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Success
Stories: World-Class
Operations
Lower
lead Times = Lower Costs and Higher
Profits
 The
Situation
Granite Bay
was called in to solve the problem of long lead
times and a huge work backload at a low volume,
high-variety manufacturer of home furnishings. Lead
times were running at 14 weeks and expanding.
Work-in-process inventory was 12 percent of sales
and was creating problems with both cash flow and
shop floor organization. With raw materials being
shipped from overseas, lead times were measured in
weeks, with materials shipped in large quantities
to reduce transportation costs.
The factory
flow was that of a labor-intensive job shop,
where each order was custom-made. There were few
performance measures in place, with no data on
first-pass quality, equipment reliability or
on-time shipments. And the things that were
measured weren’t shared with the shop
floor.
The
Solution
Because of the
labor-intensiveness of the work, it was
essential to engage employees in the process of
improving the operation. We quickly realized that
the list of improvements required to bring this
factory to world-class standards would be enormous.
We had to articulate a compelling vision and a
common-sense strategy that would yield the
improvements needed while bringing employees on
board as eager participants.
The focal
point became Lead Time Reduction. It was the
single objective that tied all of the other
performance goals together, and it was something
every employee could personally relate to. Overall
manufacturing lead time could be broken down into
its components by area along the process route.
Each team could analyze its own lead time component
and identify innovative ways to squeeze time out of
the process while making their jobs easier, safer
and more enjoyable.
The
Results
Many smaller
initiatives stemmed from this lead time reduction
effort, including built-in quality, 5S, pull
manufacturing and team problem-solving. Within 6
months, manufacturing lead times were reduced by
55% (73% within a year). First-pass quality defects
were reduced by 72%. And employees developed a
greater sense of ownership and had more confidence
in their ability to drive future performance
improvements.
More
Successes
We'd
like to add your plant to our Success
Stories!
If
you need faster improvement, more engagement and a
plant-wide focus on business objectives, we'd love
to hear from you!
Contact
us
or submit a brief questionnaire
describing your challenges and we'll be happy to
discuss your situation and suggest some solutions,
free of charge.
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