The Team's The Thing

One essential part of every company's equation for success is teamwork.

Interprint knows that employee teams mean efficiency solutions.

There are two main teamwork programs underway at Interprint. The first is Kaizen, a Japanese word meaning orderly, continuous improvement.

Kaizen consists of a series of small steps, focusing on eliminating waste in all systems and processes in the organization.

"A process requires both improvement and continuity to qualify as Kaizen," according to Sandra Zink, Interprint Human Resources Director. "In other words, an improvement 'breakthrough' would not be considered Kaizen unless it were sustained and continued," she says.

There are currently four Kaizen teams working in press waste, roll change, quality measures and other matters.

There is no fixed timetable for completion of a project.

"Some teams move faster than others," Zink says, "not through any fault of their own but because the problems are so different from one another - some are fairly simple, others complex."

"It's a very rigorous process. It's a step by step approach. Each step must be fully developed before the next step is taken," she continues.

The second major training program is in the area of statistical process control (SPC).

"SPC and Kaizen are linked," Zink says, "because a lot of the math tools we train people for in SPC are also in Kaizen. In other words, we've provided the tools that people need in Kaizen through SPC."

"In many cases we've accomplished what we set out to do in SPC. In some other areas our SPC teams are very active."

"The important thing to remember is that we're all in the customer service business. The teams and their goals are just another way to make sure the customer is getting our very best, all the time," she adds.