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Introducing Continuous Improvement To A Traditional Manufacturer...

CLIENT: An established plastics manufacturer.

PROBLEM:

The client needed to find a way to evaluate projects prior to launching them so as to assess their viability, and wanted to measure projects to evaluate their success, including tracking savings.

OPPORTUNITY:

The client saw an opportunity to reduce production costs by getting a better handle on their practicality before rolling out a product, believing the business would become more competitive being able to offer customers lower prices on its entire product line.

DELIVERABLES:

There were three primary deliverables:
•Train more than 80% of all plant and office employees to identify opportunities, set goals and manage each project step.
•Establish procedures for project approvals, tracking and measuring.
•Create projects and run through the process.

OUTCOME:

After just one year, more than 100 projects were started and completed under the process with after-tax profits matching the amount saved by them. At the same time, 17 operational areas saw process improvements and reductions in production time.

More importantly, the process became integrated in the client’s business strategy – one it’s still following five years later – enabling the company to continue to find new ways to improve its business. The company began to “Design For Manufacturability” (DFMA) and to meet market requirements when developing new products, resulting in on-going cost savings to the company and lower prices for customers.