What an amazing operation. The new location is very sweet. I've served packaging equipment at both the old and new location and I'm extremely impressed. The employees are extremely friendly and a pleasure to work with and you can tell they love what they do. Coming from a hobbyist woodworker I love what there doing and am not ashamed to admit to drooling a little when I visit.
I noticed your floors are concrete. Over time standing and walking on such a hard surface wears on the body. Back and knees are affected and can do long lasting damage.
Especially a company like this when they have a standing only policy and you can't sit down to take a quick break while working at your computer to gather yourself. I'm sure they have chairs in their break room but having no chairs at their actual work area, that's kind of ridiculous. I personally prefer to stand while working at my computer but atleast my company gives you the option. We have computer desks that you can lift so you can stand while working on your computer or recline it so you can sit at your computer because standing in one spot all day will wear your back and heels out.
Great presentation, teamwork, time saving caps.... but i feel like there's still a room for improvement (work flow, inventory and so on). For example small spaces between the aisle what is consuming space, where is JIT?
Wow, I wish every workplace was this neat and efficient! Sometimes when I'm in workspaces, I can literally feel the stress come on when I see how messy, dingy and poorly lit things are. It's super inefficient and stressful. But I loved FastCap's simplification measures, e.g., the label-making/printing instructions, the vacuum that's built into the pipe cutting area, etc. If every company implemented these sorts of methods, we could switch to a 32-hour workweek instead of a 40-hour workweek. In my humble opinion.
100% agree. While standing may improve some worker(s) attentiveness and promote other health benefits, it is not always the optimal solution for all employees. I have had a few spinal procedures that would prohibit myself from standing 100% of the time. There are flexible desk options these days. Think HumanScale or FlexDesk. Very informative video. Great lean concepts. The Big Ass fan is highly effective and works everywhere I have seen them.
@@toddcutsuries54 for some reason customers feel like a cashier sitting on a stoll makes them lazy or something and alot if those same people would never allow themselves to be subjected to that
Having done actual work at a facility similar to this design complete with a no-sitting policy, it is GREAT! Sure, it is rough for a while until your body gets used to it, but it is so much better for you than destroying your back with terrible sitting posture (I'm certain that only people with excellent posture will reply. Hear the sarcasm?). However, for people with a medical condition they DO make exceptions. There is always an absolute difference between a WANT and a NEED. Having also done grocery-store work, I can share this: In a place like Walmart it is a VERY different scenario. If you are a cashier then you are STABLE and standing (ie: unnatural standing) which can get you very sore easily. And if you are stocking then you are constantly bending and lifting items and most people have terrible lifting posture which will also ruin their body. Finally: This is how work has been done throughout history. Being able to lounge in your chair at a computer desk is a modern convenience that lets you destroy your back with terrible posture daily. I personally HATE how much pain it causes.
Nicholas Niedzielski: None at all. The only thing I cared about was relieving the burden off of my people from performing the arduous task of walking around and around to shrink wrap. The new wrapper allows them to place the pallet and walk away, & come back when it's done. Meanwhile, they're performing other tasks. What is the return on investment? I have no clue and I don't care. I have a lot of happy people that work for me and that is priceless! Paul
These are not the words of a boss, these are the words of a true leader. Forward thinking, for the good of their people, knowing that having such an attitude is the right thing to do AND a smart business decision. Quick acting and innovative is the way to be. Maybe the analysis time would have saved money due to showing the wrapping machine wasn't needed. Maybe the analysis would have cost more than just buying the machine due to the increased time and effort to model wrapper use cases. Who knows. It doesn't matter. FastCap has worked hard to gain the disposable income to make quality of work life improvements to the factory for its workers. Other company heads would have stashed that all away in profits. Save plenty for profits, sure. Here, though, that relatively small chunk of money was used in a smarter way. I hugely respect decisions like this, and even more so the thinking process behind that decision. Quick, effective, and most importantly helping give back to what all employees can rally around: a more streamlined and enjoyable job. I'm glad I have voices like yours high up in the business world to look up to on how to lead a company in the future. It boosts my motivation as an aspiring entrepreneur to keep at the grind, knowing that others are also striving to achieve a better, more responsible way to do business. Thanks for the wonderful and detailed shop tour. Not often do you get to see one like this of such a large building housing such a successful company. That success is clearly well deserved. We use some of your products in our shop and this video makes me even happier to do so. Christian
I have told people for years if it wasn't a warm weather personnel move up there and work for you. I wish all my different bosses through the years would have had your attitude.
