South Georgia Pecan Success Story: Managing for Daily Improvement Reduces Turnover and Increases Productivity

In 2021, Nathan Smith joined the company as a plant manager. The company had recently experienced a period of rapid growth and innovation, but was suffering from high turnover and challenges in communication. Looking for solutions, Smith attended a Manufacturing Growth Meeting hosted by the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, part of the MEP National Network™, on “Becoming an Employer of Choice.”  He liked the real-world insights and practical tips provided during the presentation and reached out to Hank Hobbs, GaMEP South Georgia region manager, for a meeting.

Hobbs connected Smith with Adam Hayes, GaMEP strategy, leadership, and technology project manager. Hayes recommended a system of improving communication between departments and upper management called, managing for daily improvement (MDI). MDI involves identifying key metrics for each department and creating a whiteboard that tracks those metrics along with other pieces of information critical to company success. Each day these boards are incorporated into a Gemba walk practice. During the walk, each department leader presents the latest metrics, problems that need solving, and other important information directly to the management team and the leaders of other departments.

Hayes worked with GaMEP project managers, Vance Merritt and Brad Wood to implement the system throughout the plant. One year later, the company was thrilled with the effectiveness of the program. At first, some team members were worried about finding the time to do the walk each day, but it has helped solve many challenges and improve communication so much that it has freed up time previously spent in other meetings. Over the next year, the company plans to use the information collected from the boards to start implementing additional lean and process improvement initiatives.