Pawley Institute and MLC host Amway event

By Beverly Brown, graduate assistant

Eric Van Dellen, Amway project supervisor for Environmental         Health and Safety, explained how the company has implemented         Lean principles and practices within its chemical plants.

The Oakland University Pawley Lean Institute joined forces with the Michigan Lean Consortium (MLC) to host their second networking event July 30 at the headquarters of Amway Operations in Ada, Mich. About 25 people attended the event, including representatives from federal and state government, and health care, automotive, IT and consulting companies.

Amway executive and MLC charter member Christopher Wilson served as the moderator for the event, and introduced the group to the Operational Excellence (OE) team model whose job is to implement continuous improvement. In recent years, OE has expanded Lean management from the plants to Amway’s core business
areas.

For example, Lean has been instrumental in saving energy at Amway. Through a series of Kaizen events (which means to take apart and make better in Japanese), the OE team examined and corrected air leaks on production lines that resulted in annual savings of more than $50,000.

“That amount alone could create a new job or save an existing one,” said Julianne Leigh, director of budget and the Pawley Lean Institute. Amway’s goal is to grow Lean leaders throughout the organization.

“In our Lean training we don’t just give out certificates following the workshop; employees have to earn it after they apply Lean,” Wilson said.

Following a detailed presentation about Amway’s energy and resource conservation efforts, the group took a tour of one of the chemical plants. Several participants taking the tour said they felt that the visual controls were as obvious as the employee pride, and it was great to see that everyone was familiar with and spoke the same Lean language.

Debra Setman of Johnson & Johnson serves as the chairperson for the MLC. This week she will tape a Comcast Newsmakers segment about MLC’s efforts to help organizations throughout the state become more “Lean,” which will air in the fall.

“So far we’ve gained interest from companies like Battle Creek Health Systems, DTE Energy, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Two Men and A Truck, International and the State of Michigan. Now we’re trying to get even more people on board with Lean,” Setman said.

Oakland University offers courses in Lean management for both graduate and undergraduate credit as well as workshops and trainings. For more information, visit www.oakland.edu/lean.