Lean routines make workflow smart, profitable

LEAN AND LIKING IT: igus’ adoption of lean practices has helped the company expand while maintaining a calm and smooth-running operation, according to company executives. Going over a company order are, from left, Vice President Richard Abbate, assembly tech William Solorzano and Warehouse Operations Manager Gerry Fournier. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
LEAN AND LIKING IT: igus’ adoption of lean practices has helped the company expand while maintaining a calm and smooth-running operation, according to company executives. Going over a company order are, from left, Vice President Richard Abbate, assembly tech William Solorzano and Warehouse Operations Manager Gerry Fournier. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Manufacturing in any industry requires skilled workers and a streamlined process that ends with flawless quality. This is where igus Inc. and its staff of 150 Rhode Island employees shine.
Igus is a global player with headquarters in Germany and a newly designed, 162,000-square-foot factory and office-space facility in East Providence. It has served the North American market for almost 30 years.
The company makes polymer bearings and chains, which are plastic products that enable movement in machines, developing the technology to support its innovative products. It sells across many trades, including agriculture, construction and the automotive industry.
In fact, plastic bearings are now used in heavy-duty jobs that only metals at one time could withstand. These goods made by Rhode Islanders now travel around the world as functional parts in cars and heavy-duty machinery, and serve as the lubricant slider in the inner workings of many machines.
A key to igus’ success has been its adoption of lean practices. All igus employees take part in a Lean 101 training session that the owner also participates in. His presence is a sign of how much value is assigned to the training.
The lean processes are a way of simplifying and improving the consistent flow of an order from the customer all the way through packaging and shipping. The company integrates lean skills and practices into everything from ordering and stocking procedures to the manufacturing floor, and back into research and development.
Examples of lean practices include streamlining all paperwork associated with orders, workspace standardization and daily quality checklists. The company has eliminated phone calls to the manufacturing floor. By using a system of instant messages via computers, all messages, instructions and installation notes are kept together and intact as they travel down the assembly line. This results in less error.
“If our customers’ machines are experiencing downtime, they are losing money. Igus maintains a very large inventory and lean assembly process specifically to respond to customers in need of rapid delivery to keep their machines running,” said Vice President Richard Abbate.
Mark Leland, an employee for the past 21 years, has seen operations transformed from a small, disorganized warehouse to the lean machine igus is today. “When I first started, finding parts was real hard. … Then we created a bin system with part numbers categorizing like materials. We now use scanner guns and have created work stations to make it a standardized process,” said Leland, a floor supervisor. “Now there’s no need to search for tools to get the job done, reducing customer complaints by 50 percent.”
Another strength of the company is its resourceful technology and the foresight to construct these products. Its focus on customer satisfaction and meeting often demanding shipping targets are supported by lean management practices.
“The company has produced sales growth in almost every year with the exception of the two recessions in 2001 and 2009,” said Abbate. “The company’s customer-focused approach, coupled with a constant demand for increased automation, higher reliability and reduced operating costs of the machinery within our main industrial equipment sectors, have been main factors in the company’s continued success.”
Although igus is headquartered overseas, the Rhode Island location was chosen due to easy access of goods, which can come in from Europe through the port of Boston. The founder, Gunter Blase, also liked this area and wanted to set down roots. It is a family-owned business with Gunter’s son Frank Blase serving as the current CEO.
In addition to its ability to offer world-class service, igus ships more than 80,000 different products with help from recent improvements in the production process and the new facility, allowing it to expand market share in North America. It ships out 600 orders daily, solely from the Rhode Island factory, with 96 percent of orders on the move within the same 24-hour period. This isn’t a rush mentality but rather normal operating procedures needed to meet customer demand.
“A big part of our success is due to our large product offering and our ability to deliver to customers of all sizes. No order is ever too small [for igus to fulfill]. … During the economic downturn, the very large manufacturers shrank production while the small manufacturers kept producing,” said Warehouse Operation Manager Gerry Fournier. “We stopped receiving the large orders but kept receiving the small daily orders, which kept us going.”
Igus also uses a unique KNOC KNOC policy. KNOC is an acronym developed at the company’s German headquarters. It stands for “No no without CEO.” This means that customer requests may be declined only if the top managers agree. KNOC KNOC also implies that any employee is able to approach the highest managers on behalf of customer requests.
“There have been instances where an inside sales representative has taken a call from a customer who had a machine down and needed parts delivered to their facility that day. The KNOC KNOC was used [the sales rep contacted executive-level managers] to interrupt the production schedule, coordinate the inventory requirements, build the assemblies and prepare the order for shipping,” said Abbate.
Despite the need to meet customer demands and push out quality products, Leland, the floor supervisor, called the igus plant a calm environment. “Work flow is smooth, and at the end of the day there’s not a big rush because everything is running smoothly throughout the day,” he said.
The employee buy-in into these practices is as important as is the use of the streamlined processes. “Everyone buys into the improved lean processes. It took years to get everyone to change, but it’s what makes me most proud,” said Leland. •

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