Since its origin in 2001, Hydroid has grown from a company with a few employees to over 200 employees today. With the company’s steady and consistent growth over the years, it became evident in 2015 that there was a need for change. Although the company had made efforts toward becoming Lean in the past, Hydroid’s leadership proactively searched for ways to better implement the process and build the business. With the help of The Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership (GBMP) and funding through the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund, Hydroid renewed its commitment to the Lean process.

Since reviving this process implementation in 2015, several employees have earned their GBMP Lean Certificates, with some continuing on in pursuit of their Society of Manufacturing Lean Bronze Certifications and Six Sigma belts. Today, Hydroid employees regularly participate in Lean improvement initiatives to steadily remove waste from the company. Bob Elliott, GBMP CI Manager working with the company said, “Hydroid has made a significant commitment to the Lean program both with time and resources. The Workforce Training Grant consisted of 89 days (712 hours) of training and practice. Each class was attended by 10-12 employees (Management and Direct Labor). Their commitment is certainly evident.”

Lean Paves the Way for Improvement
In terms of Lean procedures, the material handling and production departments were identified as areas within Hydroid that were ripe with opportunity. As with any change, when Lean was first reintroduced, there were obstacles to overcome.  One significant hurdle was getting employees to trust and believe in the process. Most production employees initially thought the Lean concepts could not be adopted simply due to product variety and complexity. There was also the belief that an immense amount of “local expert” or “floor lore” knowledge was required to build Hydroid’s wide range of products. A culture shift was needed and, after the early elimination of some of the common sources of day-to-day frustration, things started to change. Ideas for improvement started coming from different areas within the company, and the concept that it was ok to ask “why” things were done a certain way became more widely accepted.

The Production Dashboard
Since 2015, several significant initiatives have been put into place. One key change was the development of a digital Production Dashboard to support the visual control of the production team and schedule. Today, everyone at Hydroid has the ability to see what is ‘in-process’ on the production floor at any time. The production manager & team leads are able to monitor and adjust the production plan by assigning tasks, setting priorities and defining time estimates to support accurate capacity planning. The assemblers, in turn, can easily see their upcoming assignments.  When there is an issue, they can seek support by updating their production status.  In the past, these functions were typically done manually; making the process very labor intensive and impossible to maintain. The digital dashboard makes it possible to provide updates from any computer. Additionally, iPads have been installed in key areas on the production floor for locating manufacturing orders (MOs) and to update relevant information as soon as it is changed.

Value Stream Mapping
Through the use of Value Stream Maps, multiple processes have been documented to identify how different material and products move through the facility. Hydroid continues to use this information to improve the production floorplan, all in the effort to reduce unused space and ease the movement of people, material and information. A color-coded system has been established to identify different areas for material and production stages, and over a dozen dedicated work cells have been added without increasing the footprint of the production area, increasing production capacity by over 50%.
                                                 
Material Handling and Additional Improvements
The material handling and kitting process was improved through the creation of a “floor stock” station in the production area, which was replenished with a Kanban card system. In situations where stockroom employees would previously pick each piece of hardware for every kit, portable Assembly Hardware Kits are now available so that assemblers can quickly pull the exact hardware they need for their unique assembly without the need for someone to pull and count every item. This has reduced the time required to kit every order by over 60%, improved kit accuracy, and has helped to eliminate the once common problem of running out of frequently used parts.
Some of the other additional improvements include the creation of a Training Matrix to identify training gaps and, subsequently, create development plans.  Also, the internal documentation process has been improved and the amount of inventory and work-in-process has been reduced.

Hydroid’s Lean Success
As a result of these new tools and processes, Hydroid has improved on-time delivery and kitting accuracy. The most significant achievement has been reduction of defects, as well as a large reduction in material handling labor. Key statistics include:

Manufacturing Defects per 1,000 hours of labor

• 2015 – 3.5 defects/1,000 hrs
• 2016 – 3.2 defects/1,000 hrs
• 2017 – 2.3 defects/1,000 hrs

Material Handling Hours as percentage of manufacturing hours

• 2015 – 16%
• 2016 – 14.8% (Changed to Floor stock/Hardware Kits mid-year)
• 2017 – 5.7%
  
  

From making processes more efficient by removing unnecessary handling and processing, to improving the quality built directly into products through better designs and documentation, Hydroid has continued to stay focused on improving every aspect of their production cycle. When Hydroid now looks at all of the Lean improvements they have implemented over the past few years, they see orders being completed more efficiently; an improvement in the on-time delivery of spare parts orders; and a reduction in the turnaround time for order fulfillment.

Ken Kern, Director of Operations at Hydroid, is impressed with the result. “When we first rolled out the concept of Lean, it was met with a lot of skepticism, especially from long term employees who had seen it fail once already at Hydroid. We selected a team of employees to receive advanced Lean Bronze Certification Training from GBMP and to be the leaders in the implementation in the organization. Once the training began and improvements were seen, everybody got on board. Lean has fundamentally changed the way we operate throughout the production process, and the culture of continuous improvement is the way we now conduct our business. The application of real-life problems that GBMP embeds in their training has been a key to the cultural change.”
 
