WaterMark Paddlesports, Inc.
Easley, South Carolina

THE OVERVIEW
WaterMark - Boat Division is one of two divisions of WaterMark Paddlesports, Inc. of Arcata, California, the world’s leading paddlesports company. Recently purchased by Confluence Holding Corporation, WaterMark makes kayaks, canoes, and boating accessories. There are about 280 employees in the Easley, SC, facility.

THE CHALLENGE
After meeting SCMEP Manufacturing Specialist Andy Carr at a manufacturing trade show in the Upstate of South Carolina, Buddy Hendrix, manufacturing engineer with WaterMark - Boat Division, set up a time for Carr to visit his facility and develop a lean manufacturing training and implementation plan. As a result of that meeting, several projects were initiated at WaterMark: (1) Lean 101 classes performed by SCMEP Technical Specialist Melanie Sudduth, (2) Problem Solving, Value Stream Mapping, and TPM classes conducted by Professional Business Advisor Lynn Weddle and SCMEP Manufacturing Specialist Dwayne Robinson, and (3) a SMED training and implementation event led by David Woods of Premiere Source Lean Manufacturing Group (PSLMG), a much-trusted SCMEP third party resource.

THE SOLUTION
SCMEP conducted a total of six classes on the fundamentals of lean manufacturing. Although there had been a brief introduction of lean manufacturing to employees previously, SCMEP performed the first formal lean training for the group. WaterMark was able to take advantage of several small grants through the U.S. Department of Labor to conduct the training classes.

PSLMG facilitated a four-day SMED event. The first day included setup reduction training followed by videotaping two machine operators during the changeover process of a MAAC Thermo Former. The equipment is used to create the bodies of cargo carriers. During the next two days, PSLMG led a team in analyzing videos to detect waste in the changeover process. They analyzed teardown, preparation, and the loading of parts, tools, and machine programming to find areas to cut out waste. From there, the team created a list of short-term and long-term action items and on day four implemented the short-term actions. The final step was an actual re-setup of the machine to see the true reduction of waste in the changeover process.

THE IMPACT
SCMEP trained approximately 75 WaterMark employees on the fundamentals of lean manufacturing. From there, PSLMG’s team was able to reduce the changeover process on the MAAC Thermo Former by 63.8 percent. The actual setup time decreased from a little over 3 ½ hours to one hour and 17 minutes.

“SCMEP’s work was great,” said Hendrix. “Everything was on time; the team had all the necessary materials and was very flexible.”