“The results improve as work standardization, continuous improvement (Kaizen), continuous flow, and stability principles are applied to the learning activities,” insists Warnell.”  “The principals of this elementary exercise, when correctly and fully implemented at DSI Industries, should equate to a much more efficient and profitable operation.

“When it is administered correctly, the end results of the TPS process is: You will produce what’s needed; you will produce when it’s needed; and you will produce the quantity that’s needed.”

Although TPS may at a glance seem very mechanical and impersonal it really represents quite the contrary says Warnell.

“TPS focuses on human development.”

Warnell added, “Implementation of TPS allows individuals to learn through trial and error.  For DSI, these concepts also have a human development focus for the clients that we serve.”

Warnell explains that TPS includes producing jigs and fixtures that compensate for an individual’s particular disability.  It also includes breaking the task down into very basic and manageable steps which allows the company to empower each employee with considerable quality control during the production process.  This makes work stoppages less frequent because errors are discovered and corrected quicker.  Best of all, TPS will create an abundance of opportunities.

“I sincerely believe that through TPS, there is a nothing the clients served by DSI cannot do eventually,” Warnell states confidently.  “If the proper supports are in place, our clients should be able to do virtually any job that comes through our doors.”

This particularly excites Warnell because not only does TPS mean more income to the organization, it directly helps DSI fulfill its mission of helping persons with disabilities gain vocational experiences.

Warnell sums things up by saying that TPS’s goals include reduced waste, greater empowerment for employees, and a greater sense of pride that comes with prosperity.

Where the principles of TPS have been applied to various DSI production projects, employees are seeing significant results.

SEEING IS BELIEVING

At JRI Industries in Scipio, the DSI and the TSSC team were challenged by various production projects.  The TSSC team helped DSI staff through the steps of “Kaizen”, a word in the TPS process meaning “continual improvement.”

Through the Kaizen process, DSI staff learn what to look for in determining inefficiencies in particular steps of a job.

“We look for things like wasted motion and difficult lift points in a job,” says Gerri Grapevine, Manager of DSI’s JRI Industries in Scipio.  “To determine this we view video tape of the job, interview the people actually performing the work, and simply take the time to carefully observe the steps involve in performing the work.”

“From there, we try little things to improve the task.  If it doesn’t work, we re-evaluate it and try something else.  It’s all about continuous improvement.”

Grapevine added that the TSSC team has been faded out of JRI but still make themselves available for consultation when there is a particularly difficult sticking point to deal with.

Grapevine says because of TPS and the lessons brought about by TSSC, the employees at JRI have a new attitude regarding work contracted with the facility.

“Virtually everything that comes in here now is Kaizened,” boasts Grapevine.

Although the TPS process is relatively new to JRI, Grapevine can cite several examples of how it has made a very significant impact.

One such job involves separating hood levers from a sprue and then trimming it for a de-burring process.

Initially the task was so difficult that only non-disabled employees could perform the work.

After analyzing the various tasks involved, jigs were designed and put into place and the job was broken down into very basic steps.  Soon fifty-percent of the job was being performed by people with disabilities – at least one of whom is being currently served in Adult Basic Skills.

Other successful TPS endeavors include: Designing a template (originally produced for a person with a visual impairment) that has improved the quality and speed of a packaging job, and a mechanical fixture to a gravel packaging job that has made the work much less physically demanding and has improved production by fifty-percent.

The TPS mindset has also helped JRI staff find a heat sealer that is not dangerous to touch.

“The heat sealer could only be used by non-disabled employees and now it’s operated by DSI clients about seventy-five percent of the time,” adds Grapevine.

Although TPS has made it possible for more DSI consumers to gain valuable vocational experiences, Grapevine is also quick to point out that it can also significantly affect the financial bottom line of DSI Industries.

“TPS has allowed us to use more DSI clients to do the work and this has saved us money because we don’t need all the non-disabled labor we once employed,” says Grapevine.  “It has also allowed us to perform the work faster and at better quality so we don’t have to do it over.  Our production is better overall because of TPS.”

The other required the modification of a gravel drying operation.

Tackling these projects required viewing video of the work processes to identify inefficiencies regarding equipment, materials, and personnel.  Jigs and modifications to equipment were developed to make the work faster, more precise, and easier to perform.  Templates were constructed to help clients count hardware for packaging.  And new safety features were incorporated to reduce any chance of injury to employees.

JRI is new reaping the rewards of TPS.  The work is safer, faster, more efficient, and more profitable.  By simplifying the tasks involved in the two jobs, TPS has enabled more clients to perform the work, thus providing more opportunities for them to gain job skill and self-confidence.

DSI Industries | Quality and Experience | Human Development | Partnerships