A collaborative training effort supplemented by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP) is helping a Barbourville manufacturing plant get “leaner” and remain successful in an increasingly competitive global economy.

TruSeal Technologies, which makes sealant spacer systems for insulating glass windows and doors, has enrolled 12 employees in a two-week “lean manufacturing” training program that will reduce costs and boost productivity by reducing waste in materials, inventory, and job processes.

The costs of bringing the extensive training program to TruSeal were covered in full by a collaboration between EKCEP—a federally funded non-profit agency that administers government employment and training programs—and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS).

“We appreciate—more than could ever be expressed—the opportunity to work with EKCEP and opportunities they’re giving us to be able to give this training,” said Pat Evans, production manager at TruSeal. “If we were to have to pay for the training ourselves, that would limit the number of employees we would be able to put through it because it is pretty expensive.”

As part of the training, six TruSeal team leaders, four supervisors, two production engineers, and other managers are working with Brad Willis, an adjunct KCTCS faculty member who has delivered similar training at various companies across the U.S. and in Australia. Willis’ lean management training involves several processes, including classroom work, strategy sessions, and on-the-floor problem-solving exercises on the plant’s actual equipment.

“In lean manufacturing, waste is the enemy,” Evans said. “That waste could be wasted inventory, wasted human intellect, wasted motion, or overproduction. All these things have costs, and we can’t pass those costs along to the customer.”

In addition to those costs, TruSeal has had to contend with rising costs for the oil- and metal-based raw materials used to create its signature sealant spacers, which are used by seven out of the 10 largest window producers in the U.S., according to Evans. Rather than to pass those increases on to its customers or lay off employees, the plant chose instead to shift toward a lean manufacturing philosophy to cut costs by reducing waste, he said.

Evans said problems first surfaced after the plant implemented a team leader concept, where employees from the floor bid into newly created leadership positions.

“We quickly realized that people didn’t want to keep this job because they didn’t have the tools or skills to address the issues that went along with it, and they were just overwhelmed,” Evans said. “They were going back to the line, and it was mostly our fault because we hadn’t prepared them for the position.”

As he researched programs to address TruSeal’s training needs, Evans was referred to EKCEP by Jennifer Smith at the KCEOC Community Action Partnership.

The KCEOC Community Action Partnership office in Barbourville is an access point in EKCEP’s JobSight network of workforce centers in 23 eastern Kentucky counties. JobSight workforce centers provide job seekers and employers access to a dozen government workforce programs a single location. JobSight links employers with the right employees through EKCEP’s Business Solutions services and activities.

EKCEP assisted TruSeal’s training efforts by contributing some of its funds designated for training incumbent workers to a grant from the Kentucky Workforce Investment Network System (WINS), a training incentive program administered by KCTCS, according to Crawford Blakeman, EKCEP Business Solutions manager. The combined funding covered the cost of bringing the training program to TruSeal. The plant’s only cost is the salaries of trainees during the training period.

“TruSeal contacted us because they had a need, and we brokered contact with KCTCS to facilitate this training to meet that need,” Blakeman said. “Industry clearly defined its need, and we responded.

“But the bottom-line reason we’re doing this training with TruSeal is to keep them productive and allow them to keep up with their competition so we can keep these nearly 200 jobs here in Barbourville and eastern Kentucky,” Blakeman added.

TruSeal employees participating in the training program said they are looking forward to passing on the strategies for lean manufacturing they have learned to other employees.

“It’s going to start with us, but it’s going to affect everyone on the floor,” one employee said. “We have needed this for quite some time. This training puts everything in order and perspective.”

Evans agreed.

“It’s a way of approaching how you look at your job and understanding that we’ve all got a common ground with how our plant performs, and that common ground is the plant being successful so we can be successful and provide for our families,” Evans said. “It’s something that we want to do again real soon.”

Blakeman said the collaboration at TruSeal exemplifies the cooperative inter-agency partnerships that power EKCEP’s JobSight network, and shows how industry and government can work together to simultaneously serve both sides of the workforce equation.

“Sometimes the system works to really do what it is supposed to do, and that’s to help both employers and employees,” Blakeman said.

For additional information on EKCEP’s Business Solutions services, contact Crawford Blakeman at 606-436-5751.