Lean Manufacturing has been around for many years—and its influence has long been a part of Hyve’s DNA. Top to bottom, across all sites around the world, Hyve has forever embraced the production methodology to drive value for our customers, reduce costs, delivering quality products in a timely manner, improving efficiencies, increase uptime, and maximize production.  

The idea can be traced to Japan where Toyota developed the concepts in the post-war 1950s and ‘60s. It quickly extended to businesses around the globe. Instilling lean processes throughout organizations not only drives value but has the added benefit of empowering employees – enhancing retention, boosting productivity, and elevating job satisfaction.  

In other words, it’s good for our customers and it’s good for our team.  

To get started, Hyve began with a focus group of volunteers. The enthusiasm and the successes they achieved quickly became contagious across the operations organization. By achieving a few quick wins and demonstrating the results to other teams and top management, the Lean Manufacturing effort spread very quickly to other sites of the company. 

Lean Manufacturing is as a systemic, proactive approach to identifying inefficiencies and working as a team to develop solutions that streamline processes and create value. Success breeds more success, and it empowers team members and their managers to contribute more ideas that make the company better. 
 

Training and reporting are crucial for sustaining process improvements. Hyve hosts training sessions for small groups where participants learn to identify waste, how to view value added activities, and how to design a plan for improvement. It’s instilled in the way everyone approaches their jobs. Also emphasized, the importance of documenting success and attaching a projected dollar value to the proposed solution.  

Anyone within the organization can review all process improvement documents through a central portal. The goal is to build a knowledge base of shared solutions for problems at all sites. Hyve encourages teams to connect and share their experiences across sites and to continuously refine efforts instead of reinventing the wheel. Hyve encourages Lean Manufacturing programs that are low-key and simple; Lance F, Senior Manager of Lean Manufacturing, notes, “We foster input and ideas from all levels of the organization and as a team, problem solve issues in a structured manner, recognize the efforts of people, and implement the ideas.” 

Top solution providers are awarded for their ideas, helping the team understand that ideas are heard, supported and rewarded.  

Lean Manufacturing is essential in the manufacturing industry to stay competitive. Companies need to rely on everyone to improve quality, reduce costs, and work efficiently. It’s important to implement lean manufacturing in a formal and structured way, being honest and transparent about the goals and why it’s believed in. Customers expect and respect this approach, and it’s critical for companies to embrace it.