Appliance Park Lean Manufacturing Saves Jobs, Safeguards Workers’ Health and Safety

Appliance Park in Kentucky was one of the biggest GE operations in the country, manufacturing washer/dryer units and other appliances. It also had been a huge offshorer of good jobs and manufacturing. In fact, employment, once at 9,000, had fallen below 2,000 by 2011. But IUE-CWA has been working to reverse that decline with the rollout of the Lean High Performance Manufacturing program, and now some 4,000 IUE-CWA Local 83761 members are building appliances at the Louisville facility.

Earlier this year, GE sold the unit to Chinese-owned Qingdao Haier Co. for $5.4 billion; the company will keep its headquarters in Louisville. It also will continue the innovative manufacturing and safety procedures that Local 83761 members help put in place.

The Lean program tackles how the entire manufacturing process operates. This all-inclusive approach engages IUE-CWA members in the design and organization of their work, giving them more problem-solving control. The idea is that the workers on the floor often have the best insights on how to improve production.

Ergonomics – the science of arranging a workplace to ensure not only efficiency but worker safety – was a critical part of this effort. With the goal of reducing injuries on the job, IUE-CWA worked to eliminate bending, bad posture, overreaching and lifting heavy items.

“I want workers to walk out the door as whole as they were when they came in,” said Mary Humphries, a union Lean ergonomic leader. “I want them to go home to their families and feel good and not be injured. I don’t want them to walk out of here like my mother, who retired after 27 years. We didn’t look at ergonomics then like we do today. We didn’t take into consideration that bending over into refrigerators 1,500 times a day would affect our backs.”

Fixes have included building platforms and tables, so workers don’t have to reach down to the floor to grab parts. Cameras have been attached to screw guns so operators don’t have to crouch under washing machines. Workers convinced GE that investing in automatic lifts to help them install 32-lb refrigerator doors would be more efficient than rotating through exhausted employees.   

“Instead of hurting and being too scared to say anything, now workers know there’s someone in the union they can call whenever there’s a problem,” said Sharon Brumfield, a union Lean ergonomic leader.

The plan beat out GE operations around the world last year to win an Ergonomic Excellence Award for a new line launch. IUE-CWA Local 83761 President Dana Crittendon said, “The passion for what these workers do really stands out and helps our members tremendously.”

BEFORE: For eight hours a day, the operator looks down into a small mirror with a light shining in her eyes, to see the small holes that she fills with three screws. Her neck is bent and her knees are brushing the line.

AFTER: Operator looks into the monitor to determine where the screws go. No bent necks, no constant light bothering her eyes, no knees touching the line.

BEFORE: Washing machine assembly put constant stress on workers’ back, neck shoulders, elbows, hands and wrists.

AFTER: The ergonomic tilt line relieved the stress on workers’ bodies, reducing injury and improving quality.