For Ace, Lean means building upon the strengths of each team member and understanding the necessity of interdependence.
It’s not easy being Lean
…especially if you’re a custom job shop.
Ace began our lean journey in 2002. We began with an emphasis like we have today: education. A core team learned about lean tools and philosophies from the experts themselves, and then shared with the company. We learned about interdependence and the team, and about the high standards each member is expected to embrace.
Lean became real after we emptied 10,000 square feet of manufacturing space so our team could put into place the tools and processes that became our first work cell.
Creating Perpetual Improvement
Our two unique value streams (the Power Team and the Express Team ) emerged from our initial planning, and we immediately saw significant lead time reductions.
Tackling wasteful process quickly became an art form. The visual dynamic scheduling system we have today was put in place and we immediately saw the benefit of moving information to the team where decisions could be made. In addition, we also moved the support team closer to the floor and the process.
Phase 2 of our lean journey was our empowerment phase where we focused on developing self-directed teams. We also implemented our paperless engineering file system and order entry system, along with our SyteLine ERP upgrade.
Our lean practices have helped redefine how we approach capital improvements. Today, we invest in equipment and technology that reduce waste, improve throughput, streamline process and product flow, or open us to new markets and service offerings.
A Culture of Communicators
Lean manufacturing will not work without a culture that encourages communication. That's why Ace takes great pride in the amount of communication and details shared with every employee. For instance, as a privately held company, there is no mandate to share the financial picture of the company. Yet we believe such transparency is mandatory.
