Kaizen – Full Steam Ahead

In conjunction with our ongoing Kaizen initiative, Weimer associates from 5 different departments and 2 locations recently conducted a 3-day “5-S Pit Stop” in our Menomonee Falls corporate headquarters Machine Shop. The 5 S’s of Kaizen stand for Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. These tasks fit in to the overall strategy of Kaizen, and help us create a more efficient workplace, enabling us to better serve our customers.

The primary goals of this exercise were too.
• remove anything that did not belong in the machine shop or was no longer used by our machinists
• relocate tools and equipment so they are more accessible, label them and identify where they belong
• clean up all equipment and repaint where needed
• establish standards for keeping things clean and in order
• conduct regular audits to make sure standards are followed and maintained.

The event was a journey back in time. Tools were found that must have been in the machine shop since it became a fixture at Weimer in the 1920’s. Some may have been used by Mr. Hugo Weimer as he built the foundation of the Weimer tradition.

Every part of the machine shop was thoroughly examined by Weimer associates in order to assess the placement of every tool or other piece of equipment. The purpose was to ensure complete organization and efficiency within the machine shop.

The project resulted in a cleaner, better organized, more efficient place to work. This higher level of organization will give us the ability to better meet the needs of our customers, by allowing our machinists on all three shifts to spend their time serving our customers and not scouring the shop for tools.

October 7th, 2005