Our 2-Second Lean Journey to Successful Sheet Metal Fabrication Services
In the dynamic manufacturing sector, it’s important to make adjustments regularly to perform as efficiently as possible. It’s one thing to implement significant, large-scale changes to the shop, but it’s a whole other story when it comes to making sure they stick.
At Athena Manufacturing, we’ve found that making small changes consistently is our recipe for success. The revolutionary approach we’ve adopted, known as the “2-Second Lean” journey, has become a driving force behind our culture of Continuous Improvement. Inspired by Paul Akers’ book, 2 Second Lean: How to Grow People and Build a Fun Lean Culture, this methodology encourages minor, incremental improvements – sometimes as little as 2 seconds – in every process through the organization. It hasn’t involved any big investments or complicated formulas, but simply carving out time every day for our people to share their improvements and celebrate each other’s successes.
Our 2-Second Lean approach has led to remarkably positive results over time in multiple areas, from waste reduction and risk mitigation to operational efficiency. It highlights our commitment to continuous improvement and fosters a creative, innovative environment that ensures Athena can produce the greatest impact for our customers.
Let’s explore how our 2-Second Lean approach works and how it enhances the efficiency of our contract manufacturing services.
Athena’s 2-Second Lean Journey
Athena’s Lean approach revolves around the key principles outlined in Akers’ book. Here are some of the fundamentals we’ve incorporated into the day-to-day of our precision metal fabrication services:
Small Improvements Every Day
Instead of aiming for large, complex changes, we focus on identifying and implementing small improvements that can be completed quickly. Typically, these developments relate to housekeeping and identifying waste.
The most substantial improvement we made as a result of our 2-Second Lean approach involved reducing the amount of work in progress on the shop floor. The visual impact of this project was tremendous and many of our customers even pointed out how different our facilities looked. With our shop cleaned up of unnecessary clutter, team members could find what they were looking for immediately. This change took some time, as we handled it in small chunks every day, but it opened everyone’s eyes to how minor changes around the shop can produce tangible results.
Some other examples of changes we’ve discussed include:
Discovering new ways to package parts
Finding different ways to move parts through the shop more quickly and efficiently
Organization of work areas
The use of shadow boards to organize the placement of equipment and tools
In all, we’ve made approximately 1,500 changes!
Team Involvement
Every day, we hold a 30-minute all-hands meeting in which every team member shares an improvement they made either yesterday or earlier that day. This gathering keeps each individual within our organization accountable for implementing this Continuous Improvement mindset. To encourage employee buy-in, we ensure these all-hands meetings are fun and engaging.
Celebrating Success
In addition to sharing 2-Second Lean activities at our all-hands meetings, we put time aside to celebrate our people. We allow teams to shout out individuals who have been instrumental to their success and share appreciation for those who have made impactful improvements or have demonstrated passion for their craft.
By recognizing achievements, Athena reinforces our culture of improvement and motivates team members to continue seeking ways to enhance their productivity.
How Athena’s 2-Second Lean Journey Benefits Customers
Athena’s commitment to the 2-Second Lean journey has produced a significant ripple effect for our customers. Quite simply, when a customer’s supplier performs better, the customer can expect greater results. Several things can occur when a shop is motivated to improve its methods:
Reduced Risk of Nonperformance
Instead of worrying if they’ll receive parts on time, our customers can focus on their own clients. They count on Athena’s consistency and organization, both of which have improved due to our Continuous Improvement environment.
Greater Speed and Efficiency
Many of our 2-Second improvements are implemented to accelerate and streamline our operations. Changes on our shop floor have encouraged us to adopt time-saving strategies that produce shorter lead times.
Building and Retaining Our Talented Teams
A workforce that is challenged, rewarded, creative in their brainstorming and thoughtful in their approach is more productive, leading to a happier and more organized enterprise. At Athena, we’ve invested time and resources into our workforce solutions to upskill and retain our teams. Our 2-Second Lean approach has contributed immensely to these workforce efforts.
“Creative Domino Effect”
When we are pushing initiatives such as thoughtful just-in-time procurement activities, our suppliers are forced to step up; in turn, they are making improvements of their own. This allows us to focus more attention on our customers, it produces what we call the “creative domino effect,” influencing shops that work with us to adopt a Continuous Improvement mindset.
Continuous Improvement in Texas Contract Manufacturing
Athena’s commitment to Continuous Improvement is evident in our pursuit of providing the best outcomes at the lowest risk to customers. We focus on getting better, faster, stronger and more creative every day. This results in:
Better quality
Reduced lead times
Minimized risk
Elimination of waste.
As Athena evolves in our 2-Second Lean journey, we remain steadfast in our dedication to innovation and excellence. Contact us to get started on your next project with a forward-thinking custom metal fabrication shop.