Technical Solutions Group, Inc.
Ladson, South Carolina

THE OVERVIEW
Force Protection, Inc. manufactures the world's most advanced ballistic and mine protected vehicles through its wholly owned subsidiary, Technical Solutions Group, Inc. (TSG). Force Protection specialty vehicles use state-of-the-art technology to protect against land mines, hostile fire, Improvised Explosive Devices, and airbursts. Its customers are the U.S. military, military contractors, and humanitarian de-mining groups. TSG has 145 employees and has been in business for seven years.

Force Protection was founded in 1996 and was originally located in the Charleston Naval Yard. In November 2003, it moved its headquarters to a 260-acre campus on Highway 78 in Ladson, just 10 miles west of the Charleston Air Base, occupying the first 87,000 sq. ft. of space in a plant that previously produced General Electric turbine engines.

Force Protection's rapidly expanding workforce draws on the wealth of technology, heavy manufacturing, and specialty vehicle assembly expertise in a defense-oriented, highly patriotic population in and around the Charleston, SC, area.

THE CHALLENGE
When Force Protection CEO and TSG General Manager Mike Watts first met SCMEP Manufacturing Specialist Pete DuBrule, they collaborated to help TSG in its quest to obtain ISO 9000 certification. After becoming certified, Watts needed a methodology to "spruce up" the new facility to showcase its manufacturing capabilities to a potential customerÑthe defense department of a foreign country who would visit the plant in the very near future.

THE SOLUTION
To get the plant in order quickly, DuBrule led the TSG team through a Lean 5S blitz in which employees cleaned up the facility, removed unnecessary materials, set up in a more efficient fashion, and categorized supplies.

In another initiative, SCMEP and its consulting team completed all design drawings for the Buffalo vehicle. "This was a very important project necessary before we could put the vehicle into production," said Watts. "So far, we have sold 13 of these vehicles and have orders from the U.S. military for 34 more to be delivered before the
end of the year. This activity then led to orders for 16 Cougar vehicles." Dwayne Robinson, also with SCMEP, analyzed the vehicle design, creating staffing and plant layout plans from his findings.

In an ongoing initiative, DuBrule brought in Larry Smith of Innovative Technologies for Business to set up a DBA system to handle shipping/receiving, inventory control, and production management. Training of new employees is ongoing.

THE IMPACT
The Lean 5S blitz went smoothly and took only four days to complete. The process usually takes six months. As a result of SCMEPÕs work with new design drawings, TSG has secured orders from the U.S. military totaling about $29 million.