American Pad & Paper

Getting lean and thinking greenAs Keith Regan reports, it took a new management team and a renewed focus on operational excellence and supply chain optimization to get the venerable company back to being the value-added market player it is today. American Pad & Paper is a company with a lengthy and storied history in the office supplies space, having first introduced the legal padÔÇöstill a ubiquitous sight in courthouses and law offices worldwide.   After a period of upheaval, the 120-year-old company is once again becoming a top value provider and product innovator in the filing materials, paper and envelopes niches, supplying small stationers and office supply superstores alike. The journey to its current role as a trusted, reliable supplier and innovator began after a restructuring and has come about in large part due to an intense focus on lean manufacturing techniques and on simplifying and improving the companyÔÇÖs supply chain, says Brad Roach, the Richardson, TexasÔÇôbased companyÔÇÖs senior vice president for supply chain. ÔÇ£Developing lean and efficient operations has been one of the critical paths in bringing this company back to a position of financial strength and strength within the commercial marketplace as far as being a reliable and consistent supplier.ÔÇØ The lean push began at the top, under the guidance of CEO Don Meltzer, who came aboard in late 2005 and soon tapped Roach to oversee supply chain improvements and Mark Koepsel to help drive changes in manufacturing. In relatively short order, lean has been ÔÇ£driven into the woodworkÔÇØ of the company, helping to transform it from a company ÔÇ£that suffered from a reputation of inferior service levels to one that is considered a major power player that is extremely consistent and reliable as well as innovative,ÔÇØ Roach says. On the supply chain side, the changes included a complete overhaul of the distribution network and transportation strategy. Ampad changed its third-party transportation provider after realizing it was paying a ÔÇ£hefty transportation premiumÔÇØ because it was not optimizing the shipments leaving its distribution centers. Improvements were also made in how shipments from manufacturing facilities to distribution centers were being planned and executed. With help from a sophisticated transportation management technology infrastructure, Ampad has moved to having fewer and more dense shipments, a huge benefit during times of highly volatile fuel costs. In fact, technology is a backbone of the overall transformation, with efficiencies driven through data analysis made possible by Oracle and J.D. Edwards ERP systems that have helped create more robust demand forecasting and planning processes for its 2,500 different product SKUs throughout the company, with point-of-sale data being pulled quickly back through the manufacturing operations and the supply chain. Even as the supply chain improvements were ongoing, Ampad took aim at manufacturing. ÔÇ£We knew we were in a position where we had to attack both at the same time to get the fast results we needed,ÔÇØ Roach says. Efficiencies were found throughout the process, often with minor investments in technology required. For instance, Ampad realized that by adding small accumulation conveyors to its lines, a single worker could safely and efficiently operate two pieces of equipment. Those efforts required an educational companion piece to help employees understand that increased efficiencies in the short term would drive long-term opportunities for the company and its approximately 1,000 employees alike. ÔÇ£Our employees have realized that by grabbing the new tools and processes lean put before them, they could make themselves more valuable to the company and more well-rounded employees in general,ÔÇØ he adds.Of course, the journey continues at Ampad, but the improvements to date have not only cut costs but have made the company much better at meeting customer expectations for delivering product on time and in the right quantities. The changes also support efforts to be more innovative and to bring to market products that end-users want and need.ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre a predominant player in the writing, filing and envelope segments, but itÔÇÖs a mature industry with mature product lines, and our customers are continuously looking for ways to bring innovation to the space,ÔÇØ says Roach. With improved processes, the company can be more responsive to market demands. For instance, based on end-user feedback, Ampad is rolling out a file-folder retainer system that will keep bulging file folders from falling to the bottom of file cabinet drawers. That rollout is the fruit of the labor of value-creation teams set up within the company to glean information from end-users around the world and fold what they learn back into the product design, manufacturing and supply chain processes. ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs just one example of how we are working to use consumer insight to drive product innovation and be a more responsive partner to our customers,ÔÇØ Roach adds. Another such area where chances to innovate and win market share as a result is in the fast-growing area of environmental awareness. ÔÇ£There is absolutely more of a push toward green for us, and it comes in several different areas and forms,ÔÇØ Roach notes. ÔÇ£AmpadÔÇÖs Envirotec brand is a leading full line of writing, filing and envelope products for consumers who desire high-quality product performance and superior sustainability; many Envirotec brand products are made with both 100 percent recycled and 100 percent post-consumer content material, which is competitively unique.ÔÇØ Also, Ampad is constantly seeking ways to boost the amount of recycled content in products without reducing quality. It also seeks to simplify and reduce product packaging to only the bare necessitiesÔÇöan effort that could also have obvious cost benefits as well. It also means Ampad sources raw materials from forests that are certified as being harvested in a sustainable way. In the end, the opportunities exist because Ampad has put itself in a position to capitalize on them, Roach believes. ÔÇ£Our employees have helped us become a company that our customers want to partner with to make new and exciting things happen in the space,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs an ongoing transformation, but weÔÇÖve already come a long way.ÔÇØ┬á