Artwork Emerging on the Plant Floor, Engaging Employees

Engaging creativity

Challenging traditional thinking.

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“Liquid Gears,” created by photographer Erich Schrempp for Winzeler Gear.

Artwork Emerging on Artwork Emerging on the Plant Floor, the Plant Floor, Engaging EmployeesEngaging EmployeesChallenging traditional thinking.Challenging traditional thinking.

Manufacturing doesn’t have to match its traditionally dull, dingy stereotype.

Shedding drab decor for color and style, manufacturers are reflecting an

appreciation for the arts — and in some cases, they gain new, positive atten-

tion and involvement from employees and customers.

Lea A.P. Tonkin

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John Crane, Inc.: Creating AMore Vibrant Environment

Thinking on the creative sideabout ways to encourage employeeinvolvement, Ellen Sieminski, supervi-sor of industrial engineering at JohnCrane, Inc. in Morton Grove, IL wasinspired by artworks on display atWinzeler Gear in Harwood Heights, IL.“I had visited Winzeler on a plant tour,and I was impressed with the environ-ment they were creating for employ-ees,” she said. “I began thinking, ‘Ifyou’re going to be at work eight to tenhours a day, why not look at some-thing interesting and colorful for atleast part of that time?’

“Also, we were told by an outsidecustomer that he knew our parts werehigh quality but that the appearanceof our inspection lab area didn’t neces-sarily reflect that quality,” continuedSieminski. She worked with the main-tenance staff, outside vendors, andquality lab employees to replicate thelook at Winzeler — metallic silver wallswith bright neon-colored pictures onthe walls. Sieminski hired the photog-rapher used by Winzeler, ErichSchrempp of Chicago, and gave himfree rein to photograph product partsmade at John Crane as well as some oftheir equipment, and then to do post-production work to add color andinterest to the parts he photographed.(Employees at the Morton Grove facili-ty manufacture mechanical seals usedin pumps, compressors, and otherrotating equipment; approximately700 people work here, half in the plantand half in administrative areas.)

“We tried to turn the lab area intoa showpiece. We polished the floors,got monochrome blue cabinets to

replace the old green cabinets in thearea, and added new chairs and light-ing, too,” said Sieminski. Quality labemployees made suggestions aboutartwork selections for their area. Eightlarge panels (bright red and blue dom-inate these works) depicting seals, sealparts, and measuring instrumentsnow adorn the walls of their workspace. There is also a four-piece pic-ture of mating rings, done in variousneon colors.

At the same time, Sieminski and aco-worker coached the five quality labemployees on 5S initiatives that couldimprove work flow and the overall lookof the 23-foot by 43-foot area. “Weworked on 5S principles that wouldhelp the employees create the mosteffective layout in the area,” she said.A dropped ceiling, track lighting, andrepainted equipment resulted fromthis project teamwork.

Bill Larosa, a quality technician,said the quality lab looks much betterthan it used to, and that he appreci-ates the new lighting. “It did take awhile getting used to the silver walls,”he added.

“The pictures of seals and measur-ing instruments on the wall are beau-tiful,” said Tom Johnson, a qualitytechnician. “It used to look drab anddingy in the lab. Now it’s brighter, wehave better lighting, and the floors arepolished. We have two open spots onthe wall for art, and we want to fillthem.”

Over in the mailroom, EssexHarris said he appreciates the color-ful, large artworks (two individualworks and another that is made up offour prints) decorating the walls of hiswork area. He noted that 5S improve-ments in the mailroom last year creat-

ed better work flow, and these changeswere topped off by the installation ofthe “postal art” — large collages ofpostage stamp images. (See Figure 1.)

Buoyed by enthusiastic responsesfrom a number of employees(Sieminski conceded that not everyoneoffered compliments when the artworkstarted sprouting on work area walls),Sieminski lobbied for even more art-work installations. “We bought therights to the pictures created by Erich,so we can use them in more than onelocation and in marketing materials,”said Sieminski. “We added more pic-tures of our product parts and equip-ment on other walls and in otherrooms in the building, including aconference room.”

