Session ID:
VS3-09
Audience Rating: n Intermediate
Company: Lincoln Plating
Speaker: Kirk Hazen, Continuous Improvement Manager
Title: The impact of a company’s culture on Lean initiatives
Presentation
Abstract : 		Cooperation and commitment to continuous improvement, even if it means drastic changes within the organization, can directly impact the success of any Lean initiative. Lincoln Plating believes its success in implementing a Lean culture within its company is a direct result of the company’s “caring spirit”. Accountability for creating an environment where Lean practices lies within every level in the organization, whether one’s role is as a manager or on the line as an operator. Great leaders create a culture that ensures that everyone at every level not only understand the principles of Lean, but also take an active role in the Lean process. In his presentation, Kirk Hazen will demonstrate the impact of company culture on Lean initiatives and how it has played a significant role in Lincoln Plating’s success. You will further learn how Lincoln Plating succeeds in developing and fostering Lean champions.
About the
Company:

Lincoln Plating will celebrate its 55th anniversary in 2007. In recent years, the company has enjoyed phenomenal market and financial success in one of the nation’s most mature industries, in fact the company has achieved double-digit growth in each of the past 14 years. Today, despite being located in the middle of America’s bread basket, it is one of the largest U.S. metal finishing companies. Working with many of the nation's largest and most prestigious manufacturing companies, the company also excels at supply chain management and manufacturing when finishing is a significant portion of the cost of the manufactured product.

Lincoln Plating is especially proud of its unique and rich culture which it believes plays a significant role in the company’s financial success. For each of the last three years Lincoln Plating has been selected as one of the nation’s “Best Medium Sized Companies to Work for in America” by the Great Place To Work Institute in San Francisco.

Speaker
Biography:

Kirk Hazen, Continuous Improvement Manager

Kirk Hazen joined Lincoln Plating in 2006 as a production manager and in 2007 was named the company’s Continuous Improvement Manager. Kirk previously served at Vermeer Manufacturing Company in Pella, Iowa for seven years where he was a project engineer for new product research and development. Kirk is a 1999 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural engineering. He also became a P.E. in mechanical engineering in the State of Iowa in 2005. At Lincoln Plating Hazen leads continuous improvement initiatives that involve every department in the company.