Blue Bird North Georgia, Lafayette, Ga.
Employees: 406, non-union
Total Square Footage: 295,000
Primary Product/market: conventional school buses
Start-up: 1982
Achievements: IW 2005, 2006 Best Plants Finalist; ISO 9001-2000 certified in 2007; 82.9% reduction in in-plant defect rates over past three years; 100% on-time delivery rate
To achieve a culture of continuous improvement sometimes requires getting past seemingly insurmountable hurdles. Blue Bird North Georgia, a manufacturer of school buses, experienced its defining moment when its parent company, Blue Bird Corp., filed for bankruptcy protection in early 2006. That kind of obstacle has permanently shut down countless companies big and small, but for Blue Bird Corp., bankruptcy proved to be little more than a speed bump on the bus maker's lean journey. The bankruptcy in fact lasted for only 32 hours, which is believed to be the fastest company reorganization in U.S. history, and is symbolic of the effectiveness of Blue Bird North Georgia's transformation.
Blue Bird's lean initiative started in 2003, under previous management, when "quality was at an all-time low," explains Glen Braly, manager of engineering. "The plant was lacking in strategic systems and procedures to control quality, materials, production, finance and human resources."
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