Susquehanna Business Life

Playworld

Here are more excerpts from the Interview with Matt Miller, president of Playworld Systems.

Vital to the success of Playworld Systems is going green and becoming a lean enterprise. The company is ISO 14001 certified, which guarantees it meets the highest standards for environmental-responsible manufacturing. In 2007, 90 percent of all waste produced by the company was recycled including: 2.3 million pounds of steel, 500,000 pounds of HDPE plastic, 54,000 pounds of wood, and 79,000 pounds of paper. Playworld Systems' employees continuously recycle batteries, aluminum cans, office paper and glass and plastic bottles. Approximately 2,200 pounds of plastic bottles were recycled by employees last year. Throughout all corporate facilities, lighting systems have been updated to T-5 florescent lights, which save approximately 25,000 kilowatt hours and eliminate all hazardous mercury content.

This year, 80 to 100 percent of all packaging materials will be made from recycled materials, be recyclable and biodegradable. As a continued show of its commitment to the green initiative, Playworld has hired an independent third party to complete a green energy feasibility study which will audit the company's current practices and recommend areas for continued efficiencies and alternative energy sources."

This past summer, Playworld became the first major playground manufacturer to abandon the use of polyvinyl chloride plastic in its products. PVC, commonly knows as "vinyl" has been a significant component in playground equipment for decades. However, recent private and public studies have indicated it is environmentally unsound and a potential health risk.

"We're all becoming very sensitive to the economics of energy, the limited resources we have," said Matt. "We're in an environment where we're selling to public agencies supported by the tax dollar. Those public officials want to make sure their money is well-placed, and they're contributing to a better environment. Anything we can do to improve that—while improving our commitment to the environment—will be essential to qualifying us as a caring and competent supplier." In 2004 Playworld Systems began the journey to become a lean enterprise. As a result, the company has achieved a 45 percent reduction in inventory while reducing average customer delivery time from 40 to 15 days, and improved on-time delivery from 93 percent to 97 percent.

"The whole thing about lean manufacturing is to look at your processes and figure what adds value and what doesn't, eliminating the waste, and then teaching your employees how to constantly improve," said Matt. "Everybody knows what's happening with China. If you're just an average company that isn't looking at improving productivity, eventually you're going to have to face that competitive market. China still has its issues. They're growing so rapidly they don't have the checks and balances in place to really produce a consistently reliable, quality product."

Becoming a lean enterprise is another way to compete with cheap labor rates that sends so much manufacturing overseas. "All these fear-mongering articles are written about the labor rates of China," said Matt. "In manufacturing, because of all the automation and the technology, labor's become a small component of the overall cost. How much more competitive can they really be? If you build the system the right way, and don't have a lot of waste in that system, you can overcome the labor rate."

Playworld Systems donated playground equipment and helped construct new playgrounds in 10 devastated communities in four days.

The 10 playgrounds are: Nelson UNO Charter School (New Orleans), Second Street Elementary School (Bay St. Louis), Carolyn Park Middle School (Slidell), John Henry Beck Park (Biloxi), Pass Christian High School (Pass Christian), Owen T. Palmer Park (Gulfport), Carol Vegas Park (Bay St. Louis), Central Elementary School (Pascagoula), Miramar Park (Biloxi) and Hancock Medical Center (Bay St. Louis).

KaBOOM! and Playworld Systems have been partners since 2000. As part of the Gulf initiative, Playworld Systems donated all the playground and LifeTrail equipment for each of the 10 builds and working with The Home Depot, KaBOOM! and Hands On Network to build the structures.

"Recreation is a vital element to people of all ages, and we are dedicated to helping those affected by this disaster restore some sort of normalcy to their lives and their communities," said Matt Miller, president of Playworld Systems. "We have been down to several of the build sites and have witnessed the devastation firsthand. These communities need all the help they can get, and Playworld is proud to be part of this effort."