Q&A with the 2004 MRO Today co-Pros of the Year

What follows is the transcript of an interview between MRO Today editor Paul V. Arnold and Nordson Corporation lean coordinators Elsie Goforth and Ben Lopez. Goforth and Lopez were selected as members of MRO Today’s fifth annual MRO All-Pro Team and as the co-recipients of the Pro of the Year Award.

MROT: When the whole concept of lean manufacturing started to get talked about at your particular Nordson plant in Norcross, Ga., what about it drew you in and enticed you to get involved?

Ben Lopez: “CEO Ed Campbell introduced lean to us at a stockholders’ meeting in 2001. That was when he first used the word “lean” to us. The next day, I spoke with Sherry, who is a collector here, and wanted to find out more about it. What the heck did it mean? What would it mean for us in manufacturing at this plant? She pointed me in the right direction and handed me a book. At the same time, we were concerned about our processes in the machine shop. That’s where I was at that time. We were always driving to do better, even since plant manager Tom Hartwick taught us in 1990 or 1991. Back in the early 1990s, the focus was on self-directed work teams and about the business of staying in business. Some of our concerns back then included Action 2000 – that was on the heels of us implementing SAP and caused a reorganization. That made us aware of some of our good and bad business practices. Then in 2001, we wanted to see which direction the company was going relative to us conducting our own business. When I read that book, “Lean Thinking,” it took me back to the things that we had been taught years ago. Some of the labels and language were not foreign to us. We had seen it before. We participated in developing self-directed work teams when we moved into this building. That gave me a leg up. It revitalized everything we had done before. Other than management people changing, we were the same team.”

MROT: Did the self-directed work teams concept catch on and flourish? Did it reach its full potential and lean was the next step? Or, did lean really make that self-directed teams concept happen?

Lopez: “We are talking about two different eras. The self-directed team that I am alluding to goes back to the early 1990s. Then there was a blank. Something got lost in the process. But some of us still had the skills that we learned back in the early 1990s. In the late 1990s, we lost it. When I came back in 1998, there was a management change. They reverted back to the traditional structure. When we first learned these concepts, it was just us and our boss, Tom Hartwick. There were no supervisors between us. We recorded all of the attendance, hours used, overtime, how much money was spent on raw materials and tooling. We all tracked it. When lean was mentioned again in 2001, it just brought back all of those tools that we had in place before. Guys who had been 15 to 16 years kind of liked what we were hearing. We wanted to use it again. Lean revitalized it all.”

MROT: How did lean get started at the Swainsboro, Ga., facility and how did you get involved?

Elsie Goforth: “When I first learned about lean, I thought it was a very good program. Like Ben said, it reminded me a lot of what we learned in the early 1990s. We talked about self-directed teams and focused factories and bringing the machining centers near the production cells. When we had the management change, we kind of lost the focus on that. In 2000 to 2001, I was told about lean. A lot of the terminology was different, but the concepts were the same. I supported it then in the 1990s and hated to see it end when we went away from it. I’m the kind of person who is always up for a change. I’m always looking for a new challenge. Lean is something that the company can use to eliminate waste and create greater profitability. It gets everyone involved. People feel better about their job. It’s an opportunity for people to be able to expand themselves so that you are not tied to one thing. It’s not putting one screw into one body all day long. It really taps into the resources of people. You get more from people than you expect.”

MROT: What is an average day like in your role as a lean coordinator?

Goforth: “An average day for me involves a lot of planning. You come in in the morning and see what the fire is that you will be working on today. I’m on the production floor a lot. I’m looking for new ideas and opportunities. I work with people every day trying to make small changes. People don’t realize that changing one little thing can have a big impact. If you make people see that, it frees their desire to change and do better. I spend a lot of time on the floor talking with folks, helping them understand when to batch and when to not batch. I try to instill new ideas in them. I work with management constantly, keeping them updated on what’s going on and passing on ideas. My job, basically, is trying to encourage change.”

MROT: What training took place in order to take on the role of a lean coordinator?

Lopez: “I got asked to be a lean coordinator in December two years ago. In January, I attended my first kaizen event in Talladega. In that first year, I was in kaizen events pretty much once a month. So, my training was basically hands on. I understood that my task was to be observant of what the facilitators and consultants were doing. I learned what lean and what the kaizens were all about. I learned what needed to be changed and why. Then I had to get the wisdom to convey that information to the team. I’m still working on that part. I know what the tools are. I just need to work on conducting meetings, etc.”

MROT: With Simpler Consulting providing the overall lean direction as the company went on this journey, did you go through any specialized training with Simpler?

Lopez: “When John Rubio of Simpler shows up, we have some one-on-one instruction. It’s usually after hours. He provides some insight on what you may want to do tomorrow. We have a general idea of what we as a company want to do with lean. We are afforded the leniency to deviate the program and tailor it to our needs and people and the way we conduct business. The results have been positive.

“My strength and expertise is out there on the floor — moving the ‘furniture’ around and making it happen. That’s what I do best. Having been an assembly person, having been in the machine shop, knowing where the inventory is at, that is my element. The administrative end of it, conducting the meetings, I’m getting there. Right now, my focus is hands on.”

MROT: Elsie, is your experience fairly similar to Ben in regard to training?

Goforth: “My training started about the same time as Ben’s training. Pam Pratt came in and did a week’s worth of facilitation training. We originally worked with a company called CLS, another consulting company that we used in the beginning. The CLS team shadowed us as we started to facilitate. Then we switched to Simpler. John Rubio has provided a wealth of information. He sends me information every day. My file is huge. The information has been priceless. So, we did get training in the beginning, but from then on, it’s been hands-on experience. We’re really lucky, I think, that we have been provided the freedom to really go at this and develop our own styles.”

