Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems employees from across its North American locations recognized teams and people who are helping to improve workplace safety, environmental conditions, production quality and manufacturing efficiency.
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Winners in in the annual Knorr Production System award program came from Bendix facilities in Mexico, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Three groups and 22 employees were honored.
"We launched KPS at Bendix in 2012 to pursue a shared vision, embracing a 'one-plant approach' to steer us toward operational excellence," says Piotr Sroka, Bendix's CEO, president and COO. "Since then, countless individuals have dedicated themselves to the vision, bringing forth their talents, ideas and hard work to ensure our collective safety and enhance our environment, processes, workstations and production lines."
A key aspect of the KPS philosophy is encouraging and empowering employees to recognize potential problems, then develop and implement their own suggestions for quality improvements. These changes define a Quick Kaizen environment where people and teams proactively seek to improve manufacturing. Bendix team members in 2023 identified and implemented more than 22,000 ideas. Nearly 20,000 were implemented.
"The accomplishments celebrated in the KPS awards bring Bendix closer to major company safety goals such as zero injuries, climate goals like zero waste and operational goals on quality and productivity," says Fabio Nakai, Bendix's director of operations excellence. "Day after day, our people and our teams bring their best selves to the job in the name of continuous improvement and operational excellence."
The award winners are:
- Safety STARS (Safety Top Achievement Recognition System): Machining P1, Acuña; FDB Assembly Benches, first shift, Bowling Green; Randy Brown, Huntington; Mark Matko, Avon.
- Best Quick Kaizen: Sergio Segura, Acuña; Paulo Leal, Monterrey; Himanshu Pandya, Bowling Green; Rob Snow, Huntington; David Leatherman, R.H. Sheppard, Pennsylvania; Phillip Kasper and Justin Turner, Avon.
- Most Quick Kaizens: Yolanda Flota, Acuña; Carlos Zavala, Monterrey; Lisa Eldridge, Bowling Green; Linda Bowman, Huntington; Trudy Mays, R.H. Sheppard, Pennsylvania; Stephen Mitchell, Avon.
- KPS Outstanding Contributor: Oscar Llano, Acuña; Mitchell Bratcher, Bowling Green; Ben Maylin, Huntington; Christy Racine, R.H. Sheppard, Pennsylvania.
