Vermeer Sales & Service in Burnsville and Vermeer Pacific in Livermore Implement Kaizen Principles to Re-Organize Shops
Posted 04/02/2010 —The Vermeer Sales & Service store in Burnsville and Vermeer Pacific in Livermore recently participated in a Kaizen workshop that incorporated Kaizen's "5S" principles. Kaizen focuses on continuous business improvement through improving standardized activities and processes.
The "5S" is a process and method for creating and maintaining a safe, organized, clean, high-performance workplace. The purpose of the stores using this philosophy is to lay the groundwork for productivity improvements. In Burnsville, team members implemented the philosophies in the Parts Warehouse area, Parts Service staging area, and Service bays. In Livermore, the Service Bay area was improved.
An audit took place by an outside expert in Kaizen that is employed by Vermeer Corporation r to assist dealers in this process. After everything was re-organized according to the "5s" philosophy, the stores have now implemented a routine to ensure sustainment and continuous improvement.
Input was received from team members with the goal to find ways to make it easier for employees to do their jobs. They found ways to increase productivity and reduce frustrations of wasted time by having designated areas for shop equipment strategically located in the Service Department.
Scott Wilkins, Vermeer Pacific Aftermarket General Manager, said that the "5s" process has made a difference in the shop's organization. "Our service bay area now has all items labeled, so tools and manuals are easier to find. Plus, with the overall "shine process," the service area is much more professional looking."
Skip Klinkhammer, Vice President Special Products, added, "The end result of this process far exceeded my expectations. We thought we had the store fairly well organized, but we found out that there are better ways to organize the Service work area and the Parts Warehouse. We now have a much more efficient and organized work-place environment for our employees."
