Perfecting improvement While lean and continuous improvement have been part of the culture for some time at Flowserve Corp., Keith Regan learns how the company is looking to extend its initiatives into supply chain and logistics. Although Flowserve Corp. celebrated its 10th anniversary only recently, the companyÔÇÖs roots reach back more than 200 years to the 1790 founding of Simpson & Thompson. TodayÔÇÖs Flowserve, based in Irving, Texas, was formed by the merger in 1997 of BW/IP and Durco International.

A material differenceKeith Regan learns how employee longevity, intense training and a culture of improvement have made Grenzebach Corp. a market leader in materials technology, positioned for expansion into new markets. The parent company of Newnan, GeorgiaÔÇôbased Grenzebach Corp. was founded in Bavaria, Germany, in 1960 with seven people.

Masters of metal cuttingCraig Zacher explains to Gary Toushek how a commitment to customer benefit, R&D, manufacturing competence and a vertically integrated supply chain help Guhring to┬ágrow by responding to changing customer needs. Guehring OHG, founded by Gottlieb Guehring in Albstadt, Germany in 1898, has become one┬áof the worldÔÇÖs leading suppliers of precision rotary cutting tools.

57 sigmaGary Thomas, Director of Continuous Improvement and Operational Risk Management for HJ Heinz, tells Martin Ashcroft how lean and six sigma are being used to step change performance. ÔÇ£We think we are truly an innovator in the food business,ÔÇØ says Gary Thomas, and heÔÇÖs not talking about the 57 varieties, the stay-clean caps or the upside-down bottles.

Perfect fitVice-president of engineering Aidan Connolly explains to Gary Toushek how a major new acquisition complements the strategic approach of this capital intensive lime and limestone business. In the 1990s Carmeuse Group, founded in 1860 in Liege, Belgium, as limestone-based products company Carmeuse SA, focused its sights on North America and acquired six limestone companies with 14 locations, including manufacturing facilities and limestone quarries or mines, most near the Great Lakes, including three in Ontario, Canada.

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Building on innovationWith a new CEO in place, the consumer division of Husqvarna is aiming to expand on a culture of innovation in products and process alike, as Keith Regan learns. The name may not roll off the tongue of Americans just yet, but Sweden-based Husqvarna is already the worldÔÇÖs largest maker of outdoor power equipment, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws and portable garden trimmers and pruning tools, as well as a top provider of specialty cutting tools to the construction industry.

The green dimension┬áAndy Ball and Phil Williams tell Martin Ashcroft how green building has become a way of life at California-based Webcor Builders. A year ago, when I first encountered Andy Ball, president and CEO of Webcor Builders, he told me that the construction industry was slow to change.

On the fast┬átrack┬áThe Richmond Oval, built for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in nearby Vancouver, will benefit the City of Richmond long after the games are over, Alan Nicholson tells John OÔÇÖHanlon. When Vancouver was selected to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the City of Richmond, located on the south side of the Fraser River from Vancouver, made an agreement to construct the Oval to host the long-track speed skating events.

A construction balletRon Austin, Executive Director of the Lincoln Center Development Project, tells Martin Ashcroft how construction work has to be choreographed in as much detail as the shows, to avoid disrupting productions at the world famous arts complex. ÔÇ£LCDP is not a project,ÔÇØ insists executive director Ron Austin.