Phone: (203) 979-8867
Email: Jim Locker

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Creating Sustainable Performance Improvement

Case 4: Efficiency Expansion

"Whether you think you can or think you can't - you're right." ~ Henry Ford


Situation When production was constrained, two businesses believed that adding “bricks and mortar” was necessary to satisfy demand. Working with both management teams, consultant conducted a detailed factory-floor assessment that uncovered hidden “capacity”.
Background
Business 1 profile

- Semi-custom product
- $500–$1000 unit price range
- Run volume: 500–1000 units (per project)

Business 2 profile

- Major piece of capital equipment
- Priced up to $100,000 per unit
- Annual volume: 100’s of units

Analysis & Action:

Our Process
- Reviewed: material flow, key equipment, floor layout, factory standards and storage techniques
- Shortened assembly line 25% by grouping production steps
- Established visual standards for tracking production
- Staged work for visual job tracking and timed each step of the production process
- Expanded review to material planning, sequence of fabrication, and assembly line layout
- Streamlined production to an 8-hour “moving” line assembly process
Result - Nearly doubled facility output over five years
- Reduced year-over-year labor cost by 50%
- Lowered labor costs by almost 40% without the need for expensive capital investment
- Applied lessons learned to other product families