News and Updates

Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) is a strategy where TeamMates at the grassroots level of a company work together proactively to achieve regular, incremental improvements to the manufacturing process. In a sense, it combines the intellectual talents within a company to create a powerful engine for improvement. This program is open to all TeamMates working primarily on the manufacturing Gemba, specifically the following departments: Molding, Decoration & Assembly, Machine Shop, Molding Quality, Material Handling, Harmar Office, Building Maintenance, Sanitation, Harmar Quality, Decoration & Assembly Maintenance, and Supply Chain (103, 114, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, and 176). You can learn more about the program in our training materials.

Since 2015 we have utilized various versions of a custom Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with Visual Basic for Applications programming to automate the Kaizen Card documentation process. Over the years, subtle changes have been made to improve the program (continuous improvement in all we do)!

Soft Launch and Testing Environment

In late 2019 we set out to have the process streamlined into the Good Idea Club website, to utilize existing methods and techniques to make it easier for TeamMates to communicate their solutions to others and address a lack of visibility to the program for all affected TeamMates. The project was approved for the 2020 budget, and then... well you know what happened to our business and many others as a result of COVID-19. As things began opening up in mid-2021, our website partners were able to resume work and we're happy to "soft launch" the new website process effective January 1, 2022!

As with the Good Idea Club, we've attempted to make the website very straightforward and easy to use; it also functions very similarly to the Good Idea Club Forum. Due to the "soft launch" nature of this implementation, we have been given access to begin testing the system with real data from ongoing Kaizen Cards and new proposals from TeamMates. As such, watch for the "Testing Environment" notice at the top of the page. This only appears on Kaizen Card Forum-related pages and does not affect the functionality of any existing web pages... EXCEPT for those related to TeamMate account information. This is to prevent unknown programming behavior from locking TeamMates out of coin activity, e.g. awards from Good Ideas and Store purchases. Please navigate to a different page on the Good Idea Club where this notice is not present to view and make changes to your user account.
Additionally, given these precautions, you will need to log into this portion of the website after first logging into the Good Idea Club. If you have any issues, please use the password reset tool or email Zack Dickerson!

The Kaizen Card Forum contains just two new pages, the main forum listing all submitted Kaizen Cards (Awaiting Acceptance by a Facilitator, Awaiting Presentation at a weekly or monthly meeting, or Closed and awarded), and the "Submit a Kaizen Card Proposal" page. Forum listings are generated from TeamMate submissions, so we'll review this process first.

TeamMate Process for Submitting Kaizen Card Proposals

This page contains a variety of fields that are normally captured on the completed Kaizen Card form, including: Your Name - This will fill automatically Any Co-authors to the Proposal: Kaizen Cards can have up to a maximum of three TeamMates included. This is aligned to the definition of a Kaizen improvement, which is generally small, and completed quickly. If you have more than three TeamMates working on improvements in an area, there are likely multiple Kaizen Cards that can be submitted! Work with your Facilitator if you have any questions! Area: Simply the location that the proposal is to be put in place. This helps the Facilitator find the issue! One Liner: Just as we use with Good Ideas, the One Liner is a concise description of the proposal to be implemented. Description of the Problem & Causes: Use this field to give Facilitators some detail about the problem or opportunity you've encountered and what you think may be the cause. Muda: You may have heard of this Japanese term for wastefulness, uselessness, or futility and the eight forms that we recognize here at Whirley-DrinkWorks! Select the forms that apply in each situation, especially those that will be reduced or eliminated with your proposal. Actions: Key to the true spirit of Kaizen Card improvements are proposals and implementations that come with help from the submitting TeamMate(s). While you may not be able to physically implement the entire improvement, you can provide invaluable input on the specifics, including measurement, arrangement, style/type, and many other areas of detail. Attachments: A picture is worth 1000 words (and a video is worth even more)! Please provide any additional resources that help make your case for implementation! Submit: Once you've filled out all the fields, send the proposal off to the Facilitator for review. They'll contact you with the next steps!

