Soft Play Offers Manufacturing Excellence

Soft Play’s approach to quality and safety begins long before the manufacturing process starts. Being focused solely on contained play allows Soft Play to get it right from a quality and safety perspective.

"Safety is job one at Soft Play," says Product Manager Jim Swintek. "In order to deliver a good, safe product, you must understand how all the standards apply – from ADA to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Great designs are shelved if safety is compromised."

Soft Play is proud to say that is complies with all requirements of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

Additionally, the company has looked for ways to improve product durability, introducing molded decking and TuffNet.

Soft Play quality products are American-made in its Monett, MO manufacturing facility. The plant has achieved certification in ISO 9001 for products, 14001 for environmental management, and OHSAS 18001 for the health and safety of employees.

"Achieving these certifications requires rigorous adherence to procedures ensuring that every component, system and process is manufactured or operated correctly and consistently," says Doug Nibert, Quality Manager for Play Power Manufacturing. "We have performance objectives related to policies, procedures and work instructions. Everything is electronic, so all employees can access the same information they need online almost anywhere in the plant."

Nibert says some of those quality controls and steps include:

• Employee training focuses on quality manufacturing, so that every employee understands how the quality of products relates to his or her job specifically.
• For each play system order, manufacturing creates a "play system blueprint" that defines the products to be manufactured each day in order to get the order out on a timely basis. Employees are required to follow that blueprint to the letter.
• As many of our playgrounds are "made-to-order," foremen perform a contract review on each order to ensure that the order will be filled as expected by the customer.
• Product parts are inspected twice - once prior to leaving its origination and once prior to shipment.
• Play system blueprints are updated daily to ensure the most updated engineering specifications are employed for each component.
• Detailed records of all inspections are maintained as proof of quality procedures.
• Employees are encouraged to request corrective action in the event that they identify items that do not conform to current specifications.
• Several work teams follow the Japanese practice of "kaizen," or continuous improvement, meeting once a month to consider many small improvements or cost saving opportunities. On average, over 20 suggestions for improvement are made at these meetings.
• Every measuring device in the plant, from yardsticks to highly sensitive scales, is calibrated against a standard and either fixed or replaced if they do not conform exactly.

"Quality control has many benefits," says Nibert. "It ensures that customers get exactly what they ordered, it saves time and money by doing it right the first time, and it gives our employees a sense of pride in producing absolutely top-quality work. Finally, it ensures that all the thought Soft Play has put into safety is expressed in the final product."