Banking on Lean
Investing in Your People

Implementing Lean into a traditional North American manufacturing company is not what it initially appears. Although concepts such as 5S, Kaizen, and Value Stream Mapping are all valuable and understandable tools, the true underlying long-term change to an organization’s culture is driven by leaders who are disciplined.

McCoy Corporation discovered that after some initial success with Lean, there was a significant missing link that prevented the company from entrenching Lean principles in the culture.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, McCoy Corporation chose to learn, and continues to learn, from the proven best practices of successful companies such as Toyota and General Electric. In both of these organizations, human resources play a vital role in assisting the leadership to take a rigorous approach to recruiting, employee development, and a consistent review process.

McCoy Corporation is a diverse manufacturing and service company primarily providing products related to the energy sector as well as to logging, construction, and mining. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, the company also has operations located in Penticton and Prince George, British Columbia, as well as in Red Deer and Grande Prairie, Alberta. Employing over 800 individuals, the company supplies manufactured products for markets in Western Canada, the United States, and internationally, including the Middle East, Asia, Europe, South America, Mexico, China, and India.

Jim Rakievich, President & CEO

Jim Rakievich has held several senior management positions with McCoy since 1996, including Service Manager, Vice President of Service Operations, and Chief Operating Officer. He has been President and Chief Executive Officer since 2002.

Prior to joining McCoy, Jim spent nine years as the Western Regional Service Manager for a large Canadian transportation company.. His first profession was as a Heavy Duty Mechanic and he completed his Journeyman status through the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). Jim has also completed an Executive Management Program at the JL Kellogg Business School at Northwestern University in Chicago IL.