HJ Heinz

57 sigmaGary Thomas, Director of Continuous Improvement and Operational Risk Management for HJ Heinz, tells Martin Ashcroft how lean and six sigma are being used to step change performance. ÔÇ£We think we are truly an innovator in the food business,ÔÇØ says Gary Thomas, and heÔÇÖs not talking about the 57 varieties, the stay-clean caps or the upside-down bottles. Thomas joined HJ Heinz four years ago to help deploy a continuous improvement process that focuses on removing waste, improving flow, and changing culture.It all started more than five years ago when Bob Ostryniec joined Heinz as VP of Supply Chain. From his previous experience at General Electric and Stanley Tools, he gained extensive knowledge of the six sigma and lean manufacturing processes. During OstryniecÔÇÖs time with Stanley as VP of Manufacturing he worked with Thomas to help turnaround a large facility using these continuous improvement methodologies. Once at Heinz, Ostryniec asked Thomas to join him on this continuous improvement journey.The program began in HeinzÔÇÖs Consumer ProductsÔÇÖ frozen foods factories in San Diego, California; Fort Myers, Florida; Massillon, Ohio; Pocatello, Idaho and Ontario, Oregon. ÔÇ£We felt there were huge opportunities there, in terms of waste, labor efficiency and line utilization improvements,ÔÇØ says Thomas. ÔÇ£Every dollar we save in waste is equivalent to five dollars worth of sales.ÔÇ£We started with a lean sigma approach in those five factories,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£Putting productivity processes in place allowed us to gain some pretty quick results. From there we started taking over more and more factories, so we have been in some factories as long as three and a half years, and in others, a year to a year and a half.ÔÇØWith 6,000 employees in 24 factories, implementing new processes is a long term task, but, says Thomas, his team has now trained about 1,200 people in the basic principles of lean sigma, with 800 or so already up to at least a green belt level, not just in manufacturing but in the internal supply chain, too, in logistics, warehousing and procurement. ÔÇ£Heinz has always been committed to driving improvements,ÔÇØ he says, ÔÇ£but it has never been a formalized process. If you donÔÇÖt put control plans in place, youÔÇÖre fixing the same problem again next year.ÔÇØWhen Toyota started developing its unique production system 60 years ago, few could have had any idea of the influence it was destined to have on global industry. In the United States, naturally, automobile manufacturers were the first to notice it, being in the same business. Many tried to copy it, with the occasional success, but most failed because they tried to apply the tools without understanding ToyotaÔÇÖs thinking.What we now know as ÔÇÿleanÔÇÖ has at last begun to spread into other sectors, however, with executives in finance, education, healthcare and construction now embarking on their own ÔÇÿlean journeysÔÇÖ. It has also gained a toe-hold in the food industry, but why has this taken so long? ÔÇ£Most people think of industrial manufacturing as kind of a slow one piece flow process; you put pieces on, you move it along,ÔÇØ says Thomas. ÔÇ£With high speed production in a continuous flow environment there was always a push back on how it would work here.ÔÇØThe response from employees, many of whom have 30-plus years of service, has been outstanding, however. ÔÇ£We have had tremendous response to the tools and processes that we have deployed,ÔÇØ says Thomas, ÔÇ£which have given people the opportunity to look at things differently. It has been a breath of fresh air for these factories.┬á When you walked into them two years ago and you walk into them today, itÔÇÖs like night and day. They have absolutely embraced it.ÔÇ£Every one of our factories is at a different stage,ÔÇØ he continues, ÔÇ£and we have a long way to go. We are currently seeing significant productivity improvements every year, but we are trying to make it much more than just a cost-out program. It is about sustainability and culture changingÔÇöthat is the journey that we are on.ÔÇØLean is often described as a journey, but those who understand it properly do not think about getting to the end and putting their feet up. ItÔÇÖs called continuous improvement because you have to keep on improving. ÔÇ£We are currently developing a global continuous improvement roadmap that takes the best processes, tools, and systems from all of our factories around the globe and integrates them into one production system,ÔÇØ says Thomas. ÔÇ£We truly believe this will give Heinz a global competitive advantage.ÔÇØ He explains that a key focus is on changing behavior at the point of execution. ÔÇ£Most American companies have a status quo approach,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£At the end of the day they take a tally of how they did, and theyÔÇÖll talk about what they can do better tomorrow. ÔÇ£The management operating system employed at Heinz is based on short interval pulsing,ÔÇØ he continues, ÔÇ£where we monitor the line every hour or two and provide feedback to the operators about what they are doing well, what they could do better and what they need help with. We then post those numbers so people can see if they are winning or losing.ÔÇØSo is this a technology-based initiative? ÔÇ£It is basically a methodology approach,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£We have invested in some technology; we have a system in our factories called Heinz Operational Tracking Systems, better known as HOTS. This system allows the factory employees to get updates on line efficiencies, and downtime opportunities in real time so they can start analyzing the root cause of their failures and provide solutions.ÔÇØHeinz is using both lean and six sigma, for different purposes. Its approach is to use the appropriate tool for the problem. ÔÇ£Lean helps us get after the low hanging fruit, reduce all waste and optimize flow,ÔÇØ explains Thomas. ÔÇ£For example, on a yield improvement project, lean will help us optimize the waste hitting the floor while six sigma would help us optimize the fill heights in the product through our SPC process. If we are over-filling by half a gram of ketchup in every bottle, for instance, what is the statistical sampling we have to take to adjust it so that we are in control, while still maintaining our spec.?ÔÇØ ┬áAn improvement program of this magnitude takes huge resources and specialized expertise, so Heinz is not doing it all on its own. External consultants have been used for specific purposes, and Thomas admits to ÔÇ£shamelessly trying to steal their knowledge to instill into our people.ÔÇØ Carpedia International Ltd, for instance, brought the management operating system, and the Six Sigma Academy brought its lean improvement processes and training expertise. The goal is to get the entire workforce trained at a yellow and green belt level, he explains. This will give everyone at least the basic knowledge of lean and six sigma. A smaller number of experts in each business unit will go on to be black belt certified. ÔÇ£One thing we have found as Lean Sigma Masters,ÔÇØ says Thomas, ÔÇ£is that lean doesnÔÇÖt typically teach people how to think about root cause analysis, but six sigma does, so if we can instill that mindset into somebody and then we introduce them to lean, they are really effective!ÔÇØIt is definitely working, says Thomas, and the absolute key is commitment at all levels. ÔÇ£It cannot be a choice program,ÔÇØ he insists. ÔÇ£It starts with commitment from senior leadership that has to be pushed down through the entire organization. As the program grows we should then see a shift from a senior leadership driven program to an employee owned program. One of the key factors for success has been our factoriesÔÇÖ engagement. All the credit goes to the factories, they are the ones doing it. We can put anything on a piece of paper and show somebody how to do it but until they do it there are no results. It is a credit to the leadership and employees at our factories, who have a continuous improvement mindset. ThatÔÇÖs the reason we are winning.ÔÇØ┬á Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *   ┬áFirst published March 2008