Eficiencia. Calidad. Éxito. How do you spell efficiency, quality and success in your company? For Jim Auchue, Director of non-profit Valley Packaging in Madison, these three key business goals were not easy to communicate to his 60 Spanish-speaking employees. But with Ecuadorian native José Donoso as his Production Manager, and WMEP’s Jerry Thiltgen as his business consultant, “éxito” and “success” are now synonyms, and in Donoso’s opinion, “Everything is possible!”

Communication difficulties were only the tip of the iceberg when Auchue called Jerry Thiltgen at WMEP. A new packaging order had overwhelmed their capabilities, and three overtime shifts, working six days a week were still resulting in high error rates in quality and escalating costs. They needed to reassess the entire line.

Employee input through a Kaizen Blitz inspired the kickoff to change. The first priority was to make sure the workers understood not only the project goals, but the other line functions as well. When José initially explained his goals for the line, employee reaction was, “Impossible.” But through Lean principles such as Setup Reduction, Line Layout, and Visual Workplace, machines were improved, work spaces were rearranged, and work functions were adapted so that one worker’s downtime could be spent helping another worker prep materials.

For José, the most exciting part of the project was that he saw the effects immediately. And as Auchue recalls, “We felt results right away. We were able to meet deadlines, reduce overtime, and financially we made money from the project. When we started out, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.”

The labor-to-sales ratio went from 128% to 40% within a matter of weeks. They standardized processes, improved the working environment and employee skills, reduced employee turnover, and by implementing Lean Culture principles, they learned how to help workers take ownership of the projects. There have also been remarkable improvements in quality, reducing returns from customers from 30% to zero! Effects from the improvements have spilled over onto other lines within the plant as well. Valley Packaging employees now realize that Donoso’s belief in the Lean journey and Auchue’s commitment to his workers will demonstrate that anything is possible.