Viking brings lean to its employees to improve culture, influence

When the management at Viking Plastics was looking to revolutionize its company culture, it came across two-second lean — business owner and author Paul Akers' principles for eliminating waste in small increments to improve productivity.

Viking Plastics leaders met Akers a few times at Manufacturers Association for Plastics Processors conferences, and Shawn Gross, the company's engineering manager, attended a lean summit and a lean mission trip to Japan.

Starting in 2011, the Corry, Pa., company implemented the lean philosophy in its warehouse, material handling and assembly group areas.

Gross started to see a difference in those areas, so in 2012 he approached Viking CEO and President Kelly Goodsel about starting a full, intensive class to expand the opportunities for improvement and empowerment across the entire company, called Viking Academy.

"Every company seems to want people to think like they're an owner that works in the company, but then we don't really educate people about what that means," said Gross, who is an Academy instructor. "So, we want you to think like an owner, but we don't really want to tell you what the financials are, right? … The mission is to demystify that for all employees that are interested in learning that information so that they can actually make better decisions and feel like they're a part of it."

Viking Academy is a 10- to 12-class initiative that dives deep into the business over three to five months. Instructors discuss why the company is in China and Brazil, the eight forms of waste, how to be an influencer, what the lean toolbox is, industry terminology and much more. Operations manager Rob Elchynski leads SWOT — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats — analysis.

"Normally, you think of the executive team or the management team does those kinds of things, but when you have engineers, material handlers, operators and managers with different perspectives all kind of get together and do a SWOT analysis, it's really cool to see what everybody's views of the companies are and where do they think we're strong," Gross said.

Students also work on a major project to help solve a problem or improve a task within the company.

Billie Szymecki, a floor operator who graduated from the first Viking Academy, said her class project involved a streamlined, thorough process for new employee orientation. Marketing coordinator Shana Bailey graduated from Viking Academy 8 earlier this year, and her project dealt with improving the efficiency of a press.

Out of Viking's 120-plus employees, 96 have graduated from the program.

At the end of each Academy, students receive a full graduation event, which includes a ceremony, caterer and backpack with name embroidery.

When the Academy is ready to enroll a new class, Goodsel sends a letter calling for applications. Employees are asked to write about why they want to join the class. Just for writing a letter, Gross said, applicants are given a gift card as a token of acknowledgment. The management team then sits down together and chooses the next class of future students.

Viking Academy Squared began earlier this year as a way for Academy graduates to extend their education. Its first class included about a dozen Viking Academy alumni.

The Academy Squared class project mapped, analyzed and optimized a specific product line, starting from the purchase order all the way through shipping.

"There's a good backbone there and a framework in place to continue to educate people," Gross said about the Viking Academy Squared.

"Five years from now, would it be great to have 60 people who have gone through Viking Academy Squared? Yeah, that would be a cool thing," he added.

To gauge the success of the programs, Gross welcomes feedback and offers quizzes to see if people are retaining information. Szymecki said the Academy projects are "still going strong."

Kevin Carnes, quality lab coordinate measuring machine programmer, said the most valuable part of the program is being able to sit down with the CEO and other high-level executives, face-to-face, and ask questions. Bailey appreciated having hands-on experience on the plant floor and learning new terms and equipment processes.

"I think, as an instructor," Gross said, "my favorite part is just getting to see people understand the business in a better sense. Like a lot of companies, it's easy to get siloed into one area, you really don't understand how the other pieces fit in. … In order to ship parts on time, 100 percent of the time on-time and 100 percent good product, it takes everybody. Viking Academy brings a cross-section together so that you can sort of break down those barriers and look at things and learn together. I think that's been very valuable to our company."