Boston Centerless - Precision Matters Magazine Fall 2018 | Page 9

and efficient, proprietary systems we employ. Several large multinational customers have asked to benchmark our operation over the years. After visiting BC, our clients leave believing we are capable of exceeding their expectations and scaling with them as they grow. We see material problems that we fight to resolve. We see the exceptions on schedule and don’t take the time to realize what we have accomplished. When I think of lean, I think of everything that we changed, improved, and delivered to achieve an industry-leading on-time delivery performance. I see a 99.8 percent quality rating. I see dimensional tolerances in the millionths of an inch. I see products that exceed our customer expectations on a daily basis. I see customer report cards for BC that rank us at 100 percent every week, month, year. I see a safety record that wins us industry awards each year. This performance is the result of The BC Way. If we fall down— and of course we do—you can be assured that we’re working overtime to make things right again. When a customer calls in a request, over 100 teammates begin working collectively to meet that request. To recognize and reinforce behavior that exemplifies our Core Values, each month peer nominations roll in to recognize when one team member, or small group of teammates, went above and beyond to service a customer. From the nominations, one team member is awarded the Golden Bar Award (see recipients at www.bostoncenterless.com/about/golden-bar). Boston Centerless is a lean manufacturer with capabilities far beyond our competition. To continue to deliver a customer experience second to none, we must continuously improve our capability and products. Our customers are demanding more and we can deliver it to them. We will “lean” on each other to set the standard for excellence for years to come. What makes this possible is that we truly are a Lean Manufacturer that focuses on its people first. Our visual controls, our procedures, our 6S system, the results of our Kaizen events, and our idea board are all very impressive tools. But the thing that stands out most is the quality of our employees and how they communicate and participate in improving the process every day. This all starts with a communication system that involves every team member every day. Each month starts with a sales, production, and inventory plan. Every morning, representatives from sales to shipping meet to review the day ahead. The information is then taken to each team in the company for a daily huddle. This is where we get everyone on the same page, rowing in the same direction. It is also a time for input on ways to improve. These ideas are recorded and submitted with all other ideas, which are reviewed by our Lean Steering committee. The committee assigns improvement ideas to an individual or team to implement, and all act ivity in the program is updated weekly. Status updates are communicated via the huddles and more formally at quarterly all-hands meetings. From a customer perspective, the results tell the story. Living at BC every day, sometimes we don’t realize how our customers see us. We see past-due jobs that we are scrambling to finish. David Mersereau David Mersereau is the Sr. Vice President/General Manager at Boston Centerless. David has over 38 years of experience in operations, manufacturing, quality systems & control processes, supply chain management, material testing & validation, and Lean manufacturing. Prior to working at Boston Centerless, David held senior level positions at Altron Inc., Sanmina Corporation, North American Industries, and George Roberts Corporation. David holds a BS in Biology/Chemistry from Lowell Technological Institute and an MBA from the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business. Visit bostoncenterless.com 9