Arte Groep makes room for improvement – inside and outside the company

Arte Groep manufactures top-quality kitchen countertops. But also sinks, table tops, counters, and facade cladding: Arte Groep produces all granite, composite, ceramic, and Dekton tops entirely to specification. From Helmond, 70 employees work every day on custom projects.

Erik Misset is the first improvement coach to focus on improving in the company. Outside their own company, Arte is fully committed to a special project in India.

Erik, how did you become an improvement coach at Arte?

“Five years ago, I started working at Arte as head of the business office. It was a broad job where you dealt with various departments. They needed someone for continuous quality improvement. Some attempts to improve were made, but they fizzled out due to daily issues. I had experience with improvement in previous positions with LEAN and Kaizen. One year ago, I was asked to become an improvement coach. A great role where I could have a lasting impact on the process.

As an improvement coach, you want people to really start thinking about the process and their own work methods. 

How did you start?

“Attention is an essential part of improving. You must be present on the work floor, talking about the process. You want people to really start thinking about the process and their work methods instead of mindlessly pushing buttons. Why are things the way they are now? Let the people do the talking. Coming up with improvements from behind a desk will never work.

At first, some colleagues would think: “Who are you to tell me how to do my job?” But now there’s trust that together, in small steps, we can keep growing smarter and smarter.”

What does the manufacturing process look like?

“We only do custom projects, but we have a set process. We draw a set-up. We purchase the material, check for cracks and flaws, and nest the order in the material, which means we look at how the blades fit into the sheets. Then the sheet is cut out with a saw or water jet, depending on the material. This is followed by gluing (for thickening), polishing, faceting edges, and making cutouts with CNC machines. After a final inspection, we deliver the products."

Improving doesn’t have to be complicated at all. You need to make room for it.

Where are your improvement opportunities?

“We look at different angles. We want to reorganize the work floor. We also want to realize less manual work, for example, by using other milling methods. And deal with recurring issues. For instance, we had recurring problems with open glue seams. So we put an improvement team on that. Now, we glue at a different angle, and the problem is gone.

You realize that improving doesn’t have to be complicated at all. You need to make room for it. Keep paying attention to it and realize you can develop a blind spot if you’ve been working a certain way for years."

Cierpa Kaizen motivates. Now, when people contribute something during a meeting, they know that something will actually be done with it.

How does Cierpa Kaizen help you in your improvement process?

“Nothing gets lost anymore. During our meetings, we use Post-It notes on the whiteboards, which we then relay to the teams as actions. This way, no idea is left behind. And all improvement teams are set-up in the same fashion, which gives structure and confidence.

It motivates people when they know that their input during meetings will be acted upon."

With the A.R.T.E. project, not only do we try to improve ourselves, we also want to bring improvement to other people.

What do you consider your biggest improvement successes?

“Securing ideas and applying structure in our improvement method are very important steps. This allowed us to make significant savings in a short time.

But we don’t improve inside the company alone. A substantial improvement is in India, where we buy part of our materials. Unfortunately, India has a lot of child labor. With the Arte Right To Education (A.R.T.E.) project, we collaborate with some companies and the local Indian government to try and give children a better life. We try to get children to school, give them lessons, and food. Our approach is well received there; the Indian government has even asked us to expand the project. It’s a wonderful project that we’re very proud of."

Do you care about the A.R.T.E. project too?

Then help Arte Right To Education in working towards a better future. You can donate privately or with your company by visiting this website.