Respect! It's one thing to think up ideas for a lean and tidy workplace, but actually DOING it and KEEPING it that way in the entire company takes a ton of commitment and team spirit. Much to learn from this video.
I don't even know how I stumbled across this video, but after watching it I really have a serious appreciation for your business, business model and this 'lean' concept. I've purchased some Kaizen foam (which I love) from you in the past but I"m going to take a closer look at your website to see what else you may sell that could improve my shop expierence. I really want to support businesses your yours and hope others do as well. We need more US manufacturing like this. Pride in product and positive work culture. Great work guys.
The idea of having an open floor concept can be very beneficial especially when it is a team working together rather than several small teams with a lack of communication and their own agendas. Everything labeled and organized goes a long way to ensuring you and your team have everything you need to succeed.
I hope to open a very small food production factory. This video is AMAZING & such an inspiration. So well organized. This will stay in my mind as the ideal. Love all that natural sunlight too. ☺️
Thanks elario max. Those are common problems. Start small. Take before and after videos. A pdf version of my book (2 Second Lean) is available online for free. Check on this link. 2secondlean.com/listen-now Paul
I just had to watch this for one of my manufacturing classes. I can only hope I'm lucky enough to one day work for a company with such a friendly, yet professional atmosphere like this
Good job there, although, I'm not sure about the switches, I think there is a thin line that divides where to look for efficiency and it is when you lose focus on the element's functions and prefer to use another reference like the red lines in the case of aircraft switches; I mean that the tendency becomes preferring avoiding time waste and reasoning after instead of reasoning quickly, so you understand what you are doing first.
Great video, really changed my view of the work environment and help me in a presentation at my work where I showed this video. Talking about lean this is a great visual tool for outsiders and newbys to see what's lean really supposed to be like and look like. Cheers !!
@Have a nice time! Yes we do apply the Kanban method. Check out this video:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Levkx8f0qL4.html It shows all our Kanbans that we use throughout the facility.
I very recently got promoted to an Engineer (I started in the factory as a temp production line worker, just loading PCBs into a conformal coat machine). The key point I saw here is having your Engineers in the production area!. This is a fantastic idea!.. as a production line worker it was easy for me to notice ways to improve processes, but the engineers were in the complete opposite end of the building, making it REALLY hard to get those inefficiencies rectified. I've been fighting (and slowly winning) in really trying to improve communication between engineering and production sides of the business. But Physical proximity seems to be a great idea. If you don't hide the Engineers away in an office at the end of the building it can help the flow of feedback.. really get the Kaizen process to flow much faster.. I'm still a very junior engineer (so much to learn every day) but I just LOVE to learn. and more than I love to learn I love to improve processes that are totally arse backwards and fix them... I hate to hear "But that's how we've always done it" and am really trying to change the culture to abandon that kind of thinking. EDIT FROM HERE: Your plane system.. fantastic. An aviation buff myself I love this idea of unambiguous switch positioning, Very 'Airbus' Philophosy. The airbus philophosy being ALL switches should be in an identical visual state when in the 'correct' position.
JT's scooter is better I think. It allows more tipping room by the looks of it. The other one requires you to ride strictly vertical or you risk the rubber pad skimming the floor. If Doug's could lifter higher, I would prefer it though I think. Hehe. Big Ass fans. What a great name.
You have all your stand up desks at the same height so the tall guy and short lady using the same desk, none of them would feel discriminated. Everything is simple means everything is cheap and uncomfortable. Jeez it’s depressing.
