Lean Enterprise practice improves response

Mott has implemented Lean Enterprise practices throughout the entire company with a concentrated focus on reducing lead times, streamlining processes, and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Mott has implemented Lean Enterprise practices throughout the entire company with a concentrated focus on reducing lead times, streamlining processes, and enhancing customer satisfaction.

A paradigm shift at the 45-year-old company has taken place from one of traditional manufacturing practices to one that embraces continuous improvement at all levels, and the effects are tangible.

Each aspect of the business is being touched by the various methods, tools and techniques that Lean has to offer.

Significant results attained through the hard work of the entire Mott team include improved responsiveness, reduced lead-times and greater throughput in virtually every area of the business.

"One of the key ingredients to a successful implementation plan is communication", said Rich Labbe, Lean project manager.

"It is amazing how much we have learned about the influence communication has as you go through the lean process.

Using tactics like value stream mapping in cross-functional team environments allows all participants to fully understand the implications each step in a process has on other aspects of the business.

"There's never too much communication.

We have hung posters, posted metrics, written monthly news articles, coordinated multiple cross-functional teams, presented at company meetings - anything you can imagine to help people understand the changes taking place and why they are important.

With each communication and process implementation, more and more people are understanding the relevance of Lean in today's workforce and why the need for continuous improvement is something to strive towards every day.

Terms like: 'Voice of the Customer', '5S' and 'Value Stream Mapping' are commonplace these days at Mott.

"We have still got a lot of work in front of us," said Jeanine Wilmot, director of Process Excellence, "But the dynamics within the company and the results derived from changes made in the early stages of Lean have been remarkable and encouraging.

Mott has taken the implementation of Lean very seriously.

"We have decided not to just take a small piece of the practice and apply it expecting success.

t is a new way of processing everything from their customer information and data, to work flows through Sales, Finance, Manufacturing, and beyond.

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