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Founder’s Choice Cabinetry Utilizes Lean Enterprise Techniques and Framework To Achieve Award-Winning Reductions in Environmental Wastes, Emission, and Costs
With the help of: Impact Washington
About
Founder’s Choice continually strives to bridge the gap between excellent manufacturing standards and affordability. They operate out of 4 locations in Western Washington.
The Challenge
In late 2019, seeking improvement, the company requested help from the state's Lean and Green program, a Washington Department of Ecology and Impact Washington service. The assistance program recommended by the Tacoma Pierce Economic Development Board and Tacoma Economic Development Services combines continuous improvement and environmental methods to reduce operating costs and environmental and energy impacts.
We are thrilled to be recognized for all of the hard work we have been doing; the MVP2 Award reflects the importance we attach to sustainability and 'green production.' It serves as a confirmation of our efficacy commitment in our production operations and throughout our entire facility. We can’t thank Impact Washington and the Washington State Department of Ecology enough for their support and guidance as we worked through reducing the use of toxic chemicals, prevent pollution, increase energy efficiency, and waste management best practices.
MEP's Role
In partnership with the Washington Department of Ecology, Impact Washington, part of the MEP National Network™, developed a multi-day engagement to generate a report of cost and pollutant reduction for the company and establish the groundwork for their personnel to develop and use value stream mapping (VSM) for continuous improvements.
The engagement kicked off by introducing the Founder's Choice team to lean enterprise and a framework for the organization's continuous improvement culture. During the VSM process, participants received education to develop, plan, and execute the new strategy. Target areas for improvement were identified, and rapid improvement (Kaizen) workshops offered guidance to address their current state's finishing operations, identify waste and recommend process improvements and best practices for future work.
By employing a lean and green approach, Founder's Choice adopted a comprehensive manufacturing strategy instead of looking at waste, wastewater, or energy. This approach helped lead to becoming the Winner of 2020 MVP2 Multimedia Project Award. The 2020 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP2) awards are presented by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) and celebrate innovators' successes in pollution prevention and sustainability.