For the quality lab, about a yearafter the initial renovation and artinstallation, Sieminski asked Schremppto take additional photos of mechani-cal seal parts and equipment, and onanother wall in the lab, three more pic-tures were added. They are 30 by 50inches. “I take the pictures to a localsign shop, and for about $80 apiece,they are printed and put on foamposter board,” said Sieminski. TheJohn Crane maintenance shop person-nel built wooden frames for the pic-tures, a cost-effective way to ready art-works for display.

Colorful pictures of the company’sdry gas seals were hung on the wallsof the seal refurbishment area as partof a 5S project (eight CNC machinesare also in the room) during the pastcouple of years. The operators pro-posed what photos they thoughtthey’d like. “That led to interest in cre-ating artwork for an employee cafete-ria area,” said Sieminski. “Supervisorsfrom two areas suggested images forartwork there: There are seal partsfrom our Adaptive Hardware depart-ment, as well as parts from ourStandard Cartridge product line.” Allof this artwork is tied to 5S and workarea improvements.

“At the same time, it is a more

Engaging Creativity

In BriefArt is personal, and so it can inspire a wide range of reactions. JohnCrane, Inc., Flexco, and Winzeler Gear have brought artwork into theirplants, creating interest among employees and customers.

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vibrant environment,” Sieminski said.“Employees know that somebody caresand has put thought into their workarea. In our central parts warehouse,someone asked about getting our‘motivational artwork,’ so the ware-house supervisor and I picked outparts that we stock and had Erich takephotos of those. We ended up hangingone in the main warehouse and two inthe break room.” Then a six-foot byfour-foot picture of a dented retainerwas installed along the main aisle inthe middle of the plant. “When werepainted our main hallway a monthago, we put three images printed oncanvas on the wall,” said Sieminski.For these three works, Sieminski sentphoto files to mpix.com, an onlinephoto reproduction company, which

printed the images on canvasstretched over a frame ($170 for a two-foot by three-foot “gallery wrap”), readyto hang. “Although we started with themanufacturing area, it is nice to havethe photos in the hallway. Not every-one makes it to the floor on a regularbasis, and some employees wereunaware of the artwork in the shop,”she said.

Once people started noticing theartwork, many supervisors had addi-tional ideas about images they wouldlike to see in their area. “One of thesupervisors came up with the idea of apicture incorporating two types ofseals playing checkers. Now we have acheckerboard picture that incorpo-rates seals on a game board, on bothoffice doors in that area as well as in

an employee break area,” saidSieminski. (See Figure 2.) “I’m happythat people in the plant are acceptingart. We want to do more but we’remindful of cost. We are looking atredoing our training center; thewoman who runs it has expressedinterest in having artwork there.

“I would like to say we achievedsomething from our artwork,”Sieminski said. “It has attracted com-ments from both employees and fromour customers, and it sparks theimagination. At first, it may haveseemed alien to some employees here.I assume by now that most people areused to my love of vibrant color andhave grown used to the artwork pop-ping up. Anywhere I see a blank wall,I see potential for artwork.”

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Figure 1. Colorful collages depicting stamps adorn the mailroom at John Crane, Inc. Shown here is “Seven Stamps – Mailroom Art 2” created byChicago photographer Erich Schrempp.

Flexco: Changing the Image of Manufacturing

Abstract, fluorescent, colorful pic-tures on the walls of the die repairroom at Flexco in Downers Grove, ILrepresent a “first attempt” at introduc-ing artwork in the plant other than inadministrative areas. The 30-inch by50-inch prints were created from pho-tos of dies and tools that were takenby Bob Hafey, director of lean opera-tions, and Bob Johnson, a die makerfrom die repair. “We were looking forpictures that related to dies and toolsused in the area,” said Johnson. Hafeysaid he enlarged the images and useda fill color technique in CorelPhotoshop on pictures to make themlook abstract. (See Figure 3.) “In theirnatural state, without added color, thepictures would have looked sterile,” hesaid. “We blew up those pictures andhad them printed on foam board at aquick print shop. The images are vinyland unframed. We used mirror clips to

hold them in place. Then we hungthem on the walls after a kaizen blitzteam completed a 5S project in dierepair.” Hafey noted that the total costper picture averaged $115.

