Core Publishing Solutions’ goal is to continually bring value to our customers by improving our processes and eliminating waste throughout the manufacturing system. In order to further that effort, we became early adopters of lean manufacturing for book printing.
Our History with Lean Manufacturing
When we began to implement lean practices, lean manufacturing was still a relatively new concept, especially in the printing industry. We began with a few 6S events. The benefit of an organized, efficient workplace was quickly recognized, and events spread across the plant, took root and continue to be sustained.
After our initial introduction to lean principles, departments have grown in their knowledge of lean and have applied appropriate lean tools to drive efficiencies and elimination of waste throughout the plant. Some of these include value-stream mapping, standard work and visual controls. All of these and others have supported improvements to our printing processes and improved quality for our customers.
Today, lean principles are easily viewable regardless of whether a project requires a long run or a short run. Our digital printing, offset printing and inkjet printing processes, our bindery practices, and our quality management procedures all benefit from our teams’ dedication to lean manufacturing processes.
Lean Leadership
Most recently Core Publishing Solutions has taken the next step in our evolution by establishing a lean leadership structure. The goal of lean leadership is to enhance visibility of the process on the manufacturing floor to all levels making current conditions clear to everyone. This is achieved through the use of tools such as:
- Tier boards
- Gemba walks by management
- Capture and resolution of continuous improvement ideas
- Leader Standard Work
As with the initial introduction of lean manufacturing, lean leadership principles quickly took hold and has led to a wide range of positive outcomes for Core Publishing Solutions and for our clients.
Lean Manufacturing In Action
As in any lean approach, benefits must be realized in order to be sustained. This cannot happen without an engaged workforce. As you can see in the video below, the value and support for lean printing in the plant is clearly demonstrated by our employees and continues to support our position in the marketplace: