West Monroe, La

AME Conference November 18, 2010

PLYMOUTH TUBE PRODUCTS

Topgrading

80/20

Lean Thinking

Policy Deployment

Respect for People Teamwork

Built in (six sigma) Quality

Best Performance

Plymouth Tube Company Model of Manufacturing Excellence

Voice of the Customer

Customer

Satisfaction

Profitable

Growth

Continuous Improvement

Problem SolvingStandardization

Just in

Time

Safety, Highest Quality, Shortest Lead time, Lowest Cost

Topgrading

• Personnel Selection– Hire the best people available

• Personnel Development– Train people in areas of weakness and for

future needs of the business

• Personnel Placement– Place people in positions where they and we

can achieve highest levels of performance

Focus Work on Focus Work on 20% Inputs20% Inputs

80/20 Strategy

80%80%Reduce Work Reduce Work on 80% Inputson 80% Inputs

Separate Separate 80 from 2080 from 20

Simplify EverythingSimplify Everything

OUTPUT OUTPUT RESULTSRESULTS

INPUT INPUT ITEMSITEMS

80%80%

20%20%

20%20%

Key Lean Thinking Principles

New standard

Standardize Best Practices

Current Performance

Problem solve

Kaizen

(Capture performance (Capture performance gaps and causes)gaps and causes)

(Train and audit to standard)(Train and audit to standard)

Empowerment/ Cultural Transformation

Events (Kaizen,Problem Solving)

Projects

Daily Kaizen & Problem Solving

OutsideExperts

InsideExperts

TeamMembers

Tools

Systems

Engaged Thinking

Best Practices

• Safety– It is in the forefront of everything we do.– Job Safety Training (TWI)

• Lean Daily Management• Employee Engagement

– Problem Solving– Kaizen (Suggestion system)

Lessons Learned/Opportunities

• Leadership Development– Continuous Improvement

• Cultural Transformation– Employee engagement

• Strategy Deployment– Ability to respond quickly to market changes

Value of Applying for AME Award

• Value of Benchmarking with AME Best Performance Standards

• Employee Recognition for Their Hard Work