Krista Howland, human resources(HR) manager, along with Johnson,was on the die repair kaizen blitzteam. “The pictures get people talkingand interacting,” she said. “It doesn’tmatter what people’s reactions are, aslong as we are getting people involved.Some employees think the artwork isgood, and some don’t — that’s whathappens with art.”

“The artwork brightens up theroom and makes it a nicer place towork. I enjoy it when people ask aboutthe pictures, and I have similarabstract pictures like that at home aswell,” said Johnson. “The whole roomis totally different, with walls we paint-ed white and equipment painted lightgray. And since we finished the 5Sproject, we have specific spots for all ofthe tools in the area.”

“After most 5S efforts, things canlook pretty sterile,” commentedHowland. “Now people in the die repairarea have an organized work space,but it’s not boring. The environment isvibrant and different.”

Hafey’s take on reasons toencourage art in manufacturing:“First, it makes people think,” hesaid. “It also sparks discussion anddebate. That’s what art has alwaysdone. Third, it also challenges thestandards of what can be put on thewalls of the manufacturing plant. Ifyou can challenge that, then whatelse can you challenge?”

Art can also change people’s think-ing about manufacturing, believesHafey. “Manufacturing doesn’t have avery good reputation,” he said. “It isperceived as dirty, noisy, and danger-ous. Not many people raising childrentoday hope that their children will havea career in manufacturing. Art in theworkplace challenges that convention-al thinking. If there is art on the walls,people working in the area think differ-ently about their work area. They aremore inclined to maintain and clean it.People walk through die repair andnotice the difference. It is one smallway to change manufacturing’s image.”

Winzeler Gear:Creative Collaboration

Employees at Winzeler Gear pridethemselves on creative solutions tomeet customers’ needs for precision-molded gears. Plant visitors and peo-ple checking the company website(www.winzelergear.com) will immedi-ately note the company’s artistic flairreflected in colorful gallery displaysand company-sponsored artworks.“Gear manufacturing is an art,achieved by customers and suppliersworking together as strategic businesspartners,” said John Winzeler, thethird generation Winzeler to operatethe Chicago-area business. The com-pany’s largest wall graphic, dubbed

Engaging Creativity

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Figure 2. . “Checkerboard seals” was created by photographer Erich Schrempp after a JohnCrane supervisor suggested artwork picturing two types of seals playing checkers.

“Liquid Gears,” is 14 feet high and 44feet long; in a striking, five-colorpalette, it depicts gears drenched withcolor for photography.

Prominently-displayed modernartworks in various media boldlyattract positive attention from cus-tomers, especially those from othercountries such as Japan and France,said Winzeler. “We are here to createaesthetics for our customers, employ-ees, and others,” he said. “We projectthe image of a modern, forward-think-

ing company. Some employees ‘get it,’and for others, it doesn’t matter. It istheir choice, and it is personal.”

For Winzeler, artworks sponsoredand displayed by his company are verypersonal. “I don’t separate my privatelife and my life at the company,” hesaid. “I get my creative energy fromcreative forms around me. We’ve takena gear — a mundane object — andturned it into an art form. The samekinds of art that Winzeler Gear dis-plays at the plant are also found in my

home. Every one of our major cus-tomers has reprints of some of our art-works in their workplaces, and someof their executives have them in theirhomes as well. The economy may havestymied our creative side, but we willcontinue to encourage creative collab-oration with our customers.”

Lea A.P. Tonkin, Target executive editor,lives in Woodstock, IL.

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Figure 3. Die repair area photos at Flexco were transformed into abstract artworks now on displayed there. This image was created by Bob Hafeyof Flexco.