Sorin Moves Forward with Total Worker Commitment

Sorin Group USA has evolved from a Colorado business started in the 1960s, when two entrepreneurs set up shop in Colorado to manufacture preconnected sets of tubing for operating room procedures. Over the last 40 years, the business expanded product lines and revenues, merged with complementary businesses, acquired others, and is now part of the international medical device company, Sorin Group. 

In Arvada, Sorin employs nearly 400 workers dedicated to the administration, distribution and manufacture of all Sorin cardiopulmonary products—tubing sets and accessories for open heart surgery-- for the North American region, creating $70 million in revenue annually.  Products are highly customized and up to 4200 different products are shipped from Sorin each year, making planning and efficient execution a constant challenge.  This coupled with increased market pressure has led Sorin management to identify continuous improvement efforts as instrumental to continued business success.

 Sorin embarked on a company-wide immersion in Lean Manufacturing projects designed to eliminate non-value added activities in autumn 2009. CAMT worked closely with Sorin to identify and apply for grants to contribute to training and implementation costs, and then built a comprehensive continuous improvement plan involving all departments of the business.

In late 2009, a cross-functional team of 20 Sorin managers attended a 58-hour course on Lean Six Sigma principles offered by CAMT. Over the following year, half of the Sorin workforce participated in continuous improvement projects focused on work areas. One-week rapid improvement events, or kaizen blitzes, focused on an individual process were conducted each month over the winter and spring. Value Stream Mapping projects were conducted on the design area, mapped the material flow from the receiving dock to the manufacturing floor, and ensured an efficient value stream for the Sorin procurement group. Other workers went through Lean and & Green training, and increased workplace organization through 5S projects. 

This series of events allowed Sorin to reduce process steps and gain efficiencies resulting in concrete financial impact to the company.  Material flow throughout the organization from receiving dock to order shipping, as well as within departments, was completely overhauled.  Teams were rearranged to focus on products for one customer, increasing collaboration and problem solving. All changes within departments were operator-led, not dictated by managers or engineers, leading to an increased commitment to excellence from all employees.  With a goal of fully implementing continuous improvement within the next five years, Sorin Group USA is looking forward to a future of unparalleled cost effectiveness and total worker commitment to enterprise excellence.

“CAMT’s lean tools and systems helped us uncover problems and attack them through analyzing processes, lowering inventory and gaining employee commitment to continuous improvement.”  – Steven Emerson, Manufacturing Manager

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