioning resources for a task close

to the task site. Taking advantage of point-of-use

systems dramatically decreases movement waste.

Kanban

Also known as a “pull” system, the kanban requires

the continuous flow of production to occur through

a printing facility. Kanban utilizes “visual cues in the

form of cards, balls, carts, containers, etc...” (Dailey)

to help organize the continuous movement of a

product from start to finish.

Why you need to adopt lean in your printing business!

“The dollar ramifications are huge. We pay bills

in 10 days now because we have fewer bills to pay,

and now we have discounts. We made back the

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 8

money we paid last year in interest on our credit

line because we have so much less inventory. In

18 months we took our inventory from well over

$400,000 to under $200,000, and in those 18

months the company grew 20 percent” (Kenny).

-Tom Spina, President of Luminer Converting

If this statement alone does not convince print

managers to start or continue their efforts with

lean, perhaps some before and after pictures will.

The following are before and after photos of a

manufacturing company that implemented 5S in

the workplace. The after picture shows the extreme

improvement from a cluttered workplace to an

organized workplace. Not only is the improvement

easy on the eyes, its implications extend far beyond

this observation. An organized, efficient workplace

can lead to the following enhancements that no

printing facility can afford to ignore:

• Improved quality

• Achieve work standardization

• Decreased changeover time

• Improved safety

• Reduced storage costs

• Reduced cycle time

• Reduced machine down time

• [Improved] employee morale as well as work

environment (5S/Workplace Organization)

There are a vast number of reasons why lean should

be implemented in every printing company. The

few that have been touched on demonstrate an

explanation for need and point to the fact that

lean leads to better business practice by improving

efficiency and increasing profits by reducing waste.

Plan for Implementing Lean in a Business

There is no master plan in lean implementation,

but there are basic necessary requirements. Kaizen

Institute consultant Charlie Colosky argues

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 9

that an organization must have a clear “good

reason” to implement lean and also heightened

awareness to ensure successful lean operations.

Other requirements suggested by the consulting

organization, Stat-A-Matrix include:

1. Top leadership must have an understanding and

commitment to implement lean.

2. There must be access to current information on

customer needs.

3. A process-management system to measure

current performance and identify where you

need to make improvements must be in place.

4. Coaches, Team Leaders, and Team Members

must be trained to design and improve

processes and to assist process owners.

5. Ongoing management involvement and review

is a necessity to reinforce process management,

improvement, and design.

6. Good communication must be utilized to

ensure that lean methods are embraced

throughout the organization.

7. Responsibilities must be assigned within the

organization to carry out lean principles.

Lean can be approached in a myriad of ways. Take

for example, Nahan Printing , a small printing

company making $105 million in sales each year.

See the waste.Inventory, Long elapsed times, Unevenness

Errors, Rework, Takes Too Long to Do Some Steps, Overburden, Injuries

Setup Loss, Downtime Address Setup and Maintenance

Make ValueFlow Faster

Preparethe Workplace Improve Daily Work

1

2 3

4

5

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 10

COO Kent Gilmore remarks that Nahan grew so

rapidly they could not keep up with demand and

“could not afford to buy more equipment”, forcing

them to become more productive on the equipment

already owned. To boost efficiency, Nahan sought

lean through GE Capital Solution’s ACFC (At

the Customer For the Customer) program, which

provides free consulting services. Other places to

start “doing” lean include:

1. Researching on the Internet. The online

magazine www.industryweek.com has a good

deal of information on Six Sigma, Kaizen, and

lean manufacturing.

2. Contacting consulting agencies. For example,

the Kaizen Institute (www.kaizen-us.com) can

exam current operations.

3. Attending conferences or workshops. For

example, the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s

Graphic Communication Institute offers

ongoing workshops. The one on lean and lean

implementation targets printers and will be

held in December 2007 (http://grci.calpoly.

edu/workshops/lean.html). There are also

conferences designed for printers to learn more

about lean, such as the GATF (Graphic Arts

Technical Foundation) conference coming up

in March 2008: Lean Manufacturing for Print

Managers.

