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On Monday, September 30, 2024
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Advanced Heat Treat Corp.: Small Changes Have Big Impact for Seven-Time Employer of Choice Recipient
“What bugs you?”
While normally this question has a negative connotation, at Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), it’s a question that is encouraged and viewed as the starting point for positive change.
In August 2023, the seven-time Employer of Choice award recipient, AHT, was in the planning stages of a new fiscal year. With an initiative to reduce costs and based on a customer’s recommendation, AHT president Mike Woods and a small group of employees began reading the book, “2 Second Lean.”
The book’s premise was around building a “lean” culture, identifying wastes and then empowering employees to solve those problems with multiple small fixes over time. Fixes could include reducing the amount of time an activity takes, strategically setting up work areas to be more efficient, ensuring spaces are organized, fully utilizing employees’ strengths/skills, etc.
The initial 2-Second Lean (2SL) group found great value in the book’s principles, so another group began reading it, and then another, and by March 2024, it had spread throughout the entire organization – every location, every employee. Employees were organized into multiple cross-departmental groups and met every day for ten minutes to discuss a chapter of the book, share wins and losses, and talk about their ‘two-second lean’ ideas – how to fix what bugs them. The daily meeting also started with a quick icebreaker question, allowing employees from the various departments to get to know each other better.
Lindsey Newcomb, AHT marketing manager, commented, “I’ve really enjoyed our 2SL groups and the exposure it’s given me to other departments. While I am in Marketing, I now feel more in tune with what’s going on in Finance, Operations, Quality, etc. We celebrate each others’ successes – whether that’s a new customer or an improved way of doing things – and we are made aware of issues too, such as equipment that needs maintenance or a goal that wasn’t met.”
While every employee has read the book now, the cross-departmental meetings continue to occur daily. The 2SL teams have also dedicated one day each week to cleaning collectively as a group. During this time, they might go outside to pick up debris, paint walls inside the facility, or other deep cleaning activities.
This weekly cleaning activity has also helped to identify other 2SL opportunities.
“We used to only have a couple spots in our shop for brooms and dust pans,” commented Chase Gibbs, AHT quality specialist. “So, when I was going to clean up, I had to walk to the other end of the shop… sometimes to find someone else was using the supplies or had not put them back. Now, we have several clearly labeled stations at key locations in our plant so the items I need for cleanup are always nearby and available.”
Joe Patava, continuous improvement specialist and leader of the two-second lean program, defined the program as a mindset that allows you to view all your daily tasks (big or small) and evaluate what does not provide value or what stands in the way of achieving your goals efficiently.
Patava added, “Once you are able to see this waste, then you can go about limiting it as much as possible or remove it entirely. Often the question; “What bugs you?” is a trigger to seeing these wastes because we are naturally annoyed by waste, for example; trying to find a tool that has not been put back or walking 40 steps each way to get supplies when you could move the supplies to your work area instead.”
To minimize these wastes, AHT has implemented changes such as additional labeling to ensure items are returned to the proper place; QR codes in strategic locations so information is available where you need it, when you need it; and automation to reallocate employees away from repetitive, non-skilled tasks.
AHT president Mike Woods concluded with “2SL has been a great way to get to know teammates better, celebrate successes, fix problems, better utilize resources and continually improve the way we operate. I couldn’t be more proud of our team and I look forward to even more ideas being rolled out in the future.”
Interested in learning more about employment with Advanced Heat Treat Corp.? Visit www.ahtjobs.com or call 319-232-5221.
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