Over the past 13 years, the business volume has continued to grow at an accelerated pace due to the high demand for Camfil APC’s product. The company believed it was important to provide a standard of training for all 200 employees that would allow each to understand the principles of manufacturing excellence. They turned to Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions, a NIST MEP affiliate, for assistance.
AMS conducted 10 sessions of the 8 hour Principles of Lean Manufacturing workshop for all 200 of the employees in teams of 20 to 25 participants. Weekly Lean 101 sessions were conducted from May through August. During each session, every team member was asked to provide his/her perspective on the challenges and opportunities that they faced as a team. Individual team scorecards were collected and the winning teams were provided with printed certificates in celebration of their team accomplishments. At the end of every session, each team member left with a clear understanding of the six part definition of lean manufacturing, the 8 wastes, and the 15 tools of lean. With this knowledge in hand, the company then formed teams to implement eight internal Kaizen Events that helped make changes necessary to meet the coming growth demands. AMS further assisted by hosting a Value Stream Mapping session with a core group of managers to establish the strategic implementation plan for the remainder of the year.
Company: Camfil Air Pollution Control
Camfil Air Pollution Control (APC), being one of the top dust collector manufacturers worldwide, cleans up manufacturing processes. Camfil APC Jonesboro is the largest dust collection manufacturing site in the world, occupying 280,000 sq. ft. on a 25 acre lot. Just about every manufacturing process creates some type of dust or fume and Camfil APC provides a solution to fit any type of dust or fume.
The Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions workshop was instrumental in helping our employees understand the value and importance of Lean Manufacturing. As a result, we have been able to make the necessary changes to our operations that will position us to more successfully meet our future growth demands.
Plant Manager