legos

Throwback Thursday: The New York Times, Legos, and a New Perspective

Posted by Sur-Seal Team on with 0 Comment

In 2009, Sur-Seal embarked on a transformation of our manufacturing facility. But the key to planning the reorganization was unexpected… Legos.

Sur-Seal’s endeavor was profiled in the New York Times. In the article “Don’t Just Talk About Change. Show It,” Mick Wilz, described how Legos became an unusual yet effective engagement tool.

“Rather than simply tell our employees about the plan, I decided to show them. I brought in my children’s Lego blocks and figures and arranged them into a model of our current factory floor….. As employees stood in front of the layout, they’d make suggestions, and because the staff actually saw the proposed changes, we felt that they bought into the plan more readily. They ended up helping with the redesign.”

-Mick Wilz

The Lego model later traveled to the AME Annual Conference where it was displayed as part of our 2012 AME Manufacturing Excellence Award. The Lego Model is still used at Sur-Seal continuously evolves and can be seen our tours of our facility.