
NSight practices inspire retub initiative
From the start, the Mechanical Department has exercised its NSight efficiency practices to develop the Top Gon retub initiative.
NSight, introduced to the department about two years ago by Don Graab, vice president mechanical, is the railroad’s version of Lean, a process improvement system popularized by Japanese automaker Toyota. Mechanical employees are using NSight in locomotive and car shops to spark innovation, streamline work processes, engage employees, increase productivity, and reduce costs.
Here are three examples of how NSight has been used in the retub initiative.
Go see
Before doing anything else, Calvin Cox, assistant vice president, toured the Lamberts Point yard for a firsthand look at Top Gons identified for scrap. His visit, opening the door to thinking differently about a work issue, exercised NSight’s “go see” principle.
“‘Go see’ means get your boots on the ground and look at something so you’re more familiar with it,” Cox said.
The take-away message: Always look for opportunities.
“We wouldn’t have come up with this if we hadn’t just gone out there and looked at the cars and asked ourselves the question, ‘What can we do?’ ” Cox said.