Newington Gypsum/Koch Industries
Challenge
The Newington gypsum wallboard manufacturing plant had been recognized as one of the industry’s top performing plants worldwide since it began operations in 1989. As a result of an acquisition by Koch Industries—an organization with a different operating philosophy—plant performance had fallen below expectations. The plant needed assistance in guiding the organization through a strength-based appreciative redesign process that would result in outstanding performance while integrating the best of both Koch’s and Newington’s principles of operation.
Solution
Over three months, a design team made up of organization members from all areas of the plant looked at the current Newington operating philosophy and organizational design and how it fit—or didn’t—with the Koch philosophies and requirements. The plant’s existing charter was improved to reflect both organization’s operating philosophies and ultimately resulted in critical changes to operating roles and business meetings. An implementation plan was devised that included a three-day plant-wide summit that built support for the design changes, provided further development opportunities for the teams and allowed the planning of the next implementation steps.
Results
In the brief period since the summit—even though they are still in the early stages of change—performance at the plant has improved remarkably. The plant manager and organization’s resource person have agreed that conducting more effective business meetings has resulted in higher morale and improved operations.
Sprint-Nextel
Challenge
Sprint-Nextel wanted to create standardized procedures to drive cost reduction, improve quality and timeliness, and increase revenues. It also wanted teams to be better able to identify opportunities to achieve business objectives.
Solution
Our consultants created an enterprise-wide “Continuous Innovation & Improvement” program that could be delivered internally to work teams. This hands-on, experiential program would assist teams in understanding and celebrating their strengths and resources, creating a shared vision of their future and designing and planning for innovations—ultimately leading to enhanced performance. Interview protocols, slides and a participant guide were designed specifically for this client.
In order to support the emergence of this culture focused on innovation and to successfully lead the implementation and rollout of the program, a three-day train-the-trainer program was also designed and delivered to the corporate Training and Development team. Ongoing support and coaching was provided to in-house leaders responsible for overseeing this initiative and delivering the in-house training to intact teams.
Results
Internal Training and Development team owned and delivered “Continuous Innovation and Improvement” Program company-wide. One such successful program led to the HR group being called upon to provide training, direction setting and strategic planning with a senior management team of a newly merged operations group. Our consulting team partnered with the in-house HR representatives to co-design and then facilitate the strategic planning session for this group of 45 managers and VPs.
CertainTeed Gypsum
Challenge
CertainTeed Gypsum, a major manufacturer and distributor of Gypsum products in North America, was building a new high-speed plant in Moundsville, West Virginia. Part of the company’s strategy was to create a high-commitment/high-engagement organization to operate this “best in the world” plant. IPI partners guided the Moundsville steering committee and design team through the process of designing and implementing this strategy using a strength-based design process.
Solution
IPI first helped develop a charter document that described the rationale for creating the high-commitment/high-engagement plant, its vision, mission, values and objectives, as well as the project’s goals and key success factors. Arrangements were made to visit other high-performing plants outside of the industry to view the latest technology and gain insight into what’s possible. A strength-based socio-technical approach was then used to design the organization and all support systems including job descriptions, selection and hiring systems, management systems, information systems and technical-support systems. A preliminary implementation plan was developed and 100 people were hired. Using an Appreciative Inquiry Summit approach, the entire organization was brought together for three days to self-select operational positions in the plant and create plans for implementation.
Results
The organization had developed all plant teams and had finished installing and commissioning all plant equipment and supporting technologies prior to its opening in March 2008. Using all plant members in the commissioning and preparation of all plant technology was seen to be very unique in the industry. This plant is expected to become a model for CertainTeed/Saint-Gobain to follow in the future.