As a company, GreenWood maintains a steadfast commitment to safety, customer satisfaction and quality services. In order to deliver on these commitments, we implement programs and leverage tools designed specifically for the work environment for continuous improvement. One of the key components to continuous improvement is 5S which is a management philosophy devoted to proper arrangement and orderliness of the workplace (gemba).

The 5S philosophy applies to any work area and is a key tool to eliminate waste also known as muda. Industrial markets typically categorize waste as Overproduction (manufacturing an item before it is needed), Excessive Inventory (Work-in-Progress from overproduction and waiting), Waiting (poor material flow), Motion (unnecessary and inappropriate movement), Transportation (moving product between processes), Rework (quality issues from defects), and Over Processing (use of high cost equipment when it isn’t necessary).

In order to achieve high levels of safety, quality, and productivity, workers must have a conducive working environment that is clean and organized. The elements of 5S are “Common Sense” and simple to learn:

• Sort – Eliminate whatever is not needed
• Straighten – Organize whatever remains
• Shine – Clean the work area
• Standardize – Schedule regular cleaning and maintenance
• Sustain – Make 5S a way of life

The benefits and advantages from implementing 5S can be tremendous and quantified:

• Visual management
• Improved safety
• Higher equipment availability
• Lower defect rates
• Reduced costs
• Provides visual organization
• Improved employee morale
• Better asset utilization
• Recognize normal/abnormal
• Enhanced enterprise image to customers, suppliers, employees, and management

When a company embraces 5S, it is establishing a solid foundation for continuous improvement. Through a team-based approach, workplace organization results in a safer environment with more efficient work processes. Typically, improvements are realized in productivity, quality and employee morale. Because the team takes ownership to manage the entire process, continuous improvement is sustainable.

To mark two years without a recordable incident, safety celebrations were held to recognize our project teams in West Virginia.  Each of these operations perform heavy industrial maintenance work involving electrical, instrumentation, mechanical and civil.  All employees are to be commended for their outstanding safety achievements during this period.

More than 300 personnel from GreenWood and client employees participated in the celebrations. GreenWood prepared the traditional smoked pork for the luncheon and congratulated the West Virginia teams for their safety accomplishments.

A big thank you to everyone for maintaining a safety mindset at all times. Employees that think safe…are safe!

GreenWood, Inc., an integrated maintenance, operations and construction solutions provider, was recently recognized for their team leadership at their project location in Athens, Georgia. The Athens Tech Foundation presented the GreenWood planning department with an Outstanding Workforce Leadership (O.W.L.) award which identifies and recognizes businesses for exemplary leadership initiatives. At this site, GreenWood provides total maintenance services including reliability, planning and scheduling, and support services for all manufacturing, operations, and production equipment.

Members of the GreenWood planning department, along with their technical workforce, have made tremendous progress leading the efforts to improve processes related to work orders, preventive maintenance, and planning. The “in progress” work order process and work orders “over 30 days” have seen marked improvement as well as preventive maintenance (PM) on time completion rates. These improvements translate into work process efficiency and equipment reliability gains that create capacity and increase manufacturing throughput.

The Athens Tech Foundation works on behalf of Athens Technical College to provide student benefits through scholarships, GED testing fees, emergency loans and related opportunities, allowing them to complete their education and immediately become part of an educated workforce. It has a direct impact on the community’s economy while transforming lives of the students in the process. GreenWood is a sponsor of the Athens Tech Foundation.