by Jon M. Casey
PITTSBURGH, PA — Kicking off PACA’s three day meeting agenda, college professor and consultant for Bridgepoint, LLC, Dr. Todd Creasy, gave a keynote presentation explaining the changes in thinking and attitudes that needs to take place if companies are going to survive in the coming years. Creasy, who specializes in helping companies cut waste and improve efficiencies, share several ways to make improvements with little or no capital investment. According to one couple who attended the presentation, Creasy’s Keynote presentation was, “Worth the price of attending the meeting, if that was all that we did.”  | Keynote speaker, Dr. Todd Creasy, BridgePoint, LLC, talks about how to cut waste and improve production at Tuesday evening's opening general session. |
Creasy began by saying that Six Sigma and LEAN are continuous forms of corporate improvement adapt easily to the quarry and concrete industry. While these two methods were formulated to meet the production needs of the manufacturing industry, more specifically the electronics industry, the overall concepts of consistent quality and customer loyalty, hold true in the aggregate industry as well. “There are some methods that you can use in change management that improves your outcome of success,” he said.
Creasy said that Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally implement by the Motorola Corporation. It relies upon “statistical process control” as a way of analyzing a manufacturing process and product quality. Then, it offers ways to improve it. He said that initially, the Japanese industry consulted with statistician W. Edwards Deming and management consultant, Joseph M. Juran, who together developed this new understanding as a way of improving product quality. Creasy said that the concept evolved and was used by Jack Welsh when he headed up General Electric between 1981 and 2001. Six Sigma became more commonplace as GE’s product quality and stock values soared during that time. Creasy noted that in like fashion, by adapting Six Sigma and LEAN manufacturing techniques that focus on eliminating waste as a way of improving profits, PACA members can use the two methods during these difficult financial times to great benefit. Making changes using Six Sigma
“When you lead your company in a series of changes, make sure that everyone understands why you are making those changes,” he said. “The reason that you are making these changes is to reduce product defects.” According to Creasy, when companies reduce product defects to near zero, companies will have a competitive edge in the marketplace. “The goal of Six Sigma is 3.4 defects per one million (items produced),” he said. “A second goal is to reduce product variation. Some of you have plants that have great production one day, then poor production the next. That variation is costing you money. Six Sigma seeks to find the ways to fix those variations.” Creasy said that there are five basic steps to the program. “They are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control,” he said. “Control is the key.” He said that many times, companies implement this process and their teams get good results. If however, the company does not maintain control over their successes, their efforts will return to what they were before implementing these steps. Six Sigma helps with that. Creasy said that after a company defines problems, it needs to measure its successes against a baseline. By doing so, the company is able to analyze its problems more successfully. Then, they are able to improve on what is causing the problem and remedy it. Finally, once the problem is resolved, it is essential that everyone is accountable for those continued results to control the improved outcome. “This is the gift that keeps on giving, year after year,” he said. The LEAN manufacturing process
Looking to the LEAN manufacturing process, Creasy said that it began as the work of the man, Taiichi Ohno, who developed it as a business model for Toyota Motors. According to Creasy, it has made Toyota the manufacturing giant that it is today.
“Ohno had visited a Ford Motor Company plant and determined that their methods would not work in Japan,” he said. “Then, one day as Ohno visited a Piggly Wiggly Food Store, he saw how they were stocking the shelves with products, just as people needed them. That process is what gave rise to, ‘Just in time’ inventory control. The Toyota manufacturing system is based on this method and now is known as the Toyota Production System or TPS.”  | Keynote speaker, Dr. Todd Creasy, BridgePoint, LLC (left), calls upon volunteers to help demonstrate product manufacturing efficiencies using marbles, bowls, and the rolling of a dice. |
“The term LEAN came from a study done by researchers from MIT who were studying Ford, General Motors and Toyota,” said Creasy. “They ultimately wrote the book entitled “The Machine That Changed the World” (“The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production” by: James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos).
“What they noticed when they compared Ford and GM to Toyota was that Toyota needed less effort to design and service their products,” he said. “Toyota required less investment to achieve production capacity. They produced products with fewer defects, and they used fewer suppliers. Lastly, they performed in less time with less inventory, thus the term LEAN. It was from there that the world took the LEAN concepts and it is in just about every industry including (the aggregates industry).” Creasy challenged the group to look into applying these principles in their own businesses. Whether asphalt companies or quarry operations, he said that most businesses could find ways to improve profits and reduce costs, with little in the way of expenses. “As you begin to make your processes better, more of what you do comes into spec, which saves you money,” he said. “Looking at the whole system will give the best results.”
To comment on this story or for additional details click on the related button above. |