Assembly Planbook - March 2009 - (Page 41) The Lean Pick for 5S Workstations Keeping production in the United States allows Truth Hardware to be more responsive to customer needs. they were “sticky.” They tended to factor into the price of other products, if we weren’t careful. Despite these issues, we still have certain die casting operations done in Asia, simply because our overseas partner offers a process that is not currently available at our Owatonna plant. “If we ship something as a Truth product, we make absolutely sure [it meets our quality and engineering standards],” says Korbel. Going Lean Since our customers were performing the same cost-benefit analysis of offshore manufacturing, we realized opportunity was knocking. Our challenge was to find ways to be more responsive to our customers’ needs and still compete against offshore pricing. For help, we turned to David M. Rucker, president of Rucker & Associates (Raleigh, NC), a consulting firm specializing in lean manufacturing and Six Sigma improvement methods. “Lean manufacturing originated with the Toyota Production System in Japan, and is characterized by focusing every resource on creating product value—and nothing else,” says Rucker. “Lean means that as you eliminate waste of any kind, the quality of your product immediately improves, while your production time line and costs are minimized.” We implemented Rucker’s recommendations aggressively. As a result, productivity steadily increased across most of our production lines. Our lead times are shorter, and we can fill orders more quickly. As we improved our ability to manufacture our products, we freed up capacity to service more customers, better. Lean helped us eliminate waste and focus our capacity completely on making good product. Our new pull-based scheduling system has allowed us to increase the number of shelf stock items we offer, even as we reduced our overall inventory. But, that’s only part of the equation in reclaiming business lost to Asian suppliers. Top Service Without Exception In the past, foreign threats to domestic production were often trumped by American innovation. That’s no less true today. “Our competition, domestic or foreign, simply does not have the level of engineering and technical support talent that we have,” says Tim Pelton, vice president of operations. “[Offshore companies] don’t have the ability to modify a new product, or change a design to meet special needs, or come up with a way to accommodate a custom request. And that’s where we—and a lot of American suppliers— really shine.” Another aspect of manufacturing— service—is just as important to remaining competitive in the global marketplace. Sure, an offshore manufacturer can supply what you need for a lot less than you’re paying now. However, you Essential items Sorted & Set in Standardized locations Durable structure - clean sightlines & mobility for 5S Shine “Configure your own” modular units to Sustain efficiencies Engineered for ergonomic pick Increase pick rates by 30% Increase space utilization by 50% Request FREE 5S Poster Visit www.unex.com/flowcell5s.html to receive the 5S poster. 800-695-SPAN (7726) www.assemblymag.com March 2009 / ASSE M B LY 41 http://www.unex.com/flowcell5s.html http://www.unex.com/flowcell5s.html http://www.unex.com http://www.assemblymag.com
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