In general, there are two methods of implementing

lean:

1. Top down approach: managers see how lean can

prioritize productivity.

2. Bottom up approach: employees or small

workgroups start improving workflowswithin

their own processes.

Whichever method chosen, Stat-A-Matrix suggests

creating a “road map” beforehand to identify the “key

waste drivers”. This map will also help determine

what lean tools are suitable for a particular area and

maximize their benefits. First, identify the types and

amount of waste in the work area, specific process, or

across the value stream. Once the key waste drivers are

pin pointed, you can start putting lean in action. The

following are steps of lean implementation:

1. Clean the workplace. From administration offices

to the production floor, clutter is cleared and

work spaces are reorganized for optimal efficiency.

2. Improve local work. Without the clutter, it makes

it easier to improve everyday work.

3. Eliminate waste in maintenance. Most efficiency

issues arise from poor setup time or changeover

time. Thus, by reducing or eliminating waste

from setup and maintenance will improve work

efficiency.

4. Address overburden (“functioning above designed

capacity”)/unevenness (“Swings in the work

flow”) to make value flow faster by improving

overall coordination, timing, and workflow

between processes.

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 11

Besides considering the above plan, Stat-A-Matrix

also suggests a list of tips on lean incorporation that

include:

•Avoid jargon: simplify the lean terminologies so

everyone can understand.

•Focus on people: the benefits from lean come

from employee performance, so they must be

trained and supported.

•Encourage small steps: reward small successes and

this will help build the value of lean.

•Align rewards: figure out how people are paid,

promoted, and rewarded early on.

•Identify and address cultural barriers:

communicate how the various lean tools

work together, so employees understand the

direction.

•Engage leadership: leaders that believe in

implementing lean will succeed.

•Have an infrastructure: train and develop internal

experts of lean to help with training and

coordination. The experts will also ensure that

the approaches are not off track.

Success Stories

In a slow economy and ever competitive global

market, lean has recently gained more notice in

the graphic arts industry, yet tragically, not many

printers have implemented it. Below are the few

examples of print companies implementing lean;

hopefully their stories will inspire others to follow

along:

Nahan Printing

As mentioned before, Nahan Printing approached

GE Captial Solution’s AFAC and was introduced

to 40 different kinds of lean tools. These

included tools like Kaizen Events, 5S, and Visual

Management. The COO of Nahan Printing, Kent

Gilmore, has been a believer in lean for over ten

years. Prior to being with Nahan, he was Vice

President of Manufacturing at Jostens, and to

increase profits he focused on driving cost down by

implementing lean in all 17 facilities.

At the moment, Nanhan Printing is taking on

5S, Total Production Maintenance, Value Stream

Mapping, and Setup Reduction. Kaizen Events

are continuously held to ensure full employee

participation. The establishment of Daily

Information Boards help indicate which equipment

center needs more attention. Process mapping

has helped reduce an initial “walking over 3.5

miles during makereadies...to a total of just 900

steps”. And lean in not only implemented in the

manufacturing part of the company, but also in the

office as well.

Gilmore noted that the “greatest challenge [in

implanting lean] is overcoming an organizations

fear of change.” And indeed, each individual

has a unique paradigm or set of beliefs and

humans in general resist change. Thus, it becomes

pertinent that their “efforts be championed by the

owners of the company...and keep faith through

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 12

implementation”. With this sound support can

one see the rewards of lean are “satisfied customers,

employees and owners. The customer will receive a

better product, the employee’s greater involvement

and financial opportunity and the owner’s financial

rewards and fewer headaches.”

Kell Container

Kell Container, now owned by GNC (Great

Northern Corporation) embraced lean in 2003.

Kell trained over 100 employees in 5S. To reduce

setup time, the original process was videotaped

for analysis and “pedometers used to count actual

steps taken”. Kell plans to further its lean initiative

by incorporating value stream mapping and kaizen

events in the future.

