LEAPing toward improvement-

By JEFFREY SIMMONS/Staff

More doughnuts in the break room. Get rid of the boss. My co-worker needs deodorant. We need a raise.
These might be some of the recommendations you’d expect to find tucked inside your company’s padlocked suggestion box.
At one Wytheville manufacturer, however, you’re more likely to find detailed ways to cut waste, improve safety or make a job easier.
For 10 years now, Longwood Elastomers Inc. has been honing its LEAP program, which encourages employees to suggest specific ways to make the operation better. Located in Fairview Industrial Park, Longwood makes custom rubber products for such applications as heavy truck brakes.
In June, the Longwood Employee Action Program celebrated receiving its 5,000th suggestion since its startup in April 1998.
“The purpose is to promote and encourage employees to submit big and small ideas that identify the root cause of a problem or situation and define a plan for improvement that permanently corrects the root cause,” said a company release about LEAP.
Based on the Japanese management concept of kaizen, or continuous improvement, LEAP lets Longwood’s 250 workers directly impact their workplace and how their jobs are performed.
“Most (suggestions) are accepted, and most of them have a real solution,” said plant manager Joe Freeman.
LEAP forms and LEAP boxes are located around the plant, and sometimes employees even hand deliver the paperwork to Andy Burcham, the plant’s continuous improvement manager.
Workers turn in about 25 to 50 forms a month, and it’s Burcham’s job to look over the ideas and put them into practice.
“You get small improvements, but you get a lot of them,” he said.
Freeman cited a case two years ago where an employee suggestion helped the company meet an increased product demand while reducing overtime. He pointed to another incidence where a maintenance worker made a production suggestion for another department and then made the tool to implement the change.
“They know that what they say can change the way we do something,” Freeman said.
Wythe County Joint Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Alan Hawthorne said it’s this idea of smaller, incremental improvements after the “low-hanging fruit” has been fixed that has helped manufacturers maintain a high level of productivity.
“It doesn’t stop; it’s a process,” he said.
At Longwood, employees who turn in eligible suggestions can win gift certificates and reserved parking spaces. They also get to attend a party every four months with dinner and door prizes.
For Freeman and Burcham, the program also shows workers that they have a vested interest in helping the business succeed, which can lead to financial incentives and long-term job security.
“You help keep this company competitive,” Freeman said.
Jeffrey Simmons can be reached at 228-6611 or .