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Streamlining builds competitive market

JANESVILLE — To survive in today’s whimpering economy, companies are streamlining their operations through an increasingly popular strategy called lean manufacturing.

The process could make businesses more competitive in the long run, say state experts on the topic. More than a dozen local business leaders will discuss the idea over a Thursday lunch and learn session, sponsored by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

“Those who become lean … become more competitive,” said Jerry Thiltgen, senior manufacturing specialist with the partnership. “One could argue you have to be lean to be competitive.”

Lean—a descriptive term for companies who have initiatives in place to reduce waste—helps cut costs and production times, Thiltgen said. Before a pair of authors coined the term in a book examining Toyota Motor Corporation’s production process, which utilized lean practices, many businesses called waste reduction “becoming more efficient.”

Waste isn’t just a shop issue, Thiltgen said. Companies can remove wasteful flow of information and paperwork and wasted mental and creative capacity of employees.

“Lean is a thinking organization from top to bottom,” he said. “It’s getting everybody in an organization to think every day, ‘How can we do a better job? How can we make our company better by getting rid of waste?’”

Janesville-based Freedom Plastics, a PVC pipe and fittings manufacturer and featured company at Thursday’s luncheon, has been on the lean journey for quite some time, plant manager Paul Carney said.

He said a few years ago, several employees at Freedom Plastics went through the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership’s lean certification program.

Initially, employees of Freedom Plastics were slow to help in the effort to become lean because it was not a style of work to which they were accustomed, Carney said. Now, all of the employees are involved with making the plant more organized and efficient.

The lean journey not only has helped Freedom Plastics become more efficient in producing PVC piping, it also boosted morale.

Carney, along with Thiltgen, said lean manufacturing processes help businesses financially, as well.

Carney wouldn’t give specifics but said, “If we become more efficient and put out a better product, it obviously affects our bottom line.”