SUN CHEMICAL
MORALITY AND FIGHTER WILLING IS THE ONLY WAY
Sun Chemical is the world's largest producer of printing inks and pigments, and the multinational group's Danish factory is located in Køge. IN itself it is quite unheard of to run the chemical industry in this part of the world, which places a natural demand on efficiency at all levels of the organization.
At the factory in Køge, there is an unusually high morale and great fighting spirit, and Maestro has helped to strengthen the belief that it is possible to compete with the East. As a spearhead in the fight to preserve the Danish jobs all managers, instructors and operators have been upgraded through a training course, with Maestro. The course covered the entire package: the culture of improvement, the culture of management and the culture of relationships, and equipped Sun Chemical to make the best use of their resources. possible.
- We were already running well and had control of the production before we started to implement the strategy "Standard & Innovation ”.
For us, it was about getting the competencies to use the right tools in different situations as well as handling the dialogue with employees, and get them to participate actively in the development of everyday life. It was a systematization of our methods. There were things that we had not previously attached so much importance or time to, where we can now better see where things fit in to create results, says production manager John Weinreich.
John Weinreich
"We are well equipped to prove that here in
the company we can something that one
can not anywhere else in the world!
John Weinreich, Production Manager
Sun Chemical
Competence and credibility
The only thing he regrets is that they did not grab the Maestro for too long since:
- This is the best course we have gone through in a very long time! Maestro signals competence, and it quickly becomes apparent that they
have tried it before. The credibility is top notch. It's all delivered in a contemporary form, and Maestro's people have examples and their own experiences from the real world.
The consultants with whom we have previously collaborated have to a greater extent been teachers who have not themselves had a responsibility for a business, says John Weinreich.
Strong optimization culture
Sun Chemical, together with Maestro, focused on raising the competence at the individual level, where it has previously been the mass that was trained.
The project has resulted in common language and process understanding across of the organization, and daily optimization and development has become one part of the culture at the factory in Køge.
- What we do today, we need to do a little better, easier and faster tomorrow, says John Weinreich and continues: We have gained more competence and better decision-making basis moved so closely on the performing joints as at all possible and that is a big gain.
The employees at Sun Chemical work in teams, so-called locally based optimization groups, where decisions are made right there, where the problems arise. And with the project "Standard & Innovation", positive results have already been created in an industry such as otherwise is characterized by cuts and relocation to low-wage countries such as India and China.
"Standard & Innovation" aims over the coming years to streamline Sun Chemicals many instructions and procedures and that eliminate the discrepancies - as well as boost ideas and suggestions for improvement from the employees.
And precisely among the employees, Maestro's approach and methods have aroused enthusiasm.
- Maestro's coaches are happy with the collaboration and passionate about it, and it shines clearly through. Employees notice that Maestro is interested in hearing about what they are messing with and how we feel about the workplace. We are excited here at us, states the production manager.
Michael Egballe Larsen
Maestro pushes the boundaries
Michael Egballe Larsen has been an operator at the factory for 17 years and experienced the development and the battle for jobs at nearest team. He has experienced the upskilling at Maestro as very rewarding both personally and in relation to the process understanding.
The process has been an eye-opener for how resources can be freed up by looking critically at the individual parts of the production flow.
- In the past, I have rarely wasted a thought on what I run and do, I just did it. Now I've got a lot of tools
and can suddenly see that it is actually an advanced piece of work that I have to do. Being able to go in and look about
the process can be optimized - that insight I have gained and have become much better at. We’ve all got the same language and a whole lot tools and begins to be able to look more nuanced at the company, says Michael Egballe Larsen and states:
- Maestro has cannon trainers and it's people's own fault if they do not come back with anything positive! In my world, Maestro stands out as the ones that actually teach us something. And it must be because of their background in the "real world". There they stand out and are completely focused! They push some boundaries with us and make us think out of the box.
The daily optimization from the employees has already created concrete improvements in the production flow, but the great results lies ahead, and John Weinreich has high expectations for that.
- We have only now had all our people through the educations. It is now that we are going to launch the ship and start sailing in earnest. And we are well equipped to prove that here at the factory we can do something that you can not do anywhere else in the world!
About Sun Chemical
Sun Chemical Corp. is the world's largest manufacturer of ink and pigments and a leading supplier of products to industries within i.a. packaging, publications, coatings, plastics and cosmetics.
Sun Chemical Corp. is owned by the Japanese company DIC.
Sun Chemical Corp. employs approx. 8,000 employees worldwide and has an annual turnover of approx. 3.5 billion USD.