A Partnership is Born
As South Carolina’s only one stop shop for molding and machining, Tool Technology has seen decades of success in plastic injection molding and also manufacturing. However, the company found that customers and prospects had a tendency to classify the business as providing either molding or machining services, but not both. Tool Technology owner Don Reid recognized this opportunity to grow his business through updated marketing messaging and communication strategies. He solicited the assistance of the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP), SC Works, and the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) in what proved to be an extremely successful partnership.

Company Background
Founded in 1993 in Inman, South Carolina, Tool Technology began by providing machining and tool and die services to the electronics, medical, and automotive industries.  Shortly after its inception, the company added injection molding and metal stamping capabilities. Upon adding custom injection molding services, Tool Technology expanded into an ISO 9001 compliant and UL approved business with over 21,000 square feet dedicated to injection molding, mold making and design, full service machining and tool & die services, reverse engineering, EDM, parts assembly, metal stamping and more. This expansion made Tool Technology the state’s only true one stop shop for custom plastic injection molding and machining services, all under one roof.

Opportunity for Growth
As Tool Technology’s capacity expanded, the company discovered the need to increase awareness of its services and brand itself more accurately. The company had the capacity for growth but needed leads and an organized system for generating, tracking, and working new leads. Reid sought a solution in SCMEP’s Growth Acceleration training program that included modules to help improve lead generation, marketing messaging including online and graphics, and an expanded online presence for Tool Technology.

A New Business Development Model
SCMEP began the Growth Acceleration training program by first conducing an on-site Marketing Messaging planning session. This session involved key employees and management and provided guidance and instruction to craft new marketing messages.  The next step involved a campaign to develop a target customer database. Tool Technology identified target industries and segments and generated an email campaign to produce leads, which resulted in a database of over 2500 verified prospects.

In addition to an email lead generation campaign, the Growth Acceleration training included an online module comprised of a new website design. Tool Technology was trained on best practices of website development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), lead generation via its website, and how to use its website as a sales tool going forward. A photo and video shoot was a part of this module as well, resulting in updated professional photography for the website and graphics pieces as well as a corporate video showcasing the company’s capabilities.  Several of Tool Technology’s customers were visited for testimonials during the video shoot, further enhancing the video’s impact with prospective customers.

As part of SCMEP’s training, Tool Technology was also coached on ongoing online lead generation techniques including blogging, social media, email campaigns, link building, pay per click advertising, and more.

The Results
As a direct result of the Growth Acceleration training program and partnerships formed during the process, Tool Technology has seen significant website traffic and leads, retained $100,000 in sales and 11 jobs, and the company expects to hire 2 new employees in the immediate future to help process the $1,000,000 in new sales forecast for 2013.  Don Reid states, “We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of the partnership with SCMEP, SC Works, and SCDEW. We have retained jobs and sales and have seen growth already. With a forecast of $1,000,000 in new sales and the need for additional employees imminent, we see this partnership as a huge success and will certainly turn to the SCMEP, SC Works, and SCDEW in the future.”

Results at a Glance

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The Problem

Most companies have been impacted in one way or another by the economic downturn. For those that survived, their organization has changed. Many organizations now operate with fewer resources, fewer inventories, and fewer employees etc. Significant amounts of tribal knowledge were lost due to workforce reductions, thus impacting process reliability.

Companies are turning toward or trying to revive continuous improvement by training and participating in lean six sigma process improvement events. Outcomes vary by organization. Some organizations experienced less than positive results, while others having positive results, lacked traction to sustain or make continuous improvement a foundational business strategy for moving an organization forward. Most employees outside the continuous improvement staff view continuous improvement as something else on their plate, rather than a way of conducting day to day business. True success requires elevating the culture to the point that all employees know and understand lean well enough to adopt it as the method to achieve management and manufacturing objectives that moves the organization to its overall strategic goals.

Embarking on a Lean Six Sigma program can be an expensive proposition and the return on investment can take time to materialize or may not materialize at all if not properly implemented.  A Lean Six Sigma implementation can return the full cost of implementation in as little as 12 months when properly implemented. Typically companies choose one of two paths for implementing Lean Six Sigma that result in negative results.

