November 12, 2007
The Willington Companies started its lean journey two short months ago. On September 11, 2007 we set our stake in the ground and now it’s time for continuous improvement. Willington Nameplate, located in Stafford Springs, CT is a custom manufacturer of nameplates, decals, labels and large format printing; helping you identify, brand and promote your product or business. We have been in the industry for over forty years and needless to say, we thought we had it right. However, with the global economy and pricing pressures that go with it, LEAN has shown us that there is always a better way to do things. We went through a complete restructure of our production floor and most the equipment. We cleaned up our work areas and taken measures to implement changes to eliminate or reduce non-value added steps in work process flows. We’re looking at this as a growth strategy. The more work we can remove, the more new business we can earn without increasing our costs. In essence, we are “trimming the fat” with a little constant, gentle pressure. At the Willington Companies there is no such thing as an insignificant improvement, and a major emphasis had to be placed on the fact that this is not a blame game. “There is always room for improvement” and sometimes “it’s the biggest room in the house.” Although we have just begun, we would like to express our thanks to Leanovations, Inc. for getting us started in the right direction. Ben Franklin said it best: “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” The Willington Companies are giving meaning to those words; we have put our stake in the ground and are continuing on our LEAN journey.