La-Z-Boy Midwest’s new general manager has one message he would like to bring to the public: The plant is in Neosho to stay.
In a recent interview with the Daily News, Snow assuaged fears that the plant was closing.
“There are no plans to close Neosho’s La-Z-Boy,” Snow said. “We are here for the long haul.
“Neosho is strong. Neosho is good. La-Z-Boy has made changes. We’ve moved the cutting and sewing to Mexico. I know that’s a concern to the community.”
Snow said about 85 employees worked in this department. However, these employees haven’t been laid off, he said. Although some elected to take early retirement, many others will be trained in other areas of production.
“We have a plan for every person affected,” Snow said.
“For all of those who want to stay, we will find a place for them in the rest of the facility.”
As the nation’s economy began to sour, the furniture market’s fortunes also made a downward turn. Snow said La-Z-Boy Midwest has been in a hiring freeze since late October, although that may change in the not-so-distant future, as the market is beginning to stabilize.
“As attrition takes place, we will soon begin hiring back those positions,” Snow said.
Snow said his focus for the La-Z-Boy plant was to remain a strong leader in the company.
“In today’s economy, in today’s world, you have to be a stronger leader,” he said. “The Neosho plant is one of the top plants in the La-Z-Boy division. My goal is to stay that way.”
One of the ways the plant is doing that is its conversion last year to cellular, or lean, manufacturing.
Instead of the traditional assembly line, popularized at the turn of the last century by automotive pioneer Henry Ford, cellular manufacturing uses a team-based approach. The new concept has two sides, one for the making of the chairs and the other one for the sofas. Breaking it down, that is a total of 31 teams, 19 dedicated to chairs and 12 dedicated to sofas. That is 62 teams altogether, 31 “day” teams and 31 “night” teams. There are also three training cells and six training teams.
Rather than cutting costs by moving jobs out of state or overseas, La-Z-Boy Midwest took a careful look at their operations and determined that they could find a better solution. The plant moved to lean cellular manufacturing, which means that each piece of furniture will be built by a team within a cell, instead of separately along an assembly line. This strategy cuts down on the amount of time to create a chair from two and a half days to only three hours. This will allow for increased production and ensure an even higher quality of product.
Each chair cell has three upholsters, one person who makes frames for the body, backs and seats, one person that does the stuffing of poly in the chairs and the last person is the final assembler, who puts it all together and packs it.
“We have made it through that transition very well,” Snow said of the move to go to lean manufacturing. “We have good people, we have good employees with a good work ethic. That makes a big difference over other manufacturing — good employees.”
The company has had to make other changes in the wake of the economy, including trimming the workweek from the traditional 40 hours to 34-36. The chair, upholstery and metal divisions work Monday through Thursday, while the maintenance crews work Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Snow is no stranger to furniture manufacturing or to La-Z-Boy’s Neosho operation, as he has worked for the company since 1981, starting as a drill press operator. After a year, he went to the upholstery line, then to the finish room, spraying on the finish for the company’s line of office furniture.
Six years after he first started, Snow moved into management, becoming a supervisor in the wood room and attending classes to learn how to grade and dry lumber in order to be a materials buyer. He stayed in that capacity until 1995, when he went to work for La-Z-Boy’s Siloam Springs, Ark., plant. A couple of years later, Snow came back to Neosho as the cutting and sewing manager.
Then, with the retirement of Allen Keeling, Snow became production manager of the plant and then moved again up the management chain in 2006, when he was promoted to the business account manager. When Renzo Bulgarelli, vice president, left a month ago to take a management position at a Joplin company, Snow was asked to become the general manager.
One of the things Snow said he is most proud of is the company’s community involvement, including building a walking bridge at Morse Park, providing funding for the renovation of the Lampo Building, giving to the summer ball program, the Freeman Southwest YMCA, contributions to area hospitals, and as a major donor to the Neosho Area United Community Fund.
“Our company is very strong about giving back to the community,” Snow said. “One of the challenges I intend to put out there is to become a bigger part of the community. I want to tell the community that we are a good employer.”
Safety is another big issue for Snow. Currently, the plant is nearing the 2 million hour mark without a lost time injury. This has been accomplished through daily safety meetings with management and support staff.
La-Z-Boy Midwest currently has 877 employees, with Snow expecting that number to peak at about 950. Since the plant opened in Neosho in 1969, it has built 13.3 million chairs.
