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Challenge:
A manufacturer of military, computer housings/boxes was experiencing poor delivery performance, ballooning costs, and scheduling issues. Their eighteen month contracts had fixed delivery requirements that they were not able to consistently fulfill and the increased volume was more conducive to the stage tooling process.
Harvey Vogel Manufacturing Co. Solution:
A meeting with management determined that self-imposed practices were to blame for scheduling and delivery issues. An internal policy of building in lots of 100 was eliminated in favor of point-of-use inventory control that quickly allowed the manufacturer to build to rate. Subassembly work orders and complex MRP (Material Requirements Planning) production schedules were replaced with kanban signals. Also, with a complete design review, we engineered and manufactured, low cost stage tooling.
Sequential inspection techniques were introduced and immediately improved overall quality by catching defects earlier in the manufacturing cycle. Additional error and mistake proofing steps were also added, resulting in a dramatic reduction of rework required.
Impact/Results:
* Overall price was reduced by 30%
* Overall productivity increased by more than 30%
* Lead times were cut by 50%
* On-time delivery goals were met and remain at 98% or greater
* Shop floor space was reduced by a third
* Revenue doubled
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