Aquatera realized $980,000 in savings through the Aquatera Way

The challenge

Aquatera began its Lean journey in 2013 with training for all staff and a Lean Committee, but Lean did not gain traction across the organization because it lacked the resources and knowledge to drive a shift in culture. At the same time, the downturn in the oil industry meant Aquatera had to stay competitive while sales of its core products declined.

The approach

Eight Lean team members worked towards Green Belt certification with a Leading Edge mentor, and Yellow Belt training for all staff became the catalyst for the culture shift. Leading Edge then conducted a continuous improvement maturity model (CIMM) assessment, which became the roadmap and 12-month plan for the Aquatera Way, built on governance, capability, making it happen, tools and measurement. The assessment identified four high-priority areas, and six projects within the safety program addressed manager standard work, incident prevention and root cause analysis, just-in-time orientation, standard templates, PPE and visual management, and supply chain improvements.

The result

Safety audit scores rose from 89% to 96%, safety culture survey results rose from 3 out of 5 to 4 out of 5, and the supply chain management project achieved annual savings of $105,000, with a sustained reduction in lost time and recordable injuries reported. Aquatera has certified 95% of its employees with some level of Lean training and realized cost savings of $980,000, and it was the 2017 North American winner of the Leading Edge Group Continuous Improvement Excellence Award.

How it holds

Annual CEO objectives are cascaded to all work teams through Hoshin Kanri, and key performance indicators linked from the CEO scorecard to the front line are reviewed weekly on visual management boards and in team huddles. Aquatera's capability includes more than 150 Yellow Belt certifications, more than 10 Green Belts and three Black Belts.