| The Company
Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI) was established in 1934 by an act of the United States Congress as a correctional program within the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Today FPI operates under its widely known trade name, UNICOR, as a wholly owned federal government corporation within the Department of Justice. UNICOR’s statutory mandate is to provide employment and training for inmates in the Federal Prison System. Unlike many government programs, UNICOR does not rely upon taxpayer funding to support its operations. UNICOR covers all operating costs and expenses (including wages for staff and inmates) with revenue generated from the sale of its products and services. UNICOR’s manufactured products and services include: clothing and textiles; electronics; fleet management and vehicular components; industrial products; office furniture; and recycling. Its customers are primarily agencies of the Federal Government including the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and the General Services Administration. Today, UNICOR provides meaningful work for approximately 16,000 federal inmates in numerous industrial and services operations in more than 65 locations around the country. Washington, D.C. is the headquarters of the Central Office with approximately 250 employees in administrative and operative roles.
The Situation
Given the economic climate of recent years, UNICOR too was facing the realities of lagging earnings, as well as the loss of job training for the inmate population. In an effort to deliver the best products available, at the most competitive price points, UNICOR actively pursued systems to monitor ongoing performance, and achieve ongoing improvement. One of these initiatives was the adoption of Lean Six Sigma principles and methodologies as the standard methodology for process improvement. As a result, a new Continuous Improvement Branch (CIB) was established in 2009, dedicated to positive organizational change and application of LSS methods. It was believed that this initiative would set the corporation on a solid course to become more profitable, realize improved production and delivery turnarounds, reduce inventories, and promote increased customer satisfaction.
The Response
UNICOR began by building internal capability by having a few individuals attend GENEDGE ALLIANCE Black Belt Training. As projects were completed and certifications attained, more individuals were trained. Presently UNICOR has over 15 Black Belts on staff. As UNICOR was setting up its Continuous Improvement Branch (CIB) to support the expansion of the program across all of its divisions, management requested that GENEDGE ALLIANCE (formerly known as VPMEP) provide a qualified Master Black Belt at UNICOR headquarters to assist with Lean Six Sigma mentoring, facilitation and technical advice. Simultaneously, Tom Burkett, the Director of the newly formed CIB, initiated GENEDGE supported Green Belt Training for over 160 UNICOR employees from sites across the country over a three-year period.
The Results
The CIB has been enormously successful. In addition to the 15 plus Black Belts, UNICOR now has over 110 certified Green Belts with more in the pipeline. CIB has created formal project tracking methodologies, internal mentoring of Green Belts by Certified Black Belts, and developed its own Green Belt Training program and Lean Manufacturing Training for inmates. Various managers and front line supervisors alike have completed projects across all of the UNICOR divisions as well as transactional improvement projects at the central office. The CIB tracks the success of each project.
During FY 2010, UNICOR staff completed more than 200 improvement events (Black Belt projects, Green Belt projects, 5S events, or Lean Assessments). UNICOR’s Financial Management Branch had confirmed more than $13.8 million in expected benefits (cost savings, increased sales, etc.) as a result of those improvement events completed during FY 2010.
Management’s Comments
“GENEDGE ALLIANCE (formerly known as VPMEP) was extremely helpful in providing Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Green Belt training to UNICOR staff, as well as mentoring us as we rolled out our agency’s Continuous Improvement initiative.” - Tom Burkett, Chief of Continuous Improvement, Federal Prison Industries (trade name UNICOR)
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