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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

People Power Your Business / Building Buy-In on the Factory Floor

With the help of: Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Ohio MEP)

About

Atlas Roofing Corporation, one of 79 organizations in the Hood Corporation family, creates value for its business partners through the manufacture of high-quality roofing and construction materials. Their products are engineered to precise standards for superior performance and visual appeal, backed with comprehensive service and support. Atlas employs 170 people in its Franklin, Ohio, facility which produces polyiso roof insulation, roof shingles, roof underlayment, molded Polystyrene, and Atlas Web Technologies which focuses on the development of state-of-the-art substrate products for the building, construction, lamination, and OEM industries.

The Challenge

Adam Simpson, the stand-out plant manager at the Franklin Atlas Roofing Facility, had a strong desire to empower every employee in its SW Ohio facility to assist in the refinement of their operations in order to streamline processes while its management developed a culture of continuous improvement.  
Rather than waiting to be advised on how to optimize a process, workers began approaching me with their own ideas.
— Adam Simpson, Plant Manager

MEP's Role

Adam worked closely with Sue Via, one of TechSolve's veteran process improvement engineers. TechSolve is part of the Ohio MEP and the MEP National Network™, and Via has vast experience successfully working with union and non-union employees in order to deploy lean methodology and implement strategic change management.

 

Sue determined that automating the actual splicing process would be a major undertaking that would be disruptive as well as costly. Instead, Sue assisted Atlas' team members to maintain the ‘true’ running of material from the roll because it would be as easy as eliminating the independent movement of the roll spindles at the back rail. By connecting the two spindles and repairing the tension handle, the station got closer to how it operated before the modification of the line. This action eliminated the need to constantly inspect the movement of the material.

 

As an engineer who has dedicated his career to helping the companies he has worked for thrive, Adam knew that his people were the key to the success of any continuous improvement strategy. Adam worked closely with Sue to optimize processes with lean methodology and implement strategic change management. While integrating new processes, Adam asked workers what they thought, detailed how their task contributed to the larger whole, and opened up communication to provide feedback. After this, Atlas workers became more engaged when they realized how meaningful their day-to-day contributions were to the company. More importantly, their opinions mattered, and their voices were heard. There was more pride derived from daily work, regardless of the tasks, because workers knew their singular efforts were part of a whole working movement that impacted the bottom line.

Created August 4, 2022