By Tony Valenti
It has a been a spectacular year for us, as we celebrate 25 years since First Choice Tree Service started out of a pick-up truck. We have grown significantly since our early beginnings. I wrote in a previous post about my visit to Vermeer Manufacturing’s headquarters. What I learned from my visit is the importance of business efficiency. It inspired me to want to provide a better workplace for our entire company. This year, I’m honored to take part in Vermeer’s LEAN Initiative.
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| Tony Valenti and Kyle Pieratt of Vermeer Southwest Sales
We can choose to LEAN anything, from our administrative process, to our yard operations. Our goal is to eventually LEAN our entire business, but a good starting point for us was our yard and shop areas. First Choice Tree Service sits on three acres, on which we house all our equipment, entire fleet, tools, etc., everything needed to conduct business on a daily basis. With the help of representatives of Vermeer Mfg. and Vermeer Sales Southwest we re-organized our yard in a manner in which our crews can clock in, grab their tools and uniforms and head to their trucks in far fewer steps. By moving key storage containers, Conex boxes, etc., to more logical locations, we have increased their efficiency and reduced wasteful time spent walking across our large lot multiple times to obtained everything the crews need to start their day.
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Essentially, LEAN is centered on making obvious what adds value by reducing everything else. It’s a philosophy derived mostly from the Japanese manufacturing industry. Kaizen, the Japanese word for “good change,” is based on improving standardized activities and processes, and ultimately eliminating waste. By implementing an organizational method called “5S” (Sort-Set in Order-Shine-Standardize-Sustain), we successfully implemented a process for creating a more efficient work environment.
Another area of our LEAN focus was our mechanic’s shop. Our entire inventory of tools and shop supplies were removed from various locations of the shop and placed in a staging area for evaluation. Items identified as waste were hauled away. Items of value were kept. In fact, an area of waste that totaled approximately 30 yards was considered expendables. Every corner of the shop was cleaned, then re-organized. Equipment and tools were assigned to specific areas, clearly marked with paint. At the end of the day, all equipment/tools are expected to be returned to their designated locations. If a designated spot it empty, it will be noticeable to anyone something is missing. Additionally, our mechanics have color coded work areas and toolboxes. I think they are quite pleased with their newly-organized workstations.
A presentation was held at the end of the event to recap the week’s activities and to discuss what we must do to maintain the 5S process in our yard and shop areas. We still have work to do in LEANing the rest of our company, but we made a remarkable change in just one week. We look forward to implementing the same methods in other areas of our business. I’m so grateful our staff embraced and invested themselves in this philosophy. The idea of working towards a more efficient business translates to so many positives. From raising morale, to greater teamwork, to increased pride in our work, to reaping the rewards of accomplishing great feats. 
I cannot thank Vermeer Mfg. and Vermeer Sales Southwest for their investment of time and resources in our company, spending upwards of 50 hours in one week to jump-start this great business venture we call LEAN. It’s been an incredible experience thus far. We look forward to sustaining this initiative and continually moving forward with “good change.”