I want to know why there are no chairs? Is there a specific reason? Also if people are standing up all the time have you considered buying antifatigue mats? I got mine at RS HUGHES. Look forward for your response
One thing I've noticed about Lean is that it has to be a company culture. You can't think, "that's a problem for someone else." You also can't have a situation where you feel like your work is wasted because the next guy in line is going to mess everything up. For instance, if 1st shift sees a shelf that needs to be organized, does so and then the next morning they see that second shift made a mess of the shelf, they feel a sense of defeat. Why would I make improvements if they're just going to be undone? The other problem is managerial misunderstanding of the concept. Many companies think that never buying needed tools, spending money on maintenance or taking time now to improve efficiency for later saves them money, so that must be what Lean is all about. What they don't realize is that money saved in the short term is often money lost in the long term. They'll offshore their production resulting in long lead times and inventory excess when it finally arrives, pay bottom dollar leading to employees who are under qualified and high turnover rates, use the phrase "that's how we've always done it" (I hate this phrase. Never say this.) leading to stagnation, neglect the brain power of their workers leading to dissatisfaction, fail to upgrade and improve, and when they do finally have no choice but to replace something, they seek the cheapest rather than the best for the process leading to lost opportunity due to down time and inefficiency. When I first hired onto my current company, they talked about improving efficiency and wanting to implement Lean concepts. Now that I've worked there a few months, I can see that they don't understand what needs to be done. I have made several suggestions for improvements and all have been dismissed. I have made several requests for more efficient tooling and all have been ignored. So I've decided that I need to step up or move on. I'm working on several proposals for equipment, technology and processes that will greatly improve efficiency/productivity. This post is getting long, but I developed a little example to show how small savings end up big over time: 9 seconds = 65 hours. If you make 100 widgets per 8 hour day that means it takes 4 minutes 48 seconds per widget. If you find some way to improve that by a mere 9 seconds per widget, you gain 65 hours of extra production per year. 9 sec times 100 widgets times 5 days times 52 weeks = 234,000 seconds divided by 60 = 3,900 minutes divided by 60 = 65 hours. 1 week, 3 days and 1 hour of production you didn't have before. That's an extra 812.5 widgets per year and if you make $10 profit per widget...$8125 from nothing more than making a 3% improvement to the process.
Kenneth, I just started a new job as a Manufacturing Engineer/Process Optimizer with very similar issues to what you've described. I'd love to hear how things went for you, if you have the time. Your comment mirrors a number of my thoughts on the difficulties in applying changes to non-machines. : )
Seeing this from the UK, the no chairs... is absolutely bizarre!! You work hard in the uk to have a job that you do sit down in. Why you’d stand up as a design engineer for example just makes no sense. For production purposes, of course stand. The scooter idea it’s just ludicrous. Don’t try so hard to be different.
@Coleton33Music We did do an update video about 7 years ago: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EqtKKkastWk.html We can most definitely take it to our team and have a discussion. Thanks for the feedback!
Paul- How much analysis do you do before making a purchase like the automatic shrink wrapper? Clearly its cool, Lean and saves time, but truly how much analysis was done before making that purchase. I am sure it wasn't cheap.
There are programs through the BWC were you can get grants to pay for most if not all of it. The BWC has many many programs more companies should take advantage of.
Nicholas Niedzielski working at a shop that doesn’t have an automatic shrink wrapper I can tell you a lot. Wrapping a skid like that takes about 3-4 minutes multiply that by sometimes 20 skids.
Do your employees a favor and get one. They are amazing, save time, save shrink wrap, and most importantly save your workers' backs. I may be a little biased because I have hand wrapped a few thousand pallets.
Awesome! I wish I will work in a place like this some day! I dont have words, it must be really motivating towork like this! I havent seen a company like this before... Greetings from Germany ;)
+Telias Thanks so much. Check out my website for a bunch of lean information. paulakers.net/ Also, I though you might like this video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DhRjlIkj2Nw.html
Great information share! Enjoyed seeing examples! At 4:12 there is a lot of inventory being shown on shelves. Not sure the process - just caught my eye. Thanks!
Easy of access, and three Big Ass Fans! While I don't understanding the standing, I can appreciated the 'U' format that allows the processes to flow with extreme ease. Yes-Haw!!!!
I’ve been standing full time for 2 years, often 12 hours a day. Of course I sit at breaks. But I own the company and was the first to do it before my team. We have anti fatigue mats. I would never go back to sitting. Not a chance.
