WOW Logistics® recently hired Shawn Klinge as Vice President of Operations, Process Excellence.
Prior to WOW Logistics, Klinge was with Olympus Surgical Technologies Americas as the Executive Director of Process Excellence. He was responsible for managing, implementing, and evolving a lean system for the company as well as standardizing processes and production systems.
As Vice President of Operations, Process Excellence, Klinge is responsible for leading continuous improvement strategies, effective process reengineering, and process excellence to accelerate execution and create scale wins. He will also coach project disciplines and improvement methodologies across 13 operations.
“I’m excited to help stabilize and sustain the processes and systems WOW has in place today,” said Klinge. “Optimizing these processes will allow the company to become even more effective and help us strengthen customer relationships to support company growth.”
To start, Klinge will focus on establishing visual management and process standardization across the organization to build the foundation for the company’s continuous improvement framework.
“First I need to understand where we are today, why we do what we do, and any gaps within the system,” said Klinge. “This will allow us to prioritize improvement opportunities and put together a plan of attack that paves the path to success.”
Long-term, Klinge will perform value stream mapping and kaizen events at various facilities to improve processes and train employees on lean thinking.
“Laying out each process and shifting our thinking allows for better decision making in the future via clear communication and effective collaboration,” said Klinge. “We’ll also have the opportunity to utilize untapped knowledge at each facility to further streamline operations.”
“Shawn’s vast experience in lean and six sigma implementations will be a huge asset to the WOW team,” said Bob Balgemann, President. “Using lean management framework to drive our continuous improvement methodology will not only improve efficiency but will increase quality of work with fewer resources and less waste.”
