AstenJohnson Presents Strategy Deployment to OpExChange

AstenJohnson (AJ) has been a member of the OpExChange for a little over a year and quickly established themselves as a significant collaborator to the South Carolina group. In the OpExChange presentation this week, they gave a fantastic look into how their global company employs the Hoshin Kanri X-Matrix as the primary tool for strategic planning from a corporate level and alignment of these goals with their day-to-day operations. They have used this process for ten years and continue to improve on its effectiveness. Representatives from companies across the state attended this informative session.

Mike Cuggy, the Global Operational Excellence Leader for AJ, operates out of their headquarters in Charleston, SC and works very closely with their paper machine clothing (press felt) manufacturing facility in Clinton, SC. Mike was the key presenter today, joined with a closing commentary from Ron McKenna, the President of PMC Americas for AJ. 

Mike began with an overview of the AJ history and global footprint. They are a 230 years-old, family-owned company with a tenured workforce. There are three divisions in the company – Paper Machine Clothing (PMC), Advanced Fabrics, and Nonwovens. The PMC products division encompasses approximately 65% of their global business. Mike described some of the unique, custom designed products made by the different AstenJohnson divisions and their end user applications. For the PMC division, this includes products that paper mills will use to make writing grade paper, cardboard, toilet tissue, and many other paper grades. These huge paper machines can be as long as a football field. The AstenJohnson Clinton SC facility makes the press felts (conveyor belts) that run on the paper machines.

The AstenJohnson business model centers on Operational Excellence with their foundational under-pinning on their cultures, values, vision, and mission. 

Mike explained that business planning is a key part of this model and they have been using the Hoshin Kanri X-Matrix” process for ten years. He then proceeded to walk through the actual strategic plan of the corporation and how it cascades from the three-year vision to actual action plans and accountability at various levels of the company.  

The company introduced “My AJ Career” several years ago which is a program that ties every salaried employee’s objectives to the strategic goals. Mike shared an example of one of his own objectives which is to reduce recordable injuries by 50% in 2021. This ties directly to the Zero Accident Culture in the corporate vision. Mike pointed out that one of the most important tools in driving results is the “A3” tool which utilizes the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology.  

The OpExChange participants were grateful for the transparency that AJ provided and the sharing of the methodology. All participants received copies of the presentation files as well as Excel templates for the Hoshin X-Matrix, Bowling Score Cards, and A3 reporting.

About the OpExChange

The OpExChange is a peer-to-peer network of companies in South Carolina dedicated to learning and growing together. Member companies host events and share practical examples of industrial automation, lean manufacturing improvements, and leadership development. It is an invaluable resource to South Carolina companies that provides access to others who are on similar improvement journeys.