Common Paths

Two paths to no-where

Companies who rush to train as many employees as possible in as short a time as possible face a host of negative consequences such as:

• The cost of training each employee can range up to  $3,000 per week, excluding wages
• The organizations are not in a position to launch the number of necessary projects to keep all the newly trained employees active
• New trainees although motivated, struggle to translate training into in-house processes
•  New trainees fall prey to “use it or lose it” due to a lack of activity
• Training project teams and internal resources is left to the new trainees (sometimes now called project leads) who have not yet mastered the skills

Other organizations elect to train a small number of high performers to become project leads. This saves money in the short term; however the project leads usually find themselves being an autonomous group of “Just fix it” resources. Additional obstacles these organizations encounter are,

• Improvement activities are dictated by the latest crisis from the last hour, day or week….efforts lack a strategic payback for the organization
• Loss of support and the disengagement of management and front line leaders
• Workforce is divided between the well versed and the uninformed thus buy-in suffers
• Team leaders have to spend more time selling their solutions which prolongs or inhibits project completion
• Lack of buy-in requires extensive effort to sustain or lacks sustainment of completed projects
• Continued investment in continuous improvement is abandoned, organization revert back to old habits of turning buttons and hoping. “An organization can’t improve without changing, but an organization can change without improving”

Organizations that recognize the need to improve their profitability now and in the long-term, as well as their competitiveness in the marketplace will need a clear continuous improvement strategy that can grow roots quickly.

The Promise

Four Keys to Building a Lean Organization

Alignment. 

An organization must have a clear vision of the future and understand what organizational success looks like

• Organizations must be able to define their current state and the gaps that are separating them from future success, and then define a clear, concise roadmap for moving to future state
• Success is dependent on improvement initiative’s being linked and aligned to an organization’s real priorities and goals
• Projects must be prioritized based on their impact to move the needles and move the organization toward achieving its goals of a future state
• All activity must be linked, visibly
• Time, energy and resources can’t be wasted on unaligned activities, or true results will be short-lived. This is often seen in organizations that deploy Kaizen cowboys ( hot spot focused with disregard to the overall value stream), thus overall organizational goals are under achieved

Business Focus.

Business goals must drive the CI efforts; CI efforts can’t drive the business . When you place improving the overall business (value streams) as the goal, it will generate (pull) the projects and tools/knowledge needed to successfully solve problems. When CI efforts drive the business, knowledge and capability is built with the hope that demand will materialize. CI efforts can migrate solely to areas of tool knowledge (5/S and S.M.E.D. are starting points for most companies starting lean six sigma) versus organization goals… a bad strategy.

Right People, Right Knowledge

Get everyone involved and give them the right (relevant) knowledge and tools to improve their processes. It’s not enough to teach people the seven elements of waste; they must recognize it in their work place, and possess the tools to eliminate it, then have an environment that expects/rewards improvements

Most people really do want to improve their workplace, service/product and their organization’s performance. Provide individuals with applicable knowledge and tools that they can use right now not 6 months down the road.

There is a massive body of methodologies, tools, knowledge, and training that can be pushed into the organization, but the right tool/training at the right time is the key to true results and knowledge transfer. The right people with the right tools, at the right time is the most effective formula for success

Results, Results, Results

Measuring results is key to keeping the organization focused and engaged. Measuring individual CI initiatives is not enough. Measuring individual initiative’s impact on the value stream and the value stream’s performance on the organization’s goal is a must for true success.

Organizations need to see a return on the things they do, dollars, and organizational goal needles moving in a positive direction. Where there is a return, there is continued investment with more confidence, conviction and determination.

Methodology

A “Lean Transformation” methodology is a proven methodology; focused on finding waste in an organization’s entire system. It is a long term strategy with a focus on building continuous future success and competitiveness through alignment to an organization’s real priorities and goals. Typically requiring a 12 month engagement with a focus on identifying revenue and generating returns (“Return on Investment), while building the skills of internal personnel.

The starting point is a formal assessment of the organization/facility that analyzes processes, financials and interviews key personnel to determine where the biggest potential opportunities lie. Improvement opportunities and implementation cost are quantified and return on investment calculated. Typical assessment requires two days of on-site analysis.

The goal of a “Lean Transformation” is two-fold. One goal will be to attack the waste in various areas using proven lean/six sigma tools. But the other, more important goal will be to involve an organization’s personnel in the kaizen events to train them on how to recognize waste opportunities, how to define, scope, prioritize, calculate the expected outcome in dollars, and then lead successful kaizen events.

