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[[♪classical music♪] [GE Appliances - The Lean Journey] ]
[[GE - Appliances has embarked on a journey of renewal with an emphasis on Lean manufacturing.]]
[[In the process, the way we work is dramatically changing.]]
[[Rich Calvanruso - Appliances Lean Leader] Lean is really about getting out]
[on the shop floor, talking to the hourly employees,]
[getting their input, seeing what they're seeing,]
[and trying to help improve the product and the processes]
[so that we can make a better product.]
[[Randy Reeves - Advanced Manufacturing Leader] Let me tell you where]
[we've come from and where we are today.]
[As you see over here on the wall, the fishbone diagram is where this whole process started.]
[We have completed the fishbone diagram and have gone on to our seven wastes process]
[after completing the Yamazumi chart.]
[So we've made our way on the journey through those three key steps,]
[and that brought us last week over to our quarter scale mock-up.]
[The quarter scale mock-up is a physical representation]
[of how the actual factory will be built]
[using rudimentary materials and supplies.]
[[Willie Lewis - Kaizen Promotion Officer] Anybody can come in and build anything.]
[We try to use the least amount of material that we can use to do mock-ups]
[so that we can actually see if the process or the ideas that we come up would work.]
[And as you can see, we have access to about anything that you can imagine.]
[So if you can think about it or dream it up, we can build it.]
[[Jennifer Bolton - Lean Leader] What we've done with the lean concept]
[is we've actually come out here and we've actually mocked up]
[using old paint barrels that we had in the facility.]
[The mocking up--what that gives us is it enables the entire team]
[to get a visual interpretation of what this needs to look like,]
[how big the equipment will be versus the part,]
[how we need to feed that in for the operator.]
[So it gives us a chance for everybody to be on the same page]
[and understand what we really need ]
[and not get something that's larger than what we really need for the operator.]
[[Dirk Bowman - GM, Appliances Supply Chain] The renewed emphasis on quality]
[and technology allows us to reestablish our leadership in the appliance business.]
[We've torn down whatever walls or silos existed ]
[between technology and manufacturing.]
[We have more resources than ever before,]
[we've put together the best of the best,]
[and we're all focused on one thing: getting higher, greater customer satisfaction.]
