Patriot Tools Machine Shop Takes on a New Look

Workers at the new Patriot/Hydratight machine shop at Mooresboro, North Carolina have turned the reordering of their stores into a major example of the company's LEAN management principles.

LEAN is the process by which every element of a company's operations is examined and re-examined to see how it could be improved.

No prizes for guessing how the Mooresboro stores could be improved: the "before" picture shows a tangled mess of equipment One of the problems of running a machine shop with dozens of pieces of equipment is that unless every item has its own space and is determinedly returned to it after every use, things get mislaid and time and money are wasted. At Mooresboro, hundreds of items were dropped and deposited if not casually, then certainly without much regard for the next person who needed them.

Until June, when workers - employees of Actuant, Hydratight, DL Ricci, Superior and Patriot, all of whom are served by the facility - spent five days beautifying and reorganising the area and equipment.

Racks were rebuilt and labelled and items grouped and stored in locked, numbered containers so any single item could in future be identified and located within seconds. The task took 23 people five days - but every year the work will save hundreds of hours of searching, and thousands of dollars in time.

The work was led by Mike Whitaker (PTS Shop Manager), and facilitator Mike Devore, and team members included Ted Wozniak (of Actuant), Bob Boychuk, Annette Yoshizumi, Jim Husnick, Randy Reding and Dane Gadient from Hydratight, Lee Byars of Superior, and the largest group, Mike Gettys, Mike Dacus, Tommy Adderhold, Nicole Peavy, Pam Bridges, Angie Burn, Judy Freeman, Scott Jones, Donald Brazell, Dustin Ishikura, Alan Peeler, Rick Condon, Bruce Flannigan, Zach Price, and Josh Philbeck from Patriot Tools.

"We put our minds and backs into it and the whole process turned out a complete success - and it looks great!" said Mike Whitaker.