GENCO ATC IMPROVEMENTS

HOW WE SUCCEED
C O R P O R AT E O F F I C E I M P ROV E S P A P E RWO R K F L OW
Facility Statistics
Pittsburgh (Corporate) Office Total number of TMs: 230

July 2011

Problem Encountered: Updates to teammate information is currently completed in several systems that include a lot of paperwork and hand offs between different departments. Subsequently, errors are occurring. The updates mentioned include teammates addresses, marital changes, promotions, terminations and changes to benefits, among others. Currently, the Teammate Lifecycle Value Stream Map is awaiting review and approval from the Teammate Services senior leadership. Once approved, the suggested Quick Hit Solutions will soon become a reality.

Improvement Process: To solve the bottleneck, we used a value stream map and also interviewed the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Teammates from payroll, benefits, and teammate services met for 3 days to create the value stream map. Results: The process was improved based upon the number of steps involved with handling teammate changes. The amount of time it took to process these changes was also reduced. In total, 29 action items were decided on, nine of which were quick hits. Some of the quick hits have already been implemented. Our current state shows our best time being 14 days (9% waste) and our worst time as 128 days (15% waste).

Our current state of corporate paperwork flow.

Our future state shows our best time is 12 days (0% waste) and our worst time is 64 days (0% waste).

Facility Statistics
Pendergrass, GA

RECKITT BENCKISER INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY

Lean Tools can be utilized in any environment at GENCO ATC.
Problems Encountered: There is waste occurring during the first shift at the facility. Teammates are attempting to solve this problem. The scope of the plan is to increase first shift productivity with respect to office processes and create a sequence of events in an effort to reduce waste. 1. Learn the necessary tools to perform a Kaizen Team event. 2. Apply personal knowledge and experience to improve the host facility. 3. Identify and eliminate waste in the shipping/receiving office. 4. Bring home experience and knowledge to our own facility. Improvement Process: The teams plan to 5. Promote teamwork amongst everyone. tackle this bottleneck was to:

Total number of TMs: 49 full-time, 42 temporary

Results: By identifying and eliminating waste in the process, two Fulltime Equivalents were removed from the shipping office process and relocated to the production floor where they provided greater value to the business and our customer.

GENCO ATC IMPROVEMENTS

L ABOR

MANAGEMENT

July 2011

P H A R M AC E U T I C A L FAC I L I T Y S E E S
PRODUCTIVITY JUMP
GENCO ATCs Pharmaceutical facility in Milwaukee is a prime example of a labor management systems positive impact on productivity. Improvement Progress: In 2009, the facility decided to employ the labor management system Manhattan. At that point in time, the facilitys throughput (number of lines keyed per hour worked) was in the 40s. After its inception, the facility realized an increase in throughput to the 50s a 25% improvement. And that was only the facilitys first phase of new labor management implementation. In early 2010 and phase two of the project, the facility began using RxLog, a product tracking system that feeds managers labor management information. Because of the changes throughout the past few years, our pharmaceutical facility saw the throughput jump again to 60 and higher in the first quarter of 2011. Future Goals: Latara McCullough, an Operations Analyst at the facility, said the goal for 2011 is to increase throughput further to 71 or 72. Latara also noted that the facility has been seeing high Labor Management Scores since implementing labor management changes. Pictured below is a graph that shows both throughput and Labor Management Scores for the facility from October 2, 2010 to June 25, 2011. The facility is hoping for nothing but success as they continually strive for improvement.

L E M OY N E FAC I L I T Y I M P L E M E N T S L A B O R M A N AG E M E N T I N C E N T I V E
Improvement Process: Our facility in Lemoyne has rolled out a new labor management initiative this month that will provide teammates with performance-based incentives. The facility, which hosts customers Ratner, Pinnacle Foods, and Carex is using a new system called Easy Metrics. It is the facilities first implemented system from an outside vendor. Until this month, the facility was using predetermined labor standards. In January, the facility began to track daily performance in Excel documents to determine future goals and standards. The data was collected for a couple of months. Once the minimum standards were determined, GENCO ATC decided to set the bar 5% higher. In other words, the facility is forecasted to have a decrease in cost per labor hour once the system is fully employed. Future Outcomes: Matthew Stoner, the Operations Manager at the facility said teammates will be paid earned incentives at the end of each month. The paid incentives will be determined by how productive each teammate was in comparison to the set minimum standards. Incentive pay will be calculated as a percentage of gross earnings, including straight-time and overtime pay, but excluding vacation pay, holiday pay, and other pay for time not actually worked. The incentive program is set to be reviewed every 90 days or as needed, factoring in new customer demands, as well as changes in technology and new lean projects. The reason for the implementation is to increase productivity while maintaining quality and customer satisfaction. The program will ultimately reward those GENCO ATC teammates who operate productively and maintain quality.

GENCO ATC IMPROVEMENTS

RECEIVING
S C A N N I N G P RO C E S S E S T O B E AU T O M AT E D

July 2011

One of GENCO ATCs goals has always been continuous improvement. As a part of this culture, we are looking for solutions to automate the receiving (scanning and sorting) process within our return facilities nationwide. The ultimate goal of the project is to increase throughput while reducing the cost per scan that is placed on our customers. Automating the receiving process will reduce wasted time as well as unneeded labor costs. Ideas for the automation include hands-free scanners, overhead scanners, application of sorting labels with the help of robotics, robotic sorting, etc. Chris Schneider, a member of the Continuous Improvement team within GENCO ATCs Strategic Solutions Group, said the hope is that the new automation systems will be able to do the work of a scanning teammate in the same amount of time,

or faster. While Chris admits that the project will not in be full effect for quite some time, some alreadycompleted work has shown improvements. At our Sears and Kmart return facility in Grove City, Ohio, one scanning station was upgraded with a new PC and hands free scanner. With this small, short-term update, the scanning station saw a 13% increase in scans per hour. Schneider said until the long-term improvements are implemented, teammates can at the very least expect upgraded technology. Currently, teammates at the corporate office are corresponding with seven different vendors to discuss different ideas and solutions to the automation process for GENCO ATCs return centers.

Boxplot of Pre Scanner, Post Upgrade

500

400

Number of scans per hour before and after the upgrade.

Data

300

200

100 Pre Scanner Post Upgrade