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ESCO Plant 3 Portland Becomes First ESCO Facility to Obtain Gold Lean
Links Award

Portland, OR. — ESCO Corporation recently awarded its Plant 3, Portland, OR location with a merit of Lean excellence. Lean organizations seek to improve quality, eliminate waste, and reduce delays and total costs through a system of continuous improvement.

ESCO began using lean processes in 1999. The lean metrics program, known as Lean Links, monitors several areas of lean implementation including: synchronized flow and quality control; process focus; the visual factory and development; and management and accounting. Each ESCO location is evaluated, recognized for progress, and an implementation plan for new improvements is created based on the results.

The Lean Links program is divided into four awards categories: bronze, silver, gold and QVS Excellence. In December, ESCO awarded the Gold Lean Links award to ESCO Plant 3, Portland, OR. Out of 41 ESCO locations currently on the lean journey, Plant 3 was the first to achieve the gold level. “I am extremely pleased with the lean progress ESCO has made over the last few years. Plant 3 has made major productivity gains by pouring smaller batch sizes and has significantly increased capacity. Quality is excellent and plant employees feel empowered because the people in the shop drive the process improvements,” said Dale Gehring, Director of Lean Enterprise Development.

ESCO Corporation is a global group of companies that manufactures engineered metal parts and components for industrial machinery. A privately held company, ESCO Corporation is headquartered in Portland, OR. The company employs over 3,600 in four operating groups with manufacturing, distribution, and sales offices on six continents.

Robert Kenneth | ESCO Marketing Communications | 503.778.6612| robert.kenneth@escocorp.com