Garry Behrendt, Shop Helper, Olympic Steel – Bettendorf, IA

Olympic Steel – Bettendorf, IA: Garry Behrendt

When employees at the Bettendorf, IA facility cut plastic to cover cross blocks, they cut each piece by hand, one piece at a time.

Garry Behrendt, Shop Helper, recognized the opportunity to improve the process. He built a wheel machine that measures for different board sizes and rolls the plastic around so multiple pieces can be cut at one time. This saves a lot of time and reduces the amount of cutting, since multiple pieces can be measured and cut at once. Garry created this solution on his own time to benefit all employees who perform this operation. Now, more pieces are cut in less time with little to no waste. Implementing this new process has made it possible for the wood shop to keep up with preparing wrapped boards for the floor and the temper mill.

Lesson Learned: Just because something has always been done one way, doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do it. When you feel like a process could be done better or safer – take a step back and brainstorm ways to make it happen.