Case Study: Publishing

Case Study

BI helped this newspaper publisher reduce its safety claims by 33%.

Results

  • In the last fiscal year, there was a 33% reduction in safety claims.
  • In the first 25 months of the program, the company attained its waste reduction goal 24 months. Prior to the program, the goal was missed 11 times over the same period.

This newspaper publisher had a need to reduce waste, improve quality and improve safety among its press crews, production workers and warehouse staff—800 people in three locations.

Issues

The publisher wanted to:

  • Reduce waste by 15% per year
  • Improve plant safety, attendance and production quality

Solution

  • BI developed an initiative that rewards employees for decreasing waste and safety incidents.
  • Launch meetings are conducted annually by crew chiefs to reaffirm the initiatives and announce changes.
  • Rules of participation include:
    • Safety and Attendance. This quarterly award is given to individuals with a perfect safety record and no unscheduled absences during the quarter. A bonus award is given to workers with perfect safety and attendance records for four consecutive quarters.
    • Waste Reduction. This team award is given monthly. Waste reduction goals are based on work group (job functionality). Award values are based on the waste reduction percentages achieved.
    • Efficiency. This is an individual award, calculated monthly, based on both the number of pastes made and the number of “web outs” or down time.
    • Press Crew Quality. Press crews are recognized for highest quality ink density, color reproduction and registration. Each shift is evaluated and awards are issued monthly.
  • Sweepstakes are conducted periodically to award employees for wearing the correct protective equipment and improving their safety record.