At the end of the project, success will be measured in how much of the predicted waste has been removed and the “Return on Investment” dollars saved (ROI). Along with how many staff members can lead kaizen events and how many employees truly can recognize wastes as defined by lean manufacturing principles.

Lean Transformation Methodology:

Lean Transformation is broken into three primary phases

Compass – creating direction and a foundation for success

• Define governance team (who is responsible for end results)
• Define how success will be measured (plant and floor level)
• Define “Roles and Responsibilities”

Identify resource constraints “Day in the Life Of’ analysis (what is consuming resources)

Culture – engaging all levels of the organization

• Transfer of knowledge though hands on training using live   projects
• Teaching people to see, quantify and eliminate waste
• Hands on use of Lean and Six Sigma tools
• Project justification based on impact and Cost of Poor Quality

Process – optimizing processes

• Identify opportunities
• Quantify opportunities
• Prioritize opportunities based on impact
• Identify root causes and implement solutions
• Track and sustain success

Lean Transformation is a complete methodology package with quantifiable deliverables and outcomes.

Outcomes

• Roadmap communicating the current state and roadmap/plan for reaching  future state (quantified objectives)
• Quantifying and prioritizing improvement opportunities
• Application of Lean and Six Sigma tools to improve processes and organizational performance
• Identification of Roles and Responsibilities: who, what and when expectations
• Culture- training organizational resources in the use of Lean and Six Sigma tools
• Training internal resources and developing internal competencies to move the organization forward once engagement is complete-handoff the keys
  Training of tools usage on live projects on relative processes that are applicable.

Typical training includes:

• Introduction to Lean-Learning to See
• Value Stream Mapping
• Kaizen(selection, defining, scoping, planning, execution)
• Poka-yoke (mistake proofing)
• 5/S and Visual Management Systems
• Single Minute Exchange of Die (quick change-over)
• Pull-Kanban Systems
• Standard Work for Leaders
• Kamishibai (Sustaining Audits)

Total Productive Maintenance (T.P.M)

Cost of Poor Quality

• Plant culture shift to everyday use of lean manufacturing principals
• Continuous improvement initiatives rolled out in areas indicated by waste and dollar impact to company
• Future state improvement opportunities quantified, dollarized and tracked for results
• Standardize improvement methodology across departments, work-centers, and multiple plants, allowing standardized reporting and best practices
• Complete toolbox of documents necessary to support lean six sigma methodologies
• Training materials for use in training the next generation of employees

]]> http://www.scmep.org/lean-transformation/feed/ 0 http://www.scmep.org/supply-chain-optimization/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=supply-chain-optimization http://www.scmep.org/supply-chain-optimization/#comments Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:26:12 +0000 admin http://www.scmep.org/?p=1556 Continue reading →]]> Many companies in the manufacturing sector are presented with supply chain issues every day ranging from identification of new suppliers and materials through manufacturing transportation and distribution to customers. It is not uncommon for both complex, multi-national original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and small or mid-sized manufacturers in the U.S. to be faced with challenges. From reducing risk and volatility to identifying and collaborating with suppliers through understanding the true total cost of the supply chain, the situation must be assessed and a strategic solution implemented.

Value System

Value System: An interconnected system of Supply Chains and Value Chains beginning with the determination of Customer needs and extending through all supplier and distribution channels required to provide the good or service to the Customer.

Supply Chain: All enterprises, from sourcing of all materials, through production and distribution, required to provide goods and services to the customer

Value Chain: The value-added activities and business processes within each organization in a supply chain  required to provide goods and services to the customer

Optimization

Companies should begin by understanding and defining their supply chain strategy and aligning it with their corporate strategy. Due to ever increasing volatility in the global manufacturing environment, companies can no longer rely on a strategy of lowest price, shortest lead time and acceptable quality. Today, high performing supply chains are collaborative through their multiple tiers. They quickly identify and mitigate volatility and have the capability to develop, manufacture and distribute new or improved products more rapidly than ever before.

The NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program conducted research to identify the critical needs of supply chains. Through a two-phased Voice of the Customer survey, 12 competitiveness drivers were identified. A Voice of the Customer white paper is available for additional details.

