CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--USG Corporation (NYSE: USG), an industry-leading manufacturer of building products and innovative solutions, is a recipient of the 2017 Lean & Six Sigma World Excellence Award for ‘Lean Six Sigma Deployment of the Year’ from the American Quality Institute as part of its annual Lean & Six Sigma World Conference. Now in their second year, the Lean & Six Sigma Excellence Awards recognize organizations across a variety of industries for outstanding process improvement programs that drive efficiencies, increase profitability and improve customer experience.
“We are honored that USG earned recognition for our process improvement initiatives with the Lean Six Sigma Deployment of the Year Award,” said Chris Lawson, USG’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Excellence. “Our talented corporate excellence teams foster a culture of continuous education and improvement, which empowers employees across the organization to create new efficiencies that have a direct impact on the company’s performance. To date, we have completed more than 1,000 Lean Six Sigma projects allowing us to strengthen our bottom line throughout the business cycle.”
USG implemented Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in 2010 to improve profitability, strengthen capabilities and increase continuous improvement awareness. LSS is the strategic approach to operational improvement that increases speed and quality of organizational processes while reducing waste and cost. Since launching its first LSS initiatives, USG has expanded the programs across its manufacturing, corporate and former distribution divisions.
USG’s high-performing employees undergo extensive training to become LSS leaders, or “Belts,” who oversee the planning and execution of LSS projects and play an instrumental role in their successful deployment. To date, USG has trained more than 375 Belts and 5,500 employees to support its LSS efforts. The company’s holistic approach to training, coaching and providing ongoing education for its Belts marks it as exceptional among corporate LSS programs. Even after formal LSS training concludes, Master Black Belts continue to guide process excellence leaders on projects. As a result of this commitment to team collaboration, USG achieved an aggregate project cycle time in 2016 of 5.2 months.
“USG’s recognition reflects a Lean Six Sigma program that is both broad and deep, with a strong core of Black Belts and Master Black Belts, as well as a lean program to engage the manufacturing plant teams in continuous improvement,” said Kimberly Watson-Hemphill, Chair, Lean & Six Sigma Excellence Awards and President of Firefly Consulting. “Their established track record of success includes impressive financial savings. Since implementing Lean Six Sigma, they have achieved more than $250 million in hard savings, reflecting a 250 percent internal rate of return.”
The Lean & Six Sigma Excellence award winners were honored on March 29, 2017, at an awards ceremony that took place as part of the annual Lean & Six Sigma World Conference in Nashville, Tenn.
About USG Corporation
USG Corporation is an industry leading manufacturer of building products and innovative solutions. Headquartered in Chicago, USG serves construction markets around the world through its United States Gypsum Company and USG Interiors, LLC subsidiaries and its international subsidiaries, including its USG Boral Building Products joint venture. Its wall, ceiling, flooring, sheathing and roofing products provide the solutions that enable customers to build the outstanding spaces where people live, work and play. Its USG Boral Building Products joint venture is a leading plasterboard and ceilings producer across Asia, Australasia and the Middle East. For additional information, visit www.usg.com.
About the Lean & Six Sigma World Conference
The Lean & Six Sigma World Conference, organized by the American Quality Institute, is the leading conference on quality management standards and Lean and Six Sigma principles. Companies who are interested in having their projects recognized should consider applying when registering for the 2018 conference. For additional information, visit www.leanandsixsigma.org.