WAVE Direction
by Jeff Meiners
We’ve lost a little momentum so it’s time to make some changes in our WAVE (Working to Add Value & Engage) direction. The changes will be in teams and direction. Teams will continue to be on the floor at 1:15 on Mondays and 3:15 on Wednesdays for the most part (mix team being an exception). Teams will continue to focus on contract packaging issues since that is where our biggest needs are at this time. Our focus will continue to be on employee/manage- ment interaction to come up with creative solutions to problems. We continue to feel that it is healthy for Crest to have an ongoing situation that brings managers out of their offices and onto the production floor on a regular basis. If everyone participates enthusiastically, we win before we ever solve a problem by creating a new level of interac- tion between employees and management. Solving problems is the frosting on the cake that will ultimately sustain the program when employees and managers see results for their efforts. WAVE teams as of December 1st will be as follows: • Housekeeping o This area has had a number of teams for the past year. There has been a lot of progress made in some key areas. Four people will be given the entire production facility, main plant and west, to continue to champion issues that will improve our overall level of housekeeping. They will be in the plant on each shift once a week and will spread out individually. They will also meet together once a week to send a report to production and o This is an ongoing team that still has plenty to do in their area. The focus of this team is to offer a different perspective and insight on ways to improve the functionality of the mix operation and how it relates to the rest of the packaging world. This perspective then needs to be blended with the input of those that have feet on the ground in mixing all day to come up with innovative ideas on ways to better operate mixing. o Team members – Jenny Drew(leader), Sue Osborne, Tom Balch, Mike Meiners • Warehouse Operations o We are out of room in the warehouse. While we will be gaining another 93,000 square feet in warehouse space sometime this summer, we shouldn’t count on that as the cure to our space problem. This team will tackle those issues from a warehouse, scheduling, QA and production viewpoint. The goal will be to come up with a workable set of user guidelines and operational procedures that will allow us to use our space as productively as possible while meeting a reasonable set of needs of our customers. o Team members – Elton Turner(leader), Mark McWethy, Jerry Lawrence, Erika Meiners • Waste and Sustainability o Crest sends 30,000 lbs. of trash to the landfill every day. What lost opportunities does that 30,000 lbs. repre- sent? Could we have recycled some of it? What is the composition of that 30,000 pounds and how much of it maintenance on issues needing attention as well as to follow up on previous requests. o Team members – Cheri Kemp(leader), Jeff Roop, Andra Meiners, Jeff Meiners • Mix Operations
18 Crest Ink January, February & March 2015
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