When Couches Fly

The company sets the basic outlines of a focus factory, then the employees work with staff engineers to decide what goes where. Once the line is up and running, they're expected to continuously improve the operation. Stanley, who supervises the original focus factory in Elliston, gives a different team member a legal pad each week. The assignment: "Tell me five things we're doing right and five things we're doing wrong."

Giving feedback is a new experience for frontline workers at Rowe. "[The managers] make you feel you're important to this company," says Rhonda Melton, a lead sewer and dispatcher. "They want your opinions."

Early on, though, Boggins and his engineering staff faced resistance. Some workers were scared to try something new. Longtime employees in particular were skeptical, having seen previous attempts at change flop. And, of course, there were those who worried that becoming lean was a prelude to layoffs. Birnbach vowed that wasn't the case. True, the idea was to use fewer employees on the line, he said, but no one would be laid off. The staff would be trimmed over time through attrition.

Besides making a 10-day couch, Elliston's first focus factory produces 5% more furniture, 100 or more pieces a day, with 10% fewer workers. Because work gets inspected and repaired immediately, the error rate is 0.1%, compared with 3% plantwide. Quality is up in general, too: Because workers who sew arm pieces can now see firsthand how the upholsterers attach them to frames, for example, they recognized the need for a precise half-inch seam to make a snug fit.

Despite the increased productivity, the atmosphere in the focus factories is considerably less stressful. Absenteeism is nearly half what it is elsewhere in the plant. Employees feel a greater sense of job satisfaction. And there are other incentives. Each morning, the line is assigned a set number of pieces for that day. If it finishes the order early, everyone goes home early, but they still get paid for a full day. Eventually, each focus factory will operate like its own business; if it gets the job done with 50 employees instead of 56, some of the savings will get passed on to the team members.

Rowe expects to offer 10-day delivery to all of its retailers next year. For now, as it converts one line at a time, it's testing out the program with a few customers, about 10% of total output.

Occasionally, as he describes how far Rowe has come, Birnbach's eyes well up. He blushes. He can't help it. He has known some of his employees for 25 years, since he started at Rowe the summers during college. "This is emotional for me," he says. "We have employees who have been here 20 and 30 years who are adapting to the changes. We have an obligation to them. I tell them we're not walking away from you or anybody else. Here's what we need to survive."

Fast Take: Sofa, So Good

Here's how Rowe Furniture is transforming itself into a lean, mean sofa-making machine.

• Flexibility The new production lines aren't carbon copies. Working with engineers, employees configure each line according to the type of furniture made and their specific needs.
• Transparency The lines are located in the main plant, not hidden away. Everything from absenteeism to output gets posted.
• Versatility Employees learn the jobs closest to them so they can pitch in when the work flow is out of balance.
• Unity Employees sign an agreement when they join a new line. It underscores the shift to team goals, and says they're committed to helping colleagues and treating them with respect.

Chuck Salter is a Fast Company senior writer based in Chicago.