John Falkenbury

John Falkenbury works in the Houston, TX office and recently accepted the role of production manager for the Houston panel shop. John faced a daunting challenge with bookings increasing year over year going into May and then hitting him with a very large customer job that significantly increased the year-to-date growth rate.

When faced with the enormous project, John pulled his team together to reconfigure the flow through the shop to work on 6 panels at once instead of one at a time. The reconfiguration was necessary for the team to build 80 panels and ship within 12 weeks. He also brokered a deal with a local distributor to stock critical components at no cost and no commitment; truly an exceptional arrangement for Valin. All of this was essential to lowering manufacturing time and the cost of each panel.

There are a hundred little details that happen every day to make sure that panels ship on time and under budget. It begins by coming in at 5:00 am to confirm the team knows exactly what needs to be accomplished, spending the day on a virtual meeting with the UL team to pass the panel through safety testing, then running to the local distributor on a break to pick up a critical component.

Throughout, John remains the steady pulse of the Houston panel shop. He implemented new quality control processes, oversaw the construction of a photo booth for proper marketing of Valin panels, rallied the panel shop team, hired a new planner and 6 panel shop assemblers. He has been in the office every day throughout the COVID-19 crisis, leading the charge in maintaining a safe, responsible, and respectful atmosphere.

John navigates the swirl of chaos with ease and grace. His team responds to his calm demeanor, working harder and smarter as a result of his tutelage. John’s Gemba Kaizen initiatives are making more efficient workflows because of the continuous improvement in designs to enhance processes and reduce waste. His team constructed a workbench for AccuTrace board testing that has lowered cost and lead time. After reviewing Valin’s standard panel offering, the team worked with material controls to adjust the level of in-house consumables to optimize resources, making more efficient use of inventory while at the same time reducing the lead time to the customer.

John’s commitment to getting the right product at the right price to the customer, while simultaneously optimizing company resources, and maintaining Valin’s bottom line is at the heart of the Valin employee ownership.