MARCH | APRIL 2017
Almond Facts
15
Continuous Improvement:
Changing the Way We Think
Blue Diamond
remains committed to maintaining quality and
increasing productivity. Through continuous improvement
efforts, the cooperative finds new ways to enhance
performance and minimize production costs. These efforts
benefit both consumers and
Blue Diamond
growers by
providing the best products and maximizing returns.
Providing training opportunities as ongoing support to
Blue Diamond
employees ensures the success of continuous
improvement efforts. A team of employees from the
Sacramento, Salida and Turlock sites recently had the
opportunity to participate in a training focused on quick
changeovers. Changeovers are critical to sustaining the
flow of processes for
Blue Diamond
’s global operations.
Hosted by the Turlock site and led by Ron Heiskell, founder
of Reduced Effort, Inc., the week-long interactive training
challenged the team to approach quick changeovers with
innovative thinking and empowerment. Consisting of
plant mechanics, operators and trainers/leaders, the team
collaborated through discussion and group activities to
engage and motivate one another on changing their way
of thinking.
“It’s all about the operators looking at their work from a
different perspective,” said Ron. “When you change the way
people look at their work, the way they work changes.”
The team actively worked on a real reduction of a deshelling
machine and identified over 900 tasks for the cleaning
process. Through careful evaluation and testing, the team
eliminated more than 74 percent of the tasks and reduced
their effort by 10 percent.
The ultimate goals of the training were for the team to build
relationships and develop partnerships amongst the three
sites, and lead quick changeovers at their home sites where
the process can be improved upon shift by shift.
“I’m convinced this will help
Blue Diamond Growers
better
engage our team members and deliver results,” said Joe
Mendoza, site manager of Turlock.