MROT: What are some of the challenges of having to speak both the language of the manager and the language of the shop-floor person?

Goforth: “I came from the production floor. I can speak that language easily. Management has made it very easy to relate to them. Ed Campbell and Beau Groover and others have been supportive. Their guidance has been priceless. My job is to find what motivates people. That’s what you have to look for. That’s the key. We walk a fine line. We have to show the managers where the money is. You have to let them know the return on the investment. We have refined and created a good way to report those things to management.”

MROT: Where do the ideas for lean projects come from? Is the direction for projects provided by plant leadership or by people on the shop floor?

Lopez: “I listen to the people a lot for ideas for projects. Some of the projects are initially driven by management. They express to me that we have a shortcoming over in this area. Initially, the projects are prescribed to us. Then we look at this and say, how can we get it done? After that, it becomes contagious. People are sold when they see it makes their area more efficient, more productive, with less of a hassle. People outside of the project area then start asking, ‘When are you going to bring that over here?’ Take simple things such as shadow boards for the tools. I hear, ‘How come he has that and I don’t?’ The simple conveniences mean a lot to people. You just have to listen to those guys. After a while, the momentum builds. When you plant the seeds, good things grow.”

Goforth: “Two of the important things about a lean initiative — and Ben has talked about them — is the visual portion and also momentum. Ben mentioned shadow boxes. You are starting to gain momentum when people start asking for these things. I hear a lot, ‘I want my kiosk. Where’s my kiosk?’ You go in and schedule with our facilities guy who puts these things together. That way, everyone knows when they should expect to have their kiosk.

“Also, I have people stop me on the production floor two to three times a day and go, ‘When are you going to get me on a kaizen? I want to be on an event.’ Or, ‘I want to be on another event. When can I come back?’ That’s a positive step.”

MROT: How many people are at the Swainsboro facility? And, what percentage has been involved with a lean team project?

Goforth: “We have 64 employees. Of that total, 66 percent of our workforce has been involved in an event.”

MROT: When did you see lean having an impact at your facility?

Goforth: “For me, I started to see the impact very early, within a few months after I became the lean coordinator.”

Lopez: “Her atmosphere is quite different than ours.”

Goforth: “We had a new facility with new people. We didn’t have people who had worked for Nordson for 10 or 20 years and had preconceived notions of how ‘the Nordson Way’ was. We have only four or five people who had been with the company prior to the plant opening. So, we didn’t have a lot of that to battle like other facilities have.

“But whether they are new or old employees, people usually don’t like to change. They don’t see change as a positive thing. Change is seen as risky. The more people see the results, the more receptive they become.

MROT: They may have been new to that Nordson plant, but they probably had worked at other plants. So, you do have to get past those preconceived notions and explain to them that what they are being asked to do may be different than the traditional roles of a manufacturing worker.

Goforth: “One hurdle is: ‘You don’t pay me to do that. That’s not my job. You don’t pay me to be an engineer or a planner.’ You have to help them understand that you are helping to build them up. Maybe this could lead to a future opportunity.

“Lean builds you up as an employee of the company, but it also builds you up as a person. I’ve even taken lean home to my personal life. My son is all about lean now. He leans out the garage or the carport. He does a 6-S on everything. It’s very contagious. All you have to do is get that seed planted. You get one or two people on board and they get two people on board and it goes on and on. Pretty soon you see a culture change.”

MROT: Ben, you mentioned that you are more of a person who “makes things happen.” If you can, please talk about how being this type of person helps you in your position as a lean coordinator?

Lopez: “You don’t buy respect. You earn it. I have earned everything that has helped me become who I am and what I do. I am very proud of that. I am a team player, but I also know that one person can make a big difference. I have stepped up and taken this challenge by the horns.

“When I talk to my co-workers on the plant floor, I am very concerned with not sounding ‘management like.’ My job is to fix stuff that has been frustrating people for the longest time. Nobody paid attention to fixing these things. There were too many things happening that we couldn’t get to them. Basic stuff is very important to these guys. When you react and satisfy those little things for them, they are behind you.”

MROT: It takes all sorts of people to lead a lean effort. You need the people who are process focused, like Ben, but you also need people who are very people focused. Elsie, you have been called a shining example because of your people skills and vision. Is that part of your personality or is this something that you have adapted to fit this role?

Goforth: “I think it is part of my personality. I’ve always been a people person. It’s rewarding to watch someone take those steps. I’m a people person and I’m a very visual person.”

MROT: Speaking of visual, please talk about the flash card concept that you developed for your plant.

Goforth: "The flash cards were my idea. I was looking for something that was easy and simple and that people could enjoy. Part of changing the culture is making people enjoy what they are doing. I want to make them anxious to learn. It goes back to motivates people and what they like. People like prizes. It’s great to have something with the Nordson logo on it (coffee mugs, shirts, etc.). There are 14 flash cards with lean questions on the front. The answers are on the back of the cards, but they are also posted throughout the facility.”

MROT: What are the important things that you try to keep in mind as a trainer of lean concepts?

Goforth: “In the beginning, you want to start with something that’s easy — 6-S. That’s very visual. I train a lot on this and then I move up the ladder. You build on it. I train a lot on value stream mapping. Every day, you expand it.”

MROT: In what ways can lean coordinators at different Nordson facilities communicate and share lean best practices?

Goforth: “We are working to improve the communication between Nordson facilities and Nordson lean coordinators. We are starting to have more communication. We are having a lean summit with people from all of our facilities. We have a Web site set up that we will be setting up with information about the lean activities at our sites.”

MROT: In what ways do you share lean knowledge and benchmark with other companies?

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