Christmas is a time for giving. Some of us forget through all of our holiday joys, that some people are not as fortunate as we might be.

A few weeks ago, we were contacted by Fresh Start to do a Gift Tree for local children in need. If you are not familiar with Fresh Start, it is a local nonprofit who assists the survivors of domestic violence and their children to work towards a productive, non violent, and self sufficient life. We immediately agreed to help Fresh Start!

The employees here at Miles Printing have helped 16 children in need this holiday season. We decorated our tree in the front lobby with the names of the children and the gifts they were asking for. It was such an easy thing to do, and now these children will have a present to open on Christmas morning!

Happy Holidays!

Here at Miles Printing we are “5S”-ing! We are in the middle of a front office remodel which means staff members will move to a temporary office space while their new offices are being spruced up! We could think of no better time to implement the 5S Methodologies.

A 5S program is usually part of, and the key component of establishing a Visual Workplace and are both a part of Kaizen — a system of continual improvement — which is a component of lean manufacturing. The 5S program focuses on having visual order, organization, cleanliness and standardization. The results you can expect from a Five S program are: improved profitability, efficiency, service and safety.

Here are the steps in the 5S process:

•  Sort – the first step in making things cleaned up and organized
•  Set In Order – organize, identify and arrange everything in a work area
•  Shine – regular cleaning and maintenance
•  Standardize – make it easy to maintain – simplify and standardize
•  Sustain -maintaining what has been accomplished

We are currently on the first 2 steps of the process, but hope to soon implement the final 3 steps!

What systems does your employer have in place to make sure things stay neat, clean, and efficient?