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Oregon Nursery Lean Consortium open for 2017 program year

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Members of the Oregon Nursery Lean Consortium saw big gains in 2016 by working together to improve processes in each others’ companies. Participants made changes that delivered over 200 percent productivity improvement in a shipping process at a greenhouse company last spring. Photo courtesy of The Peters Company

After a very successful year of improvements in Oregon horticulture industry companies, The Oregon Nursery Lean Consortium is now open to new members. Greenhouse and nursery growers and their suppliers are invited to join the 2017 program year.

The consortium brings together improvement leaders from multiple companies to learn and apply Lean principles over the course of one year. “It is very helpful to have trained individuals who are able to see the waste quickly and have bias for action to eliminate it,” said Andres Alamillo, Continuous Improvement Manager for Smith Gardens.

Currently, five companies participate in the Oregon Nursery Lean Consortium: Smith Gardens (Aurora), Robinson Nursery, PRT Oregon, Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas, and JLPN Liners. Improvement gains have exceeded expectations. These include the following:

  • Container planting process
    • 49 percent productivity increase
    • 100 percent quality improvement
    • 88 percent reduction in machine downtime
  • Hanging baskets selecting process
    • 206 percent productivity increase
    • 86 percent setup time reduction
    • 79 percent reduced cost per unit
  • Transplanting machine changeover
    • Reduced changeover time, defects, and cost by 67 percent
  • Daily crew startup
    • Cut startup time in half
    • Reduced per-unit cost by 56 percent

“I am continually impressed with the quality of people in this group and their ability to get results,” said Chris Robinson, Nursery Manager at Robinson Nursery. “Every time I do one of these events I think there is no possible way we’ll meet our goals – and sure enough, we exceed them.”

Lean is a proven method for eliminating waste that results in more value to customers, delivered at a lower cost, in a shorter time, with fewer defects and less human effort. An effectively managed Lean consortium not only brings results, but delivers a strong message of long-term commitment to employee development and continuous improvement.

The Oregon Nursery Lean Consortium gained national attention this year with a cover feature in the June issue of Nursery Management magazine. The feature walks through a day with the consortium, looking at how the team makes improvements to a process in a company. Consortium member Tom Fessler of Woodburn Nursery and Azaleas is pictured on the cover. The story is available in the “News” section of www.petersco.net.

“Being part of the Lean Consortium has allowed us to collaborate with folks in the nursery industry in ways that would not have happened otherwise,” said Alamillo. “We look forward to 2017.”

For more information about how consortium works, visit www.petersco.net. Companies interested in participating in the Oregon program should contact Elizabeth Peters, 503-250-2235 or epeters@petersco.net for information and an application form.