What do you do if you are in a competitive market and still want to produce in Denmark?

At Gram Commercial, productivity is increased while at the same time a learning organization is created. They do this by, among other things, building production cells according to the Lean principles and by TWI-training employees. And it works. Gram creates flow in production and minimizes production waste by improving its share of products that are produced right the first time. In just half a year, Gram's productivity increases by more than 10% while at the same time they significantly reduce their production waste.

Ownership at Toyota level

"A couple of years ago, I was in Japan where, among other things, I was watching the production at Hoshizaki, who owns Gram Commercial. Even then, I considered Hoshizaki to be at Toyota level," says Torben Kjær-Christensen, factory manager at Gram Commercial, and continues: "It is of enormous importance that we are owned by Hoshizaki. Especially for our sales organization, which merged with Hoshizaki Europe here on January 1, 2017. As for production, the Hoshizaki people wish to be consulted about major technical investments in Vojens. In addition, we are quite protected."

So with Hoshizaki as owner, the bar has been set high for Gram Commercial, but luckily, Gram is doing well too. The operation in Vojens is restructuring to Lean, where the entire production flow and all processes are being revised. At the same time, Gram is in full swing implementing the TWI methodology.

Torben Kjær-Christensen formulates it clearly and concisely: "The goal is to maintain a competitive production here in Vojens, and Lean and TWI have already resulted in quality improvements as well as increased capacity and efficiency."

The relationship between Lean and TWI at Gram Commercial

Many Danish companies have worked with Lean for several years and more and more companies have started working with TWI (Training Within Industry). Although there is a historical connection between Lean and TWI, it is still interesting to know if Lean and TWI also work well together practically in operations. TWI is about learning to train employees and leaders in the specific tasks of the company in an efficient and respectful way. TWI is often linked to the implementation of Lean in the business.

The fact that a major concern at the beginning of the TWI process was that the management would not be persistent enough to maintain the TWI concept is interesting in relation to a desire to create a learning organization. Because TWI is very much about learning, and if the employees are worried about the persistence of the management, it is because they are motivated to maintain a good learning environment in the company.

And Torben Kjær-Christensen backs up: "Another good example of our development towards a learning organization is the collaboration with the development team, PTA (Product Technical Department) and our internal Lean consultants. They work together to define how things are going to work and there is a common understanding that specifications and SOPs must be clear and well-functioning. In general, we are constantly getting better at seeing the whole picture and maintaining the understanding of what is important in our goals of high productivity and high quality. Above all, TWI makes job trainers good at realizing our goals by linking the organization's and their own personal visions. One might also say that we promote an open dialogue without being subjective."

Finally, I ask Torben Kjær-Christensen what he would do if he was to start all over again in a company without Lean, TWI or any other management system?

Torben Kjær-Christensen concludes by saying: "If I had to start all over again somewhere, one of the first things I'd implement would be CPI management and TWI. Then, improvement projects that in turn could be supported by the TWI method."