Sebastian then visited a company in Kansas City, Labconco, and was introduced to traditional Lean manufacturing. As he was taking a tour of their manufacturing space, the Director of Engineering was telling him about the improvements that had been made to the welding area [and process], how all of the welders had participated in the improvement process and the dramatic benefits that had come from their efforts.
The ingenuity and resourcefulness demonstrated at Labconco were something Sebastian knew were present, but under utilized at TrippNT. He and the other leaders started off by reading books about 5S and Lean manufacturing, which then lead them to a local community college and the initial TrippNT Kaizen events. 2014 was a landmark year. It was the first time the company actually shut down the shop for two days and executed a Kaizen event. Everyone got involved and some incredible improvements were made throughout the shop. That event was led by an Industrial engineer from the community college. It really seemed as though the company had begun to turn a corner and was on its way to becoming more efficient, productive, and profitable.