Local teachers help Rosina associates streamline operations.
When Rosina sold its two Verona, N.J., plants and moved all pasta and
entrée processing into a renovated former bagel factory in Buffalo,
N.Y., all former Verona plant associates were offered a position at the
new facility. But not one person made the move to Buffalo, says Roger
Palczewski, chief operating officer. This meant a new team of
associates had to be trained to process Rosina's line of Celentano
pasta and entrées.
"We had never done pasta here at all. We
had to send some associates to Verona to learn the process. It was a
major challenge to train everyone," says Vice President of Operations
Viren Sitwala.
To facilitate and streamline the process,
teachers from the University of Buffalo were brought in to educate
associates about lean manufacturing.
The teachers worked with
associates in groups and conducted activities that got them thinking
about ways to be more productive, Sitwala says. The groups then
presented their ideas to management.
"For example, the
eggplant parmigiana line decided what kind of containers we should buy,
where we should put the equipment, where they are going to put the
parts, how they are going to set up in the morning. They wrote it all
out and presented it to management," he explains.
The lean
program has been so successful in improving production that the company
plans to implement it in the other plant.
"We will move the
program into the protein plant and then we will look at bringing it
into the sales force, management and support staff to cut and improve
processes," Palczewski adds.
