RED RIVER REVIEW
	OCTOBER 2004

Lean Successes

Lean trickles to other areas	Simpler Consultants representative Ralph Hamilton says an event was being conducted to identify the triggers for a pull system for parts.  The goal of the event was to make sure visual replenishment triggers were in place.  During the event the group noticed some boxes trickling over into the area they were working in.  Soon Hamilton noticed that the expediter in an adjoining area was setting up his area following the “grocery store” approach.
During a recent rapid improvement event on the HMMWV line an expediter noticed he wanted to make some changes. Although Quentin Malone wasn’t involved in the event, he took the opportunity to apply some Lean principles to his area of responsibility.
Expediter Quentin Malone explains how the “grocery store” is set up to new employee Chris Brewer.	A comment was made to the manager over the area that the team was not aware that Station 1 was included in the RIE event.  The answer they got was that it wasn’t involved in the event.  Doing a little more investigation, Hamilton discovered that Malone had observed some of the Lean applications of the event being conducted and decided to move forward on his own. “I was trained on the Engine Rebuild Line by Jimmy Briggs and I knew I wanted this new area to be set up like his,” said Malone.  Malone says that he hadn’t heard of Lean before coming to RRAD but had worked in supply functions while serving in the military.  He observed the Lean techniques being applied and realized that he could use the Lean concepts to set up his area to allow the mechanic to have parts within an arm’s reach. Malone says, “Everything needs structure and Lean can provide that structure.  It is a good system.” Malone says that it is a continuous process and there is still more to do. “It is like setting up a house and getting everything in place,” said Malone.