Maynard Gets Results: Maynard Helps Lithonia Lighten Workload, Improve Productivity

Lithonia Lighting is the largest manufacturer of lighting equipment for commercial, industrial, outdoor and residential applications in North America. A division of Acuity Brands, the company has 15 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Lithonia wanted to improve profitability in its manufacturing operations. The company had very good metrics for managing plant and assembly operations. The problem was that each facility used different methodologies for standards development and line balancing. While these techniques had resulted in productivity gains, management believed more significant and consistent results could be achieved using a proven, consistent methodology.

For the initiative to be truly successful, Lithonia would need to change not only the technical side of its manufacturing process, but also the company culture, including how its employees performed their jobs.

Lithonia Teams Up With H. B. Maynard and Company, Inc.

Prior to the project, the typical line re-engineering took an average of six months to complete and implement. With such a significant savings opportunity, Lithonia wanted to realize the savings much faster than six months per line. To accelerate the realization of this cost savings opportunity, the company reviewed proposals from several consulting providers before choosing Maynard to assist them with the improvement initiative.

To begin, Lithonia wanted to balance assembly lines in three separate facilities. This would allow the company to increase assembly line productivity, while creating a consistent balancing tool for multiple facilities. The initiative would also provide Lithonia’s engineers with a tool to evaluate method improvement ideas in a timely and accurate manner, and offer tools, training and documented processes for supervisors to follow in other manufacturing plants.

Consistency is the Key

To achieve success, Lithonia needed a consistent methodology that would allow workers across its manufacturing facilities to “speak the same language,” by using the same tools and techniques.

“One of our goals was to create a manufacturing platform,” said Todd Coryea, a Materials Manager for Lithonia who oversaw the project. “With a consistent platform in place, we could help ensure that product costs were the same at each facility.”

Understanding the Process

Maynard recommended the development of standard data and engineered standards to provide a consistent methodology to measure plant productivity. Using the Maynard Operation Sequence Technique (MOST®) system, Maynard helped Lithonia identify each task performed on an assembly line and the amount of time taken to complete each task. From this information, Lithonia could develop best methods and standard practices that would be implemented across all manufacturing facilities.

“We wanted a complete package of new techniques and tools, such as the StandardsPro™ and LeanLine® software,” Coryea said. “With these tools, we knew we could implement standard practices and ensure consistent productivity among the plants.”

Lithonia personnel were trained in a variety of industrial engineering and lean manufacturing techniques, including MOST, 5-S, Best Methods and Work Flow Design. This training ensured consistent application of engineering techniques across all facilities.

Standard Practice Teams Go to Work

To ensure success, Lithonia and Maynard chartered three standard practice teams, one for each facility. The teams, which consisted of assembly line workers, engineers and supervisors, provided expert knowledge of shop floor conditions and practices at their plant. Each team analyzed each assembly line by evaluating current layout and methods, and identified and documented best methods for each task.

Through the process, the teams created new standards to rebalance the lines, decreasing the loss of balance and maximizing operator utilization. To ensure the standards are followed, performance management training was provided for both supervisors and employees.

Not Just a Technical Issue

While the development of standards established a new manufacturing process for Lithonia, it also changed the way employees performed their jobs, requiring a significant cultural change.

“The key was to get employees involved in the change process at the beginning,” said Coryea, who said the three plants have a total of more than 1,200 employees. “The individuals working the assembly line are the real experts, so it was important to have their input to ensure success.”

By including assembly employees as part of the standards practice teams, Lithonia managers gained valuable insight into the work processes and how to improve them. In turn, management communicated consistently with employees about the program’s progress. “We felt it was important to both share and celebrate the results with our employees, so they understand the positive impact of the changes,” Coryea said.

Productivity Creates Bottom Line Results

Through the improvement initiative, productivity increased significantly at all three plants. Lithonia saw productivity improve by 25 percent at its Georgia facility, by 20 percent in its Ohio plant, and by 15 percent in its Indiana facility.

Thanks to the improved productivity, Lithonia estimates that it has reduced overall costs by 20 percent among the three plants. These cost savings were distributed fairly evenly over all operations, according to Coryea, who also noted the speed in which the savings were achieved.

“In one year, we accomplished about five years worth of work,” he said. “And now we have a proven methodology that we can implement more quickly at our other plants.”

Lithonia has been so pleased with the results that Maynard is working with the company to implement line balancing improvements in another one of its manufacturing plants. Coryea noted that the changes should be implemented fairly quickly, now that new standards are in place.

“We’ve changed our operations before, but not of this magnitude,” he said. “Part of the problem before was that we would have difficulty implementing changes efficiently. Through the new processes, we expect to implement changes more quickly and easily now. We truly believe that we created a culture of change and are better positioned to handle the challenges of a global economy.”