Carolyn LaWell wrote an incredible article that appeared online for the Smart Business Network. Below is the first part of the article. I encourage you to read the entire article online.
Jeffrey Kendall grows Liberty Tire Recycling through best practices
How to involve employees and implement lean manufacturing techniques
By Carolyn LaWell
Smart Business Pittsburgh | January 2011
Liberty Tire Recycling was rolling when it came to growth. More than 100 acquisitions took place in the last 15 years, and as the tire recycling company grew, CEO Jeffrey Kendall wanted to make sure it also became a great company.
“We decided to draw a picture of what a great company would look like,” Kendall says. Then we said, “All right, how do we get from here to there?” How do we get from being an OK company that is a consolidation of a lot of mom-and-pops to a great company, where we’re proud of every single thing we do?
By identifying and implementing your company’s best practices, you position your employees, your operations and your company for future success.
“The process is one of always improving, always getting better, always looking at each step in your process and wondering how you can do it better” Kendall says.
To make the process effective, you have to involve your employees.
Kendall made it clear when they started the process last year that listening to the company’s 1,400 employees at Liberty Tire Recycling’s 28 plants was essential.
“Instead of just us sending a team around, having them figure out the best way to do X, and then telling everybody to do it that way, we’re involving everybody in the process in determining which are the best ways,” Kendall says.
Written by Carolyn LaWell, Smart Business Pittsburgh