Gala Industries
Lean Implementation Strengthens Gala Industries' Global Position

The Company
Incorporated in 1959, Gala Industries' attentiveness to the needs of the plastic industry led the company to become a leading global manufacturer of centrifugal dryers and pelletizing systems. Gala also specializes in custom designed turn-key pellet production systems for various applications, to include thermoplastics, engineered resins, hot melt adhesives, masterbatches and compounds.

Gala's first centrifugal dryer was shipped in 1969 and the first pelletizer in 1978. Gala's name is synonymous with centrifugal drying and underwater pelletizing in polymer production all over the world. Exhibiting steady growth since its incorporation, what began as a 6,500 square foot facility in the late 1960s has grown to over 110,000 square feet located in Eagle Rock, Virginia with approximately 200 employees. Gala also employs a high level of experienced staff due to low turnover. To establish a worldwide presence and better service customers in Europe, in 1987 Gala started its daughter company, Gala Kunststoff –und Kautschukmaschinen GmbH, located near Xanten, Germany. Gala GmbH provides top quality sales, service, laboratory testing facilities, and engineering support for underwater pelletizing customers worldwide.

In 1990, Gala proudly became an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) company. Gala became 100% ESOP in 2003, providing all Gala employees with a vested interest in consistently producing better products and continuously improving customer service.

The Situation
Although business conditions for Gala were favorable, there was a growing fear that off-shore competition was looming over the horizon. The management staff needed to implement a strategy to make the company more competitive before foreign competition intruded on their market share. Of key concern was the need to streamline the company's administrative processes as approximately 50% of the company's lead time consisted of administrative tasks that added little or no value.

Gala management also recognized that there were improvements to be made within the organization with regard to material handling and flow, which were negatively affected by constraints inherent to the facility. In addition to using a detached warehouse for incoming material inspection and spare parts inventory, the main facility had been built in sections and had a limited number of openings in the wall within which to move materials.

GENEDGE ALLIANCE allied with Mike Dudding, Vice President of Manufacturing for Gala Industries to develop a strategic plan for introducing Lean Manufacturing techniques at Gala. A comprehensive assessment of Gala's Eagle Rock facility was conducted in order to benchmark Gala's current practices with World Class manufacturers and to identify improvement opportunities. This informal assessment served as the basis for the lean implementation strategy.

As an ESOP organization, it was understood that any strategy being considered would initially require approval and commitment from the ESOP advisory board and finally, from Gala employees as a whole.

The Response
A workshop on Lean Manufacturing for the Job Shop was conducted for Gala's ESOP advisory board members, team leaders and key management employees, which included a presentation on GENEDGE ALLIANCE and the fundamentals of Lean Manufacturing.

Every employee then participated in either a Lean Manufacturing for the Job Shop or Lean Tools for the Office workshop in order to raise awareness of the benefits to be gained from Lean Manufacturing and to obtain employee buy-in. Several of Gala's value streams, both in production and in the office, were analyzed. Value Stream Mapping and Implementation programs were held with select employees from each of the previous workshops to provide them with the skills needed to identify opportunities for improvement.

Lean Performance Measures were implemented, establishing the basis from which the financial impact realized by implementing Lean Manufacturing techniques would be measured and the metrics commonly utilized to measure performance.

A series of Kaizen Rapid Improvement Events were held to address Gala's requirement for standardizing and properly documenting company policies, procedures and work instructions. A Standard Work Kaizen project was directed at the final assembly area. GENEDGE ALLIANCE Project Manager Mark Oakes created a new "Lean-friendly" layout for the plant in preparation for the arrival of new equipment.

During Gala's Lean Manufacturing transformation, it became evident to Gala Management that they had outgrown their existing IT system and required either significant internal reprogramming or new software to satisfy the company's requirements. Gala sought a solid, flexible and user-friendly software program with the ability to enhance the sales process, generate reports from user inquiries, and be easily modified as the company experienced growth. Gala's IT Project Team hoped to incorporate work flow analysis and the integration of all business functions into a single software package, while being able to communicate effectively with its globally located facilities.

GENEDGE ALLIANCE Project Managers coordinated business process interviews with committee members to determine which enterprise resource planning (ERP) system requirements would align with the company's business objectives for the next three years. This research was utilized in the initial selection of multiple prospects with suitable ERP packages; the field was narrowed to two viable candidates after the prospects were tested against set priorities and their scores and performance reports were analyzed. Detailed reviews, to include software demonstrations and site visits were conducted on these two packages, price and terms were negotiated, and a final selection was made, all in less than half the time traditionally required for these types of projects.

Gala established a Lean Steering Committee to monitor the progress of the Lean Implementation and to develop a strategy for maintaining a continuous improvement culture. A representative from GENEDGE ALLIANCE attended and at times chaired these meetings to assist in setting project priorities and obtaining approvals.

Over the course of the next year, GENEDGE ALLIANCE Project Managers provided mentoring to the Lean Steering Committee and various employees and departments to affect improvements in production, lead time, customer service, administrative procedures, and employee communication.

The Results
Standard Work continues to be a major focus for improvement at Gala Industries. The largest single savings was the identification of waste exceeding 30 hours per job dedicated to locating materials.
Gala's new layout of the manufacturing facility resulted in a reduction of 17-20 miles of material handling per year. By working with a task force, GENEDGE ALLIANCE facilitated identification of the main source of delay in meeting deliveries and the team established procedures to incorporate working proactively with their customer and suppliers, to ensure OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) items are delivered on time. As a result of this work, Gala has been able to reduce their lead times from 16-24 weeks per job down to 14-18 weeks.
Gala also created 15 new jobs as a result, with a payback on their investment with GENEDGE ALLIANCE of approximately two years.
Once implemented fully, Gala's integrated software package will facilitate the management of Gala's worldwide sales, service, administration and manufacturing concerns.

Management's Comments
"GENEDGE ALLIANCE provided us with a systematic approach to integrating Lean Manufacturing concepts with our 'job shop' culture. We will continue to improve our processes and standardize our practices using the principles they have taught us. We have found the Lean journey to be one that everyone at Gala can grab hold of and apply. We appreciate them pointing us in the right direction." - Ken Martin, Planning & Scheduling Manager

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