Better, Cheaper, Faster: N urseries are harnessing the POWER of LEAN

1. Contact: Elizabeth Peters 503-682-5089 www.oan.org/Lean epeters@oan.org Better, Cheaper, Faster:Nurseries are harnessing the POWER of LEAN Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

2. “ Nurseries are harnessing the POWER of LEAN Oregon companies are gaining serious competitive advantage by making products at a lower cost, in a shorter time, withfewer defects andless human effort usingLean. Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org ”

3. Lean is Continuous Improvement Lean is NOT • A cost reduction program or one-time “fix it” tactic. • A new concept. Lean is… • A disciplined structure for eliminating waste • A way of thinking and acting for all parts of an organization • Building a learning culture (change) Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

4. Lean is… • Constant pursuit of the “Least Waste Way” • Laser focus on value to the customer • Value: what your customer pays for • Waste: what you pay for Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

5. A way to look at what we do • Think about any process… Value Added Activity Non Value Added Activity • What are those activities that do not add value? • Do we know what they are? • What resource drain do they have? Source: Goodrich Aerostructures Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

6. What actually happens Strategy Planning Execution “Production” Delivery Follow up Documenting Reality • What we ( think ) we do Strategy Planning Execution “Production” Delivery Follow up Source: Goodrich Aerostructures Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

7. Value vs. Waste VALUE WASTE Overproduction Waiting Motion Transportation Overprocessing Inventory Defects • Transforms the product or service • Customer is willing to “pay” for it • Done right the first time Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

8. Examples of non value-added activities • Walking • Unnecessary stock on hand, “just in case” • Transporting product or supplies to different areas • Waiting for machine cycle or changeover • Generating useless reports • Searching for tools or supplies Lean’s Goal: Eliminate non-value-added activities Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

9. Key Lean concepts (handout) • Continuous Improvement • Flow • Go and see • Just in time • Kaizen • Plan – Do – Check – Act • Point of use storage • Pull vs. push • Value stream • Visual controls • 5-S (handout) Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

10. Lean works!Two Oregon nursery examples • Bailey Nurseries – Yamhill • Order pulling: 50% increase in efficiency • Potting: reduced crew size from 20 – 12, slowed down the machine and increased units/man hour 42%. • Field Staking: 24% increase in units/man hour • Reduced walking around • Dropped crew size from 10 – 8 • Better inventory (stakes) supply • J Frank Schmidt & Son Co. • Began Lean journey in mid-2010. Since then: • One inventory process improvement saved $25,000 • One container yard process improvement saved $40,000 • Bare root planting schedule process improvement saved $35,000 As reported at NW Ag Show www.oan.org - 503-682-5089

11. OAN learned how well it works • Our first Lean effort • Nursery Guide process mapping event • Found and cut 240 hours of waste in a single process. • Removed useless steps • Clarified the process • Defined standard work • Today: • Happy team members • No overtime • On-track with schedule www.oan.org - 503-682-5089

12. Five nurseries Began October, 2010 OAN Lean one-year pilot Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

13. The OAN Lean Pilot Program Strategic-level guidance for leaders Development of certified Lean “champions” Basic employee-level training Hands-on improvement events in participant companies Community of support, accountability, learning together Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

14. Van Essen Nursery PRT Oregon F & B Farms and Nursery Gold Hill Nursery Lean Champions Report Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

15. Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

16. Recognition… • Lean Team is one-of-a-kind • Inquiries from KY, WA, CA, RI, BC • “Most Innovative Company of the Year” by the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce • OAN serves on Job Growers High performance Consortium Steering Committee Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

17. Should you deploy Lean? Can you be successful? Do you have the will to change?

18. Key factors for Successful Lean deployment • Strategic decision by top management • Leadership must be engaged, not just support. • This is a culture change. Leaders must lead. • Coordinator/facilitator/evangelist • Trusting management-employee relationship • Decision making at all levels • Respect for people - philosophy • Work with outsiders • OAN Lean Team or a consultant to get started. Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

19. Habit #1 – Recognition and action on Drivers vs. Results Habit #2 – discipline to recognize and follow a process Drivers Results Actions in the Process Process outcomes • Lean Events • Policy Deployment • Lean assessments • Organization Change Cost Cash Flow Production DTM Defects OI Traditional Management focus Lean Leader Focus Habit #4 – the ability to recognize the performance gap Habit #3 – a change of habit. This is different, it requires a fundamental change It is non-optional This will mean some will not make it Leadership model Four Habits of successfulLean Leaders

20. Habit #2 – the process is not important, just give me the results Habit #1 – Focus only on Results Results are at best history lessons and cannot be changed Habit #4 – the Law of the lid* Habit #3 – Inertia and those unable to make the humbling journey An organization cannot progress beyond the level of its leader Joe Brown Supreme Commander I did not get to this level knowing nothing … *John Maxwell Four Habits of un-successful“Lean Leaders”

21. Barriers to improvement • We’ve been doing it this way for years. • Some people will complain. • That will take longer than it does now. • It’s not possible. It’s too radical. • We tried that before and it didn’t work. The computer won’t let us do that. • It’s good enough. We need to form a committee. • If it were only that easy! Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

22. Year 1 • Learn the basics, begin to build a culture. • What Year 1 members get: • Six from the company trained in the principles of Lean • Three managers receive Lean tools training • Three owners or managers get Lean leadership training • Facilitated, hands-on improvement event at the member business • Unlimited participation in events at peer companies • Year-1 participant fee $3,750 • Most recoup costs in first event. Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

23. Benefits • Learn to deploy Lean without expensive consultant fees. • Train 13 of your team members: Lean principles, Lean tools, Lean leadership. • You gain from hands-on improvement at your facility. • Peers give you trusted “outside eyes” to see opportunities. • Unlimited access to improvement events at other nurseries. • Access to highly-skilled practitioners Greatest value: Your employees become thinkers and improvers. Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org

24. Contact: Elizabeth Peters 503-682-5089 www.oan.org/Lean epeters@oan.org Better, Cheaper, Faster:Nurseries are harnessing the POWER of LEAN Oregon Association of Nurseries, www.oan.org