Food processing company works to ‘lean out’

After decades in business, managers and workers at Great American Appetizers know a thing or two about food processing. But the company wants to improve. Early this year, managers and employees dove into a “lean manufacturing” initiative to wring waste out of processing. Great American, which employs 220 on Eighth Street North in Nampa, worked with TechHelp, a manufacturing extension program of Idaho’s state universities. The company is in the midst of a program designed for food processors facing unique issues. “The candidate would be a food-processing company that adds value to a food product and has language and cultural issues that might prevent them from conducting a ‘lean’ transformation,” Tech Help Marketing Manager Bill Mullane said. Courses address the culture of the “lean” environment, English essentials for people who don’t speak the language and “Lean 101,” a course on factory operations principles. “One thing that lean does is that it really seeks input from the line worker,” Mullane said. “It empowers line workers to be engaged in the process of continuous improvement, so you want to make sure that the line workers understand and are able to overcome any cultural background that might prevent them from taking an active role.” Steve Cordova, operations vice president for Great American, said that about 92 percent of Great American’s work force is Hispanic, and about 10 percent speak English and Spanish. Many of the workers had been geared toward simply following the boss’s instructions, but the lean effort changed that, he said. “They did come to the forefront with a lot of ideas,” Cordova said. Great American sought continuous improvement, including reducing costs at all levels of the business, he said. “Our customers will not continue paying for inefficiencies we may have at our facility,” Cordova said. “They will not pay for any non-value-added step you have.” Costs for utilities and fuel, raw materials and labor are rising faster than product prices, he said. Plant Superintendent Luis Garcia said the lean effort drew widespread support from employees, and didn’t lead to job losses. Productivity is up, and waste is down, he said. “The overall picture is a lot of improvement, and more communication,” he said. Cordova said Great American first mapped out all processes, then looked for areas of wasted time, effort and resources. The company has attacked three operational areas so far, and plans to take on a fourth by the end of the year, Cordova said. The company found new ways to set up equipment to reduce employee movement and equipment downtime, Garcia said. Great American also changed how it uses a big holding freezer, Cordova said. The company directly ships much of its products – reducing loading and other costs while increasing inventory control, he said. Great American started the lean program early this year. Since then, it was able to turn what was a seven-day operation to a five-day operation, Cordova said. “Our capacity has just increased tremendously,” he said. “We are going after more business because we have more capacity.” Maintenance Engineering Manager David Hoffman said equipment is used more efficiently and safely in part because of a team approach. “The teamwork we have here has really, really come together,” Garcia said. Jeff Kronenberg, food-processing specialist with the University of Idaho and TechHelp, facilitated Great American’s lean transformation, which continues. “Lean manufacturing looks at how we can reduce waste in manufacturing that negatively impacts productivity and profitability,” Kronenberg said. “We’re trying to squueze more blood out of the beet, you might say.” Mullane said a grant provides up to $60,000 per participating company, and said companies must match up to 25 percent on their lean-manufacturing program. About six Idaho food processors are participating now.