Capturing CNC dust at Xylem Designs
By Brad Cairns

Brad Cairns visits with Ben at Xylem Design, a lean manufacturer of pedestals, easels, tradeshow and event furniture, based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Lean is a production practice that considers any expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. "Anybody who has a CNC machine, you've got to be tired of the dust," says Cairns, who is principal of the Center for Lean Learning. "Wait until you see what the guys here at Xylem Design came up with. Don't ever underestimate the creative genius of your people." 

Brad Cairns of the Center for Lean Learning will present a workshop April 11 on Lean Management, during the 2017 Cabinets & Closets Expo and Conference. (The event runs April 11-13 at the Renaissance Conference Center in Schaumburg, Illinois.)

The Center for Lean Learning is teaming with human resource experts at Perspective to develop a brand new conference track emphasizing the human resource quotient of Lean Management operations. Cairns, principal of the Center for Lean Learning (and owner of cabinetry firm Signature Wood Systems) will team with Bobby Lewis, founder of Perspective (and a manager at Lewis Cabinets in Tremonton, Utah) to show how Lean Management can improve employee engagement, reducing turnover and improving productivity – cutting down remakes and errors in fulfillment, delivery and installation of projects. “Just try to calculate the cost of leaving one component of a closet or cabinet project off the truck,” says Cairns. 

 

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