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
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