PRIDE AND QUALITY GO HAND-IN-HAND AT DAN-FOAM

On the outskirts of a small town on the Danish island of Funen, a dark sprawling structure dominates the landscape. Inside, highly complex manufacturing is performed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Dan-Foam factory is one of only three facilities worldwide that make TEMPUR® Material and supplies TEMPUR® products to over 80 countries around the world. Hundreds of people tour the facility each year to gain first-hand insight into what makes this place tick.

The two-hour tour is led by Customer Service Manager Nikki Fairfax. She’s conducted thousands

of tours in her 13 years at the TEMPUR® manufacturing headquarters and is just as passionate

about the Dan-Foam story now as ever.

It’s a passion shared by people throughout the Dan-Foam TEMPUR® Sealy organisation.

“When I take guests through the factory, they all comment on how good the vibe is.

Everyone here knows one another – and there’s a real sense of pride,” says Nikki.

With 315 employees, Dan-Foam is the largest employer in the area. “There are about 195 people

in production, and around 120 in administration. At least  half of us have been here for over 10 years, and we have quite of lot of people from the same families – siblings, husbands and wives.

It makes for a good sense of community.”

Like any strong community, communication plays an important role. “We make sure everyone

is well informed. Our open lines of communication extend from the corridors of admin to the factory floor. This helps reinforce our strong focus on quality – we call it a ‘no compromise

on quality’ pact – it’s one of our KPIs,” says Nikki.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that quality applies to everything at Dan-Foam. The Japanese practice of continuous incremental improvement, kaizen, was introduced across the factory in 2007.

Employees are trained to incorporate kaizen in their daily work to make even the smallest task more efficient – if they have an idea, they can write it on one of the many white boards placed strategically around the factory.

The family feeling is kept alive throughout the year with special family celebrations held at Easter

and Christmas, and the factory even holds its own carnival. “It’s nice to socialise together on these

occasions,” says Nikki. “You get to know each other’s children and see them grow up. During my

10 years here, I’ve seen my colleagues’ children become young adults. Now I’m seeing a whole

new generation of young ones join us.”

This strong sense of community, united by a relentless pursuit of quality, is what lies behind the

Dan-Foam pride that’s so evident to guests. Nikki sums it up: “We all share a deep sense of pride because we want to deliver the best product we can – so it has to be the best quality.”