Pratt

Pratt is a $57 million screen printer in Indianapolis.

In 2005, it went about a “cultural and physical

transformation” in order to stay successful in

business. One of several reorganization methods

included the implementation of lean. To familiarize

employees with the concept and get their buy in,

Pratt assigned book readings and weekly book

discussions.

Through lean implementation, productivity, safety,

and on time deliveries all improved. Working with

what they currently have, Pratt increased quote

handling to 30% and reduced press changeover by

70%.

Associates Graphics Service

Associates Graphics Service in Wilmington,

Delaware started lean manufacturing in 1999.

Through the help of DEMEP (Delaware

Manufacturing Extension Program: helps

small/midsize organizations improve global

combativeness), AGS was trained on “Cellular Flow,

total productive maintenance, and six sigma”. A

visual board was created to check for jobs ready to

run. It included job ticket information, a blue dot

to indicate plates are exposed, and yellow dot to

indicate there is stock on hand.

As a result of lean implementation, plant

productivity increased to 30%. The plant’s 50000

sq. ft. area was maximized to full efficiency, so no

inventory sat on the floor. “[The manufacturing

process] flows seamlessly, eliminating any extra

steps,” remarks Bryan Taylor, production manager.

Turnaround time has also been reduced by 15%.

And indeed lean is not just a manufacturing tool;

it is applied to all aspects of the business–from

scheduling to customer service. “We gather data

to constantly improve our services...press time, on

time estimate, percentages for jobs, and on time

percentages for proof,” says Taylor. At AGS, lean

doesn’t stop at eliminating waste; it values quality

and constant improvement.

BASF

BASF Corporation in Louisiana manufactures

pharmaceutical products. Customers were asking

for more production capacity, but the printing

department had a major bottleneck issue. The

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 13

printing department is in charge of printing on

the tablets and must work in batches due to FDA

requirements. As a result, BASF wanted to reduce

the setup time by incorporating the 5S system.

To start off, BASF videotaped a day’s normal

production then during the first week of training,

the video was analyzed to hone in on areas in need

of improvements. In another training, the printing

department received training on 5S system and

started sorting and removing unnecessary items,

set in order the remaining items, shine or clean the

work area, standardize the first three Ss by creating

visual displays, and finally to sustain 5S employees

had to be involved and well trained.

Tom Herron, manufacturing scheduling supervisor

at BASF commented that the “most successful,

most profitable firms are those seeking to improve”.

As a result of 5S implementation, BASF’s printing

department cut changeover time from 2 hours to

17 minutes– an 86% reduction! Throughput also

increased by 57%, allow BASF to meet customer

needs. 5S not only boosted work efficiency, it is

BASF before lean implementation

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 14

also applicable outside of work. Team leader, Angela

Butler remarks that “[5S] has helped me a lot,

because I can use what I’ve learned at home, too.”

Parting Thoughts

“The possibility of victory lies in the attack.

Generally, he who occupies the field of battle first

and awaits his enemy is at ease”

The print industry is engaged in an ever-competitive

battlefield. And in order to stay competitive and

BASF after lean implementation

on top of the game, companies need to look into

strategically positioning themselves. Lean is one

way to achieve this. The greatest challenge lies

in changing the view of traditional paradigms.

Although it is innate for humans to resist change,

this resistance will hinder a company’s success.

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 15

Are you prepared?

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 16

Resources Used for “Lean in the Print Industry”

1. “What is Lean?” Lean Enterprise Institute.

<http://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/>

2. “Lean and Environmental Tool Kit.” Lean Manufacturing and Environment.

<http://www.epa.gov/lean/toolkit/ch5.htm>

3. Henderson, Bruce A. and Jorge L. Larco. Lean Transformation. Oaklea Press. Richmond: 1999.

4. Dailey, Kenneth W. The Lean Manufacturing Employee Training Manual. DW Publishing: 2004.

5. Kenny, Jack. Continuous Improvement. Label and Narrow Web.

<http://www.labelandnarrowweb.com/articles/2007/05/continuous-improvement.php>

6. 5S/Workplace Organization. IMEC.

