Trioplast, one of Europe's leading manufacturer of polyethylene film
for cost-effective packaging solutions embarked on a systematic Lean rollout in 2018 to transform its operations. Over the course of two years, the two focus factories in France and Denmark matured to Silver-level, attaining a score of 3.2 and 3.0 respectively on the five-point benchmarking scale. As the global pandemic was unfolding in 2020, the newly-implemented standards and systems demonstrated the value of the Lean process, helping the team to not only adapt and maintain output levels, but also step up quality and productivity, despite strong “headwinds” and absenteeism levels. Basic Lean at its best.
Program Brief
- Type: Lean Transformation
- Client: Trioplast
- Role: Navigator & Trainer
- Period: 06/2018-12/2020
- Scope: 4 focus factories
Impact France 2020
- Flow: +29%
- Availability: +35%
- Quality: +11%
- Standards: +365
- Lean Projects: +17
Impact Denmark 2020
- Flow: +21%
- Availability: +13%
- Quality: +6.5%
- Standards: +147
- Lean Projects: +12
What doe those numbers actually mean? The reduction of planned and unplanned stoppages increased the flow of production, gaining throughput as a result. The reduction of breakdowns through productive maintenance increased the availability of extruders and other key equipment. The improvement of process capability (sigma) reduced variability, which led to higher quality and lower scrap levels. The standardization of critical and common processes reduced effort and variability, resulting in higher labor efficiency. These results were achieved with 10-20 Lean improvement projects per factory, implemented during 2020. Well done, team France and Denmark. We are proud of you!