Hydroid’s adoption of Lean was evident in November 2018. Daryl Powell, Lean Programme Manager for Kongsberg Maritime Subsea in Horten, Norway, conducts Gemba walks through all KM Subsea organizations each year as well as the Lean maturity on the factory floor. This process is based on the Rapid Lean Assessment (RLA) technique detailed in Goodson’s (2002) Rapid Plant Assessment (from “Read a Plant Fast”, Harvard Business Review). Daryl invited special guest James Womack, Lean author, founder and Senior Advisor at the Lean Enterprise Institute (and Lean author of The Machine That Changed The World, Lean Thinking, Lean Solutions, and Gemba Walks) to participate in the RLA. In the two short years since the implementation of Lean, Hydroid achieved the top rating in all of KM Subsea, and Mr. Womack gave the highest ratings to all who participated in the assessment. He commented that he has toured hundreds of facilities, and Hydroid’s adoption of Lean on the factory floor rates among the top organizations he has toured, and that Hydroid has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.
 
To date, Hydroid has conducted 4,444 hours of Lean training and will continue their training with GBMP well into the fall of 2018. The goal is for all areas of the organization to be involved in the LEAN journey; cultivating a “Continuous Improvement” culture and promoting a continued focus on identifying and removing waste from products and processes.

​ABOUT HYDROID
Located in the U.S. and a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime, Hydroid is the world’s most trusted manufacturer of advanced, field-proven Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). Hydroid’s REMUS AUVs and marine robotics systems provide innovative and reliable full-picture solutions for the marine research, defense, hydrographic and offshore/energy markets. With the ability to dive to depths of 6,000 meters, explore shallow waters and hover in hazardous areas where navigation is difficult, REMUS AUVs can be used for a number of applications. They have been involved with undersea mine countermeasures that have helped save lives by eliminating human divers from mine fields.  Additionally, REMUS AUVs have helped solve plane and shipwreck mysteries, including locating Air France Flight 447 wreckage, generating 3D mapping of the Titanic, and finding the USS Indianapolis at a depth of over 18,000 feet. REMUS AUVs also offer scientists a new view on pressing global issues including climate change, the world’s declining fish population and environmental  disasters.

About GBMP: The Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership is a not for profit offering customized Lean and Six Sigma training with a mission to increase global competitiveness and employment opportunities in the United States. GBMP is a licensed affiliate of The Shingo Institute with 4 certified instructors on staff. GBMP also produces the annual Northeast Lean Conference which attracts more than 600 manufacturing professionals from around the country each autumn in New England, now in its 12th year. GBMP provides a membership community for Lean practitioners from manufacturing, healthcare, insurance and other industries and produces an award-winning library of Lean training materials comprised of more than 30 DVDs (available streaming by subscription at www.leanflix.org), games, manuals and workbooks, including Toast Kaizen, the #1 selling Lean training video in the world. For more information about GBMP please visit www.gbmp.org
 
For more information about the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Grant please visit
www.workforcetrainingfund.org

​It’s hard to believe that 2018 is the 20th anniversary for the Toast Kaizen video.  After two decades, nearly one hundred and fifty thousand copies have been sold – in more than a dozen languages from Spanish to Icelandic.  It’s everywhere.  Several years ago, while walking down the streets of Dubai, I was stopped by a gentleman who pointed to me and declared, “You’re the Toast Man.”    I frequently encounter folks who tell me, “You’re famous,” to which I reply, “No, the “Toast Kaizen” video is famous.”  And happily so.  What was originally intended as a device to encourage fellow managers to get out of their offices and go see has become a non-threatening way to explain continuous improvement to almost anyone.   As I say on the video,  “It’s not about the work, it’s about the things that get in the way of the work”.

While it’s gratifying to think that this campy thirty-minute video has found a place in Lean Transformations, it’s also a little concerning when I hear that the “Toast Kaizen” video isthe Lean training.  What was created as an icebreaker, has occasionally been overblown beyond its purpose.   Some time ago, while speaking at the Shingo Conference I asked attendees in the audience how many had seen the Toast video.  Nearly every hand went up.  But when I asked who had read any of Shigeo Shingo’s books, only a few hands went up.  I asked the audience, “Did you know there’s a whole lot more to Lean than the Toast video?”

Yes, a whole lot more than viewing the “Toast Kaizen” video will be needed to really receive the benefits of Lean.  Toast is just a small catalyst to kick off the continuous improvement engine.  This is why at the 14th Annual Northeast L.E.A.N. conference, while we celebrate Toast’s 20th (tattoos and Toast caps for everyone), we are also homing in on those transformers that have truly become Lean Learning organizations and whose compelling results bear witness to their efforts.

