Lean management is nothing new. Implementing it successfully in the long run, however, requires the collaboration of as many staff members as possible. For this reason, the WILD Group is launching a broad training offensive in all areas.

As a technology partner accustomed to manufacturing at micrometre level, WILD lives and breathes precision on a daily basis. The same applies to its search for optimisation, which has been backed by a continuous improvement process for years. ”This fundamental approach is deeply rooted in the company“, stresses Matthias Ghetta, Head of Operations at WILD Electronics. Therefore, the topic of lean management falls on particularly fertile ground throughout the group. This is demonstrated, for instance, by the strong commitment of many staff members who wish to train and upskill themselves on their own initiative. Recently, 23 of them have successfully completed the Green Belt training programme. Together with the other 20 Green Belts and some 40 Yellow Belts who have attended the courses in recent years, they are currently promoting lean production in the areas of manufacturing, assembly, strategic procurement, sales, and engineering. In essence, the objective is always the highest possible customer satisfaction and the avoidance of any waste in the production process. ”The lean philosophy must be deeply embedded in the minds of staff members and management alike“, says WILD Technologies Managing Director Tobias Knoop. ”It‘s the only way to make the principle of lean production work. Operative processes, in particular production, represent a major lever that yields immediately visible results. But we want to expand this in-depth lean production knowledge to all corporate processes“. Hence, a Black Belt training programme has been scheduled for the autumn. Participants who successfully complete the training will have acquired in-depth lean production and lean leadership knowledge, enabling them to encourage lean thinking and coach their colleagues. The overriding aim: to improve the company‘s own processes with regard to efficiency and effectiveness, which will ultimately benefit customers.

AGILE AND AUTONOMOUS TEAMS
To implement this on a systematic basis, the WILD and Photonic staff members are given the necessary tools as part of their Green, Yellow, and Black Belt training. ”We want to involve them even further and use their deep understanding for our processes and products. They receive greater freedom to implement improvements but they also assume greater responsibility“, Matthias Ghetta explains. The basis for all improvements is a clean and jointly implemented 5S concept. Other tools building on this include value stream mapping, SMED analysis, 5S audits and Muda Walks. The potentials identified in the process are then sustainably implemented as part of a PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle.