5S whitepaper about the 5S roll-out and Lean improvement processes within Royal Gazelle
White paper:
“Nothing works that Smooth as Gazelle” Royal bicycle manufacturer improves and anchors production processes with 5S/LEAN
5S Company and Koninklijke Gazelle have been working together since 2014 on the development, integration and maintenance of improvement processes. Various processes have been started and successfully completed together. In this 5s article we describe Gazelle's LEAN journey, in collaboration with 5S Company. For each department, we discuss the methods that have been applied within the various improvement processes: the usefulness and necessity of the components, how they came about and how this manifests itself in practice - and what does this improvement actually deliver? Read it in our article 5S and lean at gazelle.
Download the free English White paper of Royal Gazelle's 5S and Lean Journey
Smooth interaction between departments
Within Koninklijke Gazelle, 450 committed employees work daily to deliver high-quality bicycles. Bicycles and ebikes are made in the factory in Dieren, and the company relies on a strong teamwork between the logistics facility and production departments.
Would you like to read and see more about this? – Article 5S and lean at gazelle
“5S is suitable for every sector. You remove waste from processes
“But that does require energy, pulling and pushing power. Even when it's just as difficult. If everything works, you go further and further. In fact, 5S and LEAN are common sense. Think logically. It is more efficient and pleasant to work in a logically arranged workplace. The pragmatic and collaborative approach of 5S Company has helped us very well. This approach fits in with Gazelle's no-nonsense mentality. Just go.”
“As a manager you quickly get involved in tomorrow's projects, while you don't look closely at what is happening today and what could be improved. We did. We listen to the people on the workplace. Those are our experts. They build the bicycles, they must be able to do their job as well as possible. We must provide a clean, beautiful, safe workplace and a culture of improvement.”
Bouke Imenkamp,
Manager Production Gazelle
5S makes a significant contribution to the way of working and the structure in the department
“The added value and benefits of the method became visible almost immediately. Especially because we have convinced people of the usefulness and sense of 5S. I am now sure that many of my team members have also set up everything at home according to the 5S principles. 5S provides overview and peace of mind. The way we work is now much simpler and clearer. In addition, as a company you send a strong signal to customers and end users.”
“The way we work now is simpler, more transparent and more pleasant. Think of it like a flywheel effect: once it spins, it keeps spinning. The quality of our work has increased significantly and we are doing more in the same time and with the same number of hands. For example, in the past we spent four hours cleaning. By organizing this process in a smarter way, we can now do this within two hours. We work in such a structured way.”
Toon Weekhout
Manager Paint shop Royal Gazelle
We went from 6 lines to 4 lines with the same output
“By mapping out the current situation, the issues involved and the root causes, we and the team have outlined a future process in which waste has been eliminated. We then implemented this new layout and process.”
Instead of six lines of eight people, the department now has four lines of eight employees. Without sacrificing productivity. In fact, the figures of the department have only improved, while the extra availability and staffing of employees is used to support other departments in the factory. “The quality and 'first time right' of the bicycles has increased and the flow, which has been set up more efficiently, is more in line with the other departments. In this way, the entire organization benefits from the optimization implemented by 5S Company in collaboration with the teams.”
5S and continuous improvement go hand in hand
“De uitstekende resultaten zijn behaald door een aantal belangrijke kernzaken binnen de samenwerking. Het wederzijds vertrouwen tussen 5S Company en Gazelle is groot, een belangrijk en werkbaar ingrediënt voor behaalde resultaten. Daarnaast heeft Gazelle de tijd genomen voor het invoeren van de nieuwe methodiek. Het eerste jaar stond in het teken van pionieren, het tweede jaar draaide om professionaliseren. Door de medewerkers de methodiek te leren, hebben zij 5S en LEAN eigen gemaakt. En door het realiseren van verbeteringen ontstaat ruimte voor nieuwe verbetertrajecten, altijd met respect voor elkaars situatie en processen.”
Dennis van de Bunt
5S Company
Article 5S and lean at gazelle