Paul! I loved this video! Being a maker/inventor/fabricator... You look like a fun cat to hang out with... Having things organized in your warehouse and having it all super clean is a lot of work but it truly makes for a more enjoyable ride on the scooter when you don't slip on dust bunnies... Loved the scooter mods they did to their scooters...... For sure looks like a fun place to work.... -Brian
Enthusiasm City ! ! ! I love your creativity, Paul, well matched to your energy and laser-focus. Plus, bidets in the restrooms! What more could an employee ask for?
Really nice system, but cubicles are horribly disruptive. I can only imagine the interuptions if I were on the shop floor! If anything the Covid crisis of 2020 taught us, is the value of private offices. Also, I have a stand-up desk at the office cube farm and have never used it. I prefer to sit to do thinking-type work (need a good chair). On the other hand, my work-bench at the home shop is 44" tall (I'm 6'2") and like to stand to do manual labor-type work... so I can see the value to each, depending on the work being done. Shadow boards are nice for the shop w/ limited tools needed for 'standard work'.
I think the most important thing that this company does is 3S for a dedicated 15 minutes every day. It's not a ton of time taken from the overall day, but it is enough time to insure that everything is clean and organized, every day.
Originally from Michigan and now live in the south ( Savannah, GA area).. and boy let me tell you these people don't understand the concept of work smarter not harder... Anyone else have this problem lol
I wouldn't look forward to working here if you have back problems lol. Also, why do companies like this or even Bloomberg think that working in an open floor plan with no cubicles, no walls and no offices makes for a better, more productive work environment? I've experienced both and as a cybersecurity analyst who works in an office setting I personally enjoy working while standing up at my computer but once in a while you do want to sit down and having no walls and no privacy whether it be in a warehouse setting or office will drive you nuts especially when you are taking phone calls or in a video conference.. Having no walls can make it very difficult to focus and yeah the worker and yeah the workers might say to the boss oh I enjoy this work environment when realistically i guarantee you they wish they had some type of barrier separating them from the rest of the working environment lol.
Ah. No chairs that means they dog you! Don't work in a place that doesn't have chairs for people. Where I work we are given a chair when you start working with us.
Congratulations you all have done a great work, I am a quality engineer and I appreciate when everyone works as a team to keep everything organized, clean and a good work flow, this as you mentioned it keeps everything smooth, enjoy to work, less waste of time. If you ever need a QA let me know lol!
One more thing about standing in place is that when your employees need to sit a while, they have to move out of working area. That could cause you huge waste of time because they can't work at where they can sit
Sorry but being on concrete like that all day? How many have you had out with hemorrhoids? It's comming! Better get some mats down at your work stations.
Your employees stand on concrete all day and wouldn't have it any other way? I hope you guys encourage people to sit with the option to stand now. That is very hard on the body.
this area has everything my employees have ever asked for, from scooters, to auto pallet wraps, to free food. But it makes me wonder what was the cost to get them there?
The color coding by days of the week to see and measure flow and if you are on time is a good idea. The simple things like that and the toolboxes to have the shadow cutouts make it easier for work flow and the ability to be agile and others to substitute in and know where things are.
Paul, I had the honor of meeting you when I worked for a cabinet hardware supply store in Houston. We met at a trade show and I have always remembered that moment. At my current job we have just started using the Kanban system and I refer to your videos all the time to show people how it can work perfectly.
@JustinsGarage Our morning meeting is a huge part of building the Lean culture and giving everyone a chance no matter their skill level or natural propensity. Lean isn't just about efficient manufacturing it's changing your teams point of view and giving them the power to change/improve things.
"A minute you struggle, you have waist". Awsome! Paul, seriously ! Thanks for showing me the ins and outs of the Fastcap facility. This give me more respect for Fastcap. I wish the company I worked for would adopt the Lean process. My wife is a Green belt and I tried to adapt some of the Lean process at my work place….and came across some less then willing bosses. Continue to grow…50,000 square feet…..ALMOST the size of my hobby woodworking shop……LOL Just kidding…that place is HUGE! Eric
Thanks Eric. I send out a weekly eBlast on lean. Usually videos I create or others have shared with me. Some of them are folks who struggle with bosses who don't understand. Here is a link to subscribe (select 2 Second Lean). fastcap.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=4b6cd3052005adbfe263c045e&id=8c1f8244f9 Keep me posted on your lean journey!!! Start small! Paul
