PRT Oregon – Our Lean Journey

Mark MontvilleNursery Manager, PRT Oregon

Far West ShowAugust 27, 2011

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Presentation Overview

PRT – Who we are and what we do.Our lean management work prior to

OAN’s Lean Pilot Program.Our participation in OAN’s Lean

Pilot Program.

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PRT – Who We Are

PACIFIC

REGENERATION

TECHNOLOGIESForest seedling company.

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PRT Locations

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PRT – What We Do

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PRT Oregon Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement Meetings Brainstorming session – identify

improvement opportunities for a given operation.

Include all participants in operation.Done in a “classroom” setting after

operation was complete.

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PRT Oregon Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement Meetings Select which opportunities to evaluate

further. Determine improvement actions.Assign responsible parties to

implement actions.Include completion deadline dates.

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PRT Oregon Continuous Improvement

Training Session.

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PRT Oregon and OAN’s Lean Pilot

Continuous Improvement Event (Kaizen)

Goal - reduce time wasted during machine change-overs.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Automatic pin extractor.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Automatic pin extractor.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Machine Change-over.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Machine Change-over – Improvement Opportunities. While pins are being changed, 14 workers

are no longer packaging seedlings. It takes 8 minutes to change-over

equipment. We package 10 seedlings per worker

minute. Therefore, we lose the opportunity to

package 1,120 seedlings during each change-over.

Every 4 minutes of idle time = nearly 1 worker hour.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Machine Change-over – Improvement opportunities.Replace air wrench.Mark pins so installer always knows

which side is the top of the pins.Add a stop mechanism to pins that will

allow change-over person to easily position them on the lower mounting peg.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Machine Change-over – Improvement opportunities.Add visual marks to show where to

position block carraige for each block depth.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling - Problem

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling - Problem

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Problem.

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OAN Lean Pilot Program

Empty Container Handling – Problem.

Block Loader/Stacker worker made about 100 trips per shift up and down steps.

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OAN Lean Pilot Program

After considering all sorts of alternate routes to convey empty blocks, we

learned the answer was right

in front of us.

Empty Container Handling – Problem.

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Lean Approach to Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Lean Approach to Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Solution Trials

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Solution Trials

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Implemented Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Implemented Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Implemented Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Implemented Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Implemented Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Implemented Solution

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Seedling Lifting Operation

Empty Container Handling – Implemented Solution

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Benefits of Participation

Very helpful in getting us past the “classroom phase” and to the doing phase.

Introduced us to the concept of “Trystorming”. People too willing to get bogged down in speculating outcomes.

Reinforced the Plan Do Check Act cycle.Reinforced - including the people doing the

work and going to where the work is being done.

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Benefits of Participation

Allows people unfamiliar with your operation to see it and put forth suggestions based on their experience. Sometimes we can’t see the forest through the trees.

Helps you identify waste. There are many types of waste. Cost savings realized from reducing waste add up quickly.

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Thank you.