Video

How Mallard Creek Polymers’ Exceeded Its Productivity Target by 16%

Dan Chartier Managing Director & Partner Kaizen Institute North America

Dan Chartier

Managing Director & Partner

Transformation Highlights

  • 40%

    productivity improvement target—exceeded by 16%

  • 15

    changeover types simplified into 9 standardized processes

  • 1

    unified CI language across operators, engineers, and leaders

mcp-logo

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Mallard Creek Polymers

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Meet the People Behind the Change

Hear from the leaders and practitioners

Paul Winkley Plant Manager
Paul Winkley Plant Manager

“Beyond the cycle time improvement, this project built trust in the continuous improvement mindset. When people see that optimizing procedures makes their work easier—not harder—ownership follows.”

Tim Dolin Continuous Improvement Manager
Tim Dolin Continuous Improvement Manager

“We initially underestimated where our real productivity challenge was. Having outside eyes helped us reframe priorities and set a target that truly mattered.”

Nicholas Hartsell Project Engineer
Nicholas Hartsell Project Engineer

“Standardizing the changeover process and separating internal from external work simplified complexity. That structure made sustained improvement possible.”

How KAIZEN™ Was Applied in Practice

  • Applying SMED and standard work to stabilize changeovers

    How SMED principles and standard work simplified complex changeovers, reduced variation, and created repeatable performance across operators.

  • Building a shared CI system—not isolated tools

    How common language, routines, and visual management aligned operators, engineers, and leaders around continuous improvement.

  • Using value stream mapping to find the real constraint


    How value stream mapping (VSM) revealed that reactor turnaround time—not production speed—was the primary lever for improving productivity.