There’s still time to register, but seats are filling fast.  Please join me on October 10-11 at the Providence Convention Center. Rhode Island is beautiful this time of year. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the two Shingo Institute courses – Discover Excellence and Continuous Improvement – which are being offered in conjunction with the conference. You can learn more about those here.
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O.L.D.

In 1987, my company, United Electric (UE) initiated an ESL training program to support our continuous improvement efforts.  The idea came from a factory supervisor who noted,  “If we really want to create a continuous improvement culture we need to give our employees an opportunity to read and speak English.”  Over nine languages were spoken in the plant and while many employees understood enough English to get by, few spoke or read English well enough to get ahead.  In order to discuss problems and share ideas, it was essential for UE to invest in ESL learning for its employees.

With funding from the Massachusetts Workplace Education Initiative and under the guidance of a gifted ESL teacher, UE’s HR department established an ESL curriculum that was astounding in its impact.  Employees attended classes during the workday and curriculum was thoughtfully constructed to support their particular jobs.  Ironically, as UE adopted concepts from TPS over the next several years, Japanese words were added to ESL student’s lessons. Employees were learning English, but also Japanese words like Kanban and Poka-Yoke, concepts that now were part of their second language.  The difference in the work environment was notable almost immediately.  Persons who might have previously been considered “difficult” were actually just frustrated at being unable to describe the problems they faced in their work.  ESL had opened the lines of communication, changed attitudes and unlocked creativity. What had been a virtual Tower of Babel was developing as a rich multi-cultural team.  The proof of the transformation showed in UE’s 1990 award of the Shingo Prize, heralding its excellence in quality, productivity and customer service.  While this was truly an honor, perhaps a more meaningful recognition was yet to be bestowed.
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On January 28, 1991 in midst of the first Gulf War, another war was being waged by then First Lady Barbara Bush.  At the invitation of the Massachusetts Commonwealth Literacy Campaign, Mrs. Bush visited UE to celebrate with ESL students from our 1991 class and promote the critical importance of adult literacy.  The day was extraordinary on many levels.  First, due to the Gulf war, security was extremely tight.  Parking was cordoned off for two blocks around building and bomb-sniffing dogs scanned the factory and offices. Because we were advised only a few days earlier that our site would receive a visit from Mrs. Bush, cleanup activity in the plant was frenetic.  Workplace organization, which was normally very good, achieved new heights.   Halls were given a fresh coat of paint and floors were buffed.  Even the elevator, which was normally used only for freight, was painted red, white and blue.  We were honored that the First Lady and number one advocate of adult literacy would visit our site.

Shortly before 2:00 p.m., as an armada of state and local police cars could be seen in the distance escorting the First Lady’s party, the excitement was palpable.  After formal greetings in the lobby with management, Mrs. Bush proceeded to our ESL classroom to attend a class and meet with students.  In preparation, each student had written a short story or letter to Mrs. Bush, and ESL compiled these into a booklet entitled “Short Stories and Letters,” a tangible memento and testimony to the power of ESL.  A letter from one of the students, a gentleman who emigrated from Aleppo, Syria summed up the sentiments of the class:

“When I first came to America, I felt stupid because someone talked and I looked at their faces and never did I understand. It is important to have ESL in the workplace because now I can understand the blueprints and the order papers.  I understand what my supervisor says.  I am starting to read the newspapers and write my own checks.  I can take care of my family shopping and my home. This month, for the first time, I wrote down two valued ideas to save the company money.”

Following the ESL class, Mrs. Bush accompanied students to the Gemba where students proudly demonstrated some of the many improvements they had made to their work.  I am absolutely sure that none of these stories would ever have been told without the investment made in our employees to learn English as a second language.   Having the opportunity to offer this testimony directly to the First Lady of Adult Literacy was a powerful moment.
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After Gemba, Mrs. Bush and an entourage of secret service, political dignitaries and labor leaders boarded the red-white-and-blue elevator to attend a meeting in the cafeteria for speeches and photo ops.  I was asked to provide a short speech of no more than five minutes about the value of ESL and its impact on our company and our employees.  I recall that this was the one and only time in my career that I wrote a speech down, memorized it and presented it verbatim – exactly five minutes in length.  Several other five-minute speeches followed including one from our Governor Bill Weld.

Finally, the great lady spoke, culminating the eventful day.  She spoke first of the importance of literacy to our country and our families, relating the goals of her literacy foundation.   Mrs. Bush then addressed the ESL students, thanking them for their diligence and applauding their efforts.  She then turned to Mr. Weld, quipping  “perhaps the State of Massachusetts could learn something about continuous improvement and problem solving from these students.”  The room erupted with laughter as the Governor nodded in agreement.  After a short reception, the magic day was over and we all got back to work, grateful to have had the First Lady of Literacy in our midst.

Thank you, Barbara Bush.
O.L.D.