Next Steps for the Facilitator

We've reviewed various functionality of the website with the Facilitators over the last year, and tools were put in place on the website to improve flow with the Kaizen Card submission process. Additional training will be provided as we start using the system, but a summary checklist of the steps follows:

• After Kaizen Cards are proposed by the Submitting TeamMate(s), the proposals are routed through the Operational Excellence Manager for assignment to the relevant Facilitator within three (3) weekdays, as based by department or affected area:
  

  Molding A-Team Production - Kevin Lasecki x1346 B-Team Production - Jeff McMeans x1346 C-Team Production - Wyatt Haines x1346 D-Team Production - Linda Kinney x1346 Molding Maintenance - Tom Carroll x1369 Machine Shop - Kevin Hoover x1324

  Harmar 1st Shift Decoration & Assembly - Tom Spetz x2577 2nd Shift Decoration & Assembly - Betty Hetrick x2577 3rd Shift Decoration & Assembly - Shawn Benson x2577 Supply Chain & Material Handling - Kristin Eames x2423 Decoration & Assembly Maintenance - Keith Shaw x2587 Facilities Maintenance - John Nicklas x2470 Sanitation - Jeff Chase x2460

• Once a Kaizen Card Proposal has been assigned to a Facilitator, he or she will have seven (7) days from the time of assignment to make the initial determination whether a Kaizen Card will be pursued or not.
  
  • All Kaizens are Good Ideas, but the same is not always true. Some proposals will require more coordination, time, or capital than the true definition of Kaizen allows (remember, small and quick); if this is the case, the Facilitator may elect to pursue your proposal as a Good Idea, which lends more time and potential for larger-scale projects and discussion between all affected TeamMates.
  • Should a Kaizen Card Proposal go unanswered for more than seven days, it will automatically shift to a Good Idea at that time. The follow-up response from the Responding Manager is still important and should be completed within the normal response deadline of 14 days.
• Kaizen Card Facilitators have a new tool available to them as well, with the ability to add Kaizen Card improvements directly to the Operational Excellence Technician's Project List, ensuring TeamMate proposals have the resources aligned behind them as needed:
  
• Keeping with the spirit of Kaizen, proposals should be completed quickly after being accepted and Facilitators will have fourteen (14) days to realize finalization and complete the Kaizen Card documentation in the system; Facilitators and TeamMates are reminded to follow the Kaizen attitude to "Get half done now, incrementally improve towards perfection." If the original proposal is too grand to be completed in two weeks, try breaking it down and submit another proposal for the second half!
  • Should a Kaizen Card Proposal go uncompleted after fourteen days, it will automatically shift to a Good Idea at that time. The follow-up response from the Responding Manager is still important and should be completed within the normal response deadline of 90 days.
  • If during the course of implementation it is realized that the proposal will take a higher level of resources in the form of time, collaboration, capital, etc., it is acceptable to allow these situations to shift to Good Ideas. Superior Good Ideas that demonstrate a high level of TeamMate involvement, collaboration, and impact are eligible for increased coin awards and Most Outstanding and/or President's Award recognition.

Viewing Cards on the Forum

The Kaizen Card Forum also allows for the presentation and long-term accessibility of previous Kaizen Card improvements. Historically, Kaizen Cards were only physically visible for the current year on our Kaizen Card information boards, and digitally on the company server (which is inaccessible to most TeamMates). We also took the opportunity to change the layout of the Kaizen Card documentation slightly.

Some items to review: Status - As seen in this example, "Awaiting Presentation" refers to a Card that has been submitted by the Facilitator, but has not yet been presented at the Weekly Competition. Some other status options include: "Awaiting Acceptance" where the Facilitator has not yet confirmed the proposal for a Kaizen Card. "Not Yet Specified" where the Facilitator has confirmed the proposal, but the improvement hasn't been implemented. "Weekly Submission" where the Card was presented at a Weekly Competition but did not win. All TeamMates on these Cards receive five (5) coins. "Weekly Winner" where the Card was presented at a Weekly Competition and won. All TeamMates on these Cards receive fifteen (15) coins and the Card will compete at the next Monthly Competition! "Monthly Winner" where the Card was presented at a Monthly Competition and won. All TeamMates on these Cards receive four (4) hours of Continuous Improvement Time and the Card will compete at the next Annual Competition!! Before and After Media - The before and after pictures are now oriented top to bottom instead of side to side. This allows for the presentation of the Before picture with the Description of the Problem & Causes alongside, and the After picture with the Action to Realize Finalization & Estimated Cost to Implement.

Jump in and Explore!

We've purposely made the website as easy to navigate as possible, so take some time to explore and learn. When you feel ready, submit your proposals to the Kaizen Card Forum! Suggestions for minor changes and bug detection are appreciated and may be awarded during the soft launch period. Please contact Zack Dickerson with any and all questions.

Zack Dickerson
Operational Excellence Manager - Whirley-DrinkWorks!
Ph: 800-825-5575 x1173
Email: zdickerson@whirleydrinkworks.com
Web: www.WhirleyDrinkWorks.com
Amazing Ideas. Extraordinary Results!