While touring the manufacturing facility for Gleason Cutting Tools operations in Loves Park, IL, attendees will have the opportunity to:
- Witness the process from raw material, turning/milling, heat treatment, grinding, inspection, coating, and distribution/shipping.
- Hear how the company has used lean practices to better maintain product flow to help satisfy our customer demand.
- Learn how the company has grown its Suggestion Scheme since its launch in 1994 and incorporated into the culture of continuous improvement.
- See how Gleason has introduced 6S processes (including safety) within the manufacturing areas and sustain progress using audits.
- Hear about the way it uses empowered teams through kaizen events to drive improvements, solve problems and reduce waste.
Gleason Cutting Tools Corporation is part of a larger organization, The Gleason Corporation, which has manufacturing facilities all over the globe for cutting, grinding and metrology machines, as well as cutting tools and work-holding. The plant in Loves Park specializes in the design and manufacture of cutting tools used for various applications. Applications include small cylindrical gears for car and truck transmissions, quiet high-precision bevel gear-sets for automotive axles, large cylindrical gears for today’s biggest wind-power turbines and high-quality bevel gears that keep aircraft in flight. The company has grown to a 250,000 square foot facility employing 320 employees. Gleason can trace its history back over 150 years when it was founded in 1865 by William Gleason. www.gleason.com
