WIN-WIN

During a Reduced Effort Changeover (REC) Kaizen Event the operators win because their effort is reduced.  The company wins because the downtime is reduced

EMPOWERED ENGAGEMENT

There is no one who knows more about change overs than the operators who perform the change overs.  They are the experts, and they know more about the change over process than the engineers who designed the equipment.  During this Reduced Effort Changeover (REC) Kaizen event the operators will be empowered to make the needed decisions that will reduce their effort.  Changes to the machine will only be made if they are simple, low cost, safe, and reversible.  If the change does not work, they will simply go back to the previous setup. 

“If we would only do the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” - -Thomas Edison

CULTURAL CHANGE

Changing the way people work, with the expectation that the culture will change, is backwards.  The Reduced Effort Changeover (REC ) Kaizen Event can effect a cultural change on the plant floor, because it changes the way operators view their work. If you first change the way people think about their work, they will change how they work.  

INCREASED INNOVATION

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel Prize winner, stated that “discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”  The Reduced Effort Changeover (REC) Kaizen Event will cause the participants to view the change over differently and think what nobody has thought.  This rise

in innovation, which occurs during the 4 day event, will translate into new procedures that will reduce their effort and subsequently reduce the downtime. 

SUSTAINED RESULTS

Operators willingly change the way they have always performed the change over because they now see a way they can complete their work with less effort.  They will sustain the new change over procedures because it requires less effort.  After all, who wouldn’t want to work less for the same pay?

INCREASED SAFETY

During a Reduced Effort Changeover (REC) Kaizen Event tasks are eliminated from the change over process, and safety risks decrease.  The less you have to touch a piece of equipment, the less chance of injury to the operators.  Many times bending, stooping, stretching, lifting, and climbing activities can not only be reduced but eliminated.  Matt Roeser, plant manager of a major bag manufacturer, noted that “by eliminating the need to remove certain parts of the machine this process has allowed the operators to reduce the risk of operating and changing over the equipment.  I was impressed by how much effort, time and risk were removed from the change over. ”