February 18, 2014
TASUS has four locations in North America, but they all work together as one team. This teamwork was demonstrated when three of the locations were able to share parts rather than purchase new ones, saving over $70,000 in the process. The Alabama plant began with a bad part, which was followed by the Texas plant having the same part in need of repairs. The two plants, along with the Indiana plant, were able to trade parts to reduce downtime and expenses. This exemplifies the company synergy, as well as the advantages of teamwork.
The TASUS Alabama plant began the merry-go-round of part sharing when they discovered a weak barrel in the factory. The facility could not use this barrel because it would drastically decrease the efficiency of the production process. Luckily the Indiana facility had a spare barrel to send down so there would be no interruption in work. Alabama was able to send their barrel to be repaired and continued operations normally.
The root of successful teamwork stems from the quality of leaders you have, at TASUS we are fortunate to have quality leaders from top to bottom. Three of our leaders who were instrumental in this successful team effort are the maintenance managers for the facilities involved in the sharing; Hank Baugh of Indiana, Steven Chisolm of Texas , and David Musik of Alabama. When a bad barrel was found at the Texas plant maintenance manager Steven Chisolm knew that production with these parts could not continue, so he contacted the repair company General Plastex looking for the best solution. Chisolm and David Mantlaya of General Plastex determined the best solution for TASUS was to use the Alabama plant’s barrel and screw when repairs finished. Chisolm said this result could not be accomplished without the help of all the parties involved and continued by saying “This was a great example of teamwork internally, but also with our suppliers who helped orchestrate the sharing.” At that point the barrel and screw from Texas were sent to repairs and then to Indiana to complete the intra-TASUS sharing.
This circle of sharing was able to eliminate down time without spending a large sum of money to purchase new equipment. Texas plant manager Steve Wilson said “Everything we do, we do as a team. This is an excellent example of synergy and how it can save money and end with better results because we worked together.” The repairs of the barrels and screws cost only $25,000, when the total cost to replace the parts would have been over $95,000. This savings isn’t all that was saved in the process. There are hundreds of employees who could have lost hours because of work stoppage while waiting for the parts to be repaired. Company synergy was able to save TASUS money, but was also able to save employee hours.
TASUS – innovative employees at work
Comments