A surprised Dan Meils received the USA Continuous Improvement Award on behalf of the Curtiss-Wright business unit Scientech at the USA SCM Winter Conference. “A lot of work went into this,” stated Meils, general manager for Scientech. “The whole Scientech team is very proud and honored.” Scientech was the winner of very first Continuous Improvement award, presented in 2009.
Continuous Improvement, defined as an on-going process by which a supplier improves its performance in incremental ways that provide value to its customers, is very important to USA. As stated in the Continuous Improvement Award application, while competitively priced products and services are fundamentally important to our business model, delivering savings and value to Alliance members through a relentless pursuit of excellence are the vital elements of performance that set our USA Supplier Partners apart from their peers.
In order to be considered for this coveted award, USA suppliers meeting certain criteria are asked to submit an essay outlining the environmental improvements, total cost of ownership (TCO) savings development and implementation, and internal business process improvements they have made. The winner of this award is the supplier who demonstrates the most continuous improvement throughout the measurement year.
Scientech demonstrated improvement in all three areas in 2013. They prevented 1.6 tons of carbon emissions through consolidations and reductions in travel. They reduced paper consumption by 25% through their ongoing initiative to implement a fully electronic filing system, and are utilizing tablets in the field to eliminate the printing of marketing material. They are also helping the industry to go paperless by systematically scanning older NRC correspondence, allowing USA members electronic access to over 1.1 million documents in 2013 and USA member Cook electronic access to their entire plant docket file. Finally, they are systematically replacing all desktop computers with energy-saving laptops.
In 2013 alone Scientech saved USA members an estimated $25 million in TCO savings, with much of the savings coming from revenue loss avoidance. They achieved this by helping utilities find critical parts through RAPID and through critical-path reducing equipment such as nozzle dams and temporary reactor heads. USA members Cook, Hope Creek, Salem and STP benefited directly from these efforts in 2013. Scientech also developed an innovative Position Indicator Probe refurbishment kit, and supplied this to one USA member in 2013 who saved an estimated 40% compared to OEM replacement costs.
Scientech improved its own operational performance as well. By tracking Operational Excellence metrics and implementing Lean principles, Scientech saved $1.1 million in internal costs, savings that can be passed on to customers. Other customer benefits include reduced lead times, improved delivery performance, improved quality and improved customer satisfaction. Scientech is also committed to a quality working-life for its employees, and employs an outside agency to conduct an annual Employee Engagement Survey. The results are then used to drive improvements and 2013 results saw improvements in previously identified areas of concern.
Overall, Scientech has demonstrated that it is committed to the values this award exemplifies. USA desires to work with quality suppliers who are continuously improving their own businesses, and as a result help us improve our businesses. Scientech has demonstrated that it does just that, and is therefore a worthy recipient of the 2013 Continuous Improvement Award. Congratulations!
Dan Meils, left, with Jim Kitchens of USA and Mark Ackerman of Scientech at the USA SCM 2014 Winter Conference.