<http://www.imec.org/imec.nsf/All/5S__Workplace_Organization?OpenDocument>

7. “BASF Lean Manufacturing Success Story” Mepol.

<http://www.mepol.org/site171.php>

8. O’Brien, Katherine. “Going with the Flow”. American Printer. July 2006

9. Cooper, Kevin. “How Going Lean Made Kell Better”. Graphic Arts Monthly. July 2006.

10. Cooper, Kevin. “Differentiating a Commodity”. Graphic Arts Monthly. August 2008.

11. “Getting ‘Lean’ Isn’t Easy.” Industry Weekly.

<http://www.allbusiness.com/specialty-businesses/886296-1.html> 2000.

12. Ginn, Dana. “Achieving Lean Success: A Pathway for Implementation.” Stat-A-Matrix. 2006

(PDF)

13. Koltzenburg, Teresa. “The Latitudes of LEAN”. American Printer. August 2004.

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 17

E-mail Interview with Kent Gilmore of Nahan Printing

• As my group understands, there are not that many printers implementing lean. How was Nahan first

introduced to the concept of lean? [Kent Gilmore] I have been with Nahan for slightly less than two

years. Prior to that, I was Vice President of Manufacturing for Jostens a leading provider of memories in

the educational market. I had 17 plants five of which 5 were printing plants. As you can imagine, Jostens

was a mature company with minimal growth opportunity. In order to increase profits we focused on cost

reduction. Lean seemed to be a good approach to achieving these cost reductions. We implemented lean in

all 17 facilities. I had been a disciple of Lean for over 10 years when I came to Nahan. At Nahan we had a

totally different situation. We were growing so rapidly we could not keep up with the demand. Being a small

company ($105 million in sales) we could not afford to buy the equipment at the rate we were growing. We

had to become more productive on the equipment we already owned, hence, Lean.

• The article mentions that Nahan implemented lean through GE Capital Solution’s ACFC (At the

Customer, For the Customer) program. Was there a particular reason why Nahan chose this method? [Kent

Gilmore] As I mentioned earlier, we are a small company with limited resources. GE’s “At the Customer

for the Customer” initiative provides free consulting to its clients. I used a combination of seminars for my

leaders and consultants from GE to launch Lean at Nahan Printing, Inc.

• Do you have photos of before and after lean implementation? And if so, would you mind letting my group

use them? [Kent Gilmore] I am going to copy Dave Bednar on my e-mail to you. Dave is our Director of

Continuous Improvement at Nahan and he will be able to provide you with a number of photos that map

our progress.

• What lean tools does Nahan currently use? [Kent Gilmore] We utilize many of the lean tools. We have

an active 5S effort as well as focus on TPM, Value Stream Mapping and Set up Reduction. We utilize

Kaizen events to gain wide participation of our employees. We have active lean initiatives in not only

manufacturing but our office areas as well. Obviously strong metrics and recognition programs focusing on

people involvement are critical to Lean success and we have an active leadership team driving both of these

efforts.

• What are some challenges in implementing lean? And what are the rewards in implementing lean? [Kent

Gilmore] Obviously the greatest challenge is overcoming an organizations fear of change. In order to

accomplish this we had to create a compelling reason to change and in order to ensure this we had to have

our efforts championed by the owners of the company. This is an on-going challenge to every business and

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GrC 411 Lean in the Print Industry 18

ours is no different. The challenge is keeping the faith and confidence through the implementation phase.

Remember, you are spending a great deal of money educating long before you see financial results. The

rewards of lean are satisfied customers, employees and owners. The customer will receive a better product,

the employee’s greater involvement and financial opportunity and the owner’s financial rewards and fewer

headaches. We are just now seeing these types of results for our efforts.