Office of Workforce Development helps keep business operating lean 

By Jane Lawicki 

Paul Desjardins, vice-president of Lakewood Engineering, happily reported his company saved $500,000 in production costs since February using ideas gained from a City-funded manufacturing workshop. The benefits, he explained, came from practical changes that saved employees time.

            Working smarter, not harder, is key to the Lean Manufacturing Simulation workshop offered free each month by ManufacturingWorks, a City of Chicago initiative and partnership among local leaders, the manufacturing sector, the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (MOWD), and the Instituto del Progresso Latino. The next workshop will be held Tuesday, Aug. 14, at the Westside Technical Institute, 2800 S. Western Ave.

ManufacturingWorks provides consulting, job training, and job recruitment to manufacturing businesses in the Chicago area. It is part of the MOWD, which builds public and private partnerships to meet the needs of Chicago businesses and creates training and career opportunities for Chicago residents.

            “A lot of what you deal with in ‘lean’ is common sense, but it’s not evident until someone points it out to you,” explained Desjardins. “It’s getting rid of all that in-between handwork.” Reducing direct and indirect labor is critical for a manufacturer such as Lakewood, which produces three million box fans and one million space heaters annually with sales of nearly $85 million.

            As an example, Desjardins explained that Lakewood traditionally received a particular component for one of its products through the front door. The materials were stored in a back corner of a warehouse and returned to the front when needed.

            After attending the seminar, he and the three managers who accompanied him realized they never had a physical sense of their inventory. “We had the numbers on paper, but keeping the components in front allows us to visually control the inventory," Desjardins explained. "There’s now a defined space for this component. It’s a supermarket concept.”

            Known for achieving high levels of quality and production by conserving motion and resources, "lean manufacturing," a concept conceived by Toyota, increases productivity by restricting inventory, reducing the distances employees move it, and decreasing the number of times they handle it. Output expands by increasing the speed at which an item passes through the assembly line.

            "We're not looking to speed up how fast people are actually working," Desjardins said. "But we're increasing productivity by restricting how much material we keep around, how far we move it, and how many times we handle it." 

            ManufacturingWorks’ Lean Manufacturing Simulation workshops are held monthly at Westside Technical Institute, 2800 S. Western Ave., Room 1205.  Attendance is free but reservations are required. To register, call (773) 523-2516. 

            To contact the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development, call (312) 746-7777.