Labor Issues Addressed
Major improvements within 8 months.
Case Studies
Business Issue
One of the leading providers of fireplace hearths and wood stoves in America and Canada was experiencing significant issues with labor efficiencies, cycle time, inventory, and customer deliveries to promise.
Approach Used
A Flow consultant with deep expertise as a lean operating executive was retained as the senior interim operating executive. He performed a rapid assessment to determine the key causes for the issues most affecting customers and profitability. He worked with his peers and the CEO to develop a strategic plan to implement a Sales and Operations Planning process, and moved offshore production back to the U.S. to fill internal capacity.
In addition, Flow led exhaustive time studies of each product line and implemented one-piece flow in every assembly line. Flow then introduced Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to the shop floor and worked with the shop to monitor and respond to issues based on the KPIs.
Results
Major improvements within 8 months:
Lost-time accidents and OSHA “recordables” reduced by 90 percent.
Raw material inventory reduction was reduced by 40 percent.
Plant-wide labor efficiency increase from 55 percent to 90 percent.
EBITDA year over year performance increased by 209 percent.
On-time delivery improved from less than 30 percent to more than 85 percent.