Top 12 Competitiveness Drivers

1. Identify and address choke points in a sustainable manner
2. Increase effectiveness of ERP/MRP
3. Mitigate global risk
4. Document supply chain strategy
5. Reduce/manage volatility
6. Align supply chain metrics with long-term business focus
7. Optimization of supply chain
8. Recognize emergent needs for future capabilities and technology
9. Expand supplier matching capabilities to source for emergent needs
10. Better Total Cost of Ownership decisions
11. Enhance value chain collaboration among suppliers, OEMs and customers
12. Improve OEM/Supplier product development collaboration

From this research, the MEP team uncovered recurring themes: companies are suffering from a lack of collaboration and visibility in their supply chains, especially in the tiers furthest from the customer, the true total cost of ownership is not understood and there is no synchronized plan for the entire supply chain.

These are all factors that should be addressed by leadership; agreement that change should be made within the supply chain and the ability to identify areas of improvement will be necessary as you dive deeper.

Approach

The MEP program is uniquely positioned to assist manufacturers in each of these 12 areas. Under the Supply Chain Optimization Initiative, MEP centers are able to focus on the critical areas of the supply chain at both the prime and supplier tiers. Based on a Theory of Constraints methodology, MEP centers improve supply chain performance by quantifying the needs of the supply chain and focusing on improving the points in the process which are impeding the throughout of the entire supply chain.

MEP centers throughout the U.S. have the capability to provide a customized and collaborative solution to an organization’s supply chain improvement needs in a consistent approach in every state. The centers are able to effect change at all levels of a supply chain, from the OEM/prime through all tiers and value chains. We have the ability to identify constraints in your supply chain and utilize local assistance for planning, training, and implementation. Experts in manufacturing can assist your company with:

• Change Management
• Lean Manufacturing
• Theory of Constraints
• Demand Planning
• Product Development
• Six Sigma
• Quality Management Systems
• Strategic Energy Management
• Sourcing & Logistics
• Risk Identification/Mitigation
• Total Cost of Ownership
• Collaborative Product Development

MEP Supply Chain Optimization services offers companies a unique way of quickly focusing on the critical area of the supply chain with an approach that is strategic and constraints-based. This approach focuses on the entire supply chain rather than individual suppliers and is intended to improve the speed of delivery of the supply chain, improve collaboration, reduce risk, and decrease overall total cost. Companies that excel with this optimization can expect to be better positioned to develop, source, manufacture, and distribute superior products at lower total costs; increase revenue, profit, and shareholder value faster than competitors; more effectively anticipate required future capabilities; and better qualify suppliers to meet these needs.

Getting Started

The MEP path to Supply Chain Optimization begins with the development or refinement of a Supply Chain Strategy, a guiding compass for optimization activities and provides a measure for the maturity of an organizations’ supply chain. The program will assist companies with exploration through two executive workshops, first for the prime and then the suppliers to prime, designed to systematically understand the critical areas controlling the performance of the supply chain and foster collaboration among the supply chain members.

Contact your local MEP center today to begin your supply chain optimization program, or visit www.nist.gov/mep for more information about the supply chain initiative.

Testimonials

“The two day workshop is jam packed with theory, class exercises, real life examples and interactive discussion. Our entire team was involved and challenged, and we came away with a very workable road map on how to improve our Supply Chain. Overall, the program was well worth our investment.” – John King, North American Food Equipment Director, Sealed Air Corporation

“MEP has put together an intelligent program that was well thought out and challenging for supply chain management team. They challenged our supply chain approach and current paradigm—forcing us to take a fresh look at what we do and how we do it. We are using the supply chain strategy tools that they provided as “take-aways” to change how we do things.” – Bruce Broxterman, President, Richards Industries

“MEP has based the workshop on the “Theory of Constraints” approach. Due to the fact that we have some talented LEAN guys on our team, it resulted in very in depth discussions. We now look at known topics from a different angle. The teams have already started to implement the new knowledge and ideas into our existing programs. The two day workshop has helped to recalibrate the way we think and act.” – Joerg Klisch, VP Operations, Tognum North America

“The company is now able to maintain disciplined inventory control and institute management changes quicker. We use the Theory of Constraints to control demand indicators, allowing us to optimize the utilization of assets and manage the entire system much more efficiently.” – Bart Burford, Operations Manager, Syn Strand, Inc., Voith Group

Agenda

Executive Workshop

Purpose

To investigate, in a workshop setting, the components of a Synchronized Demand Driven Value Network, the importance of good strategy and execution within your supply chain, and the tradeoffs required in making decisions about your supply/value chain.

Objectives of the Program

• Provide Executives with a mechanism to better understand the cause and effect decisions within the Supply Chain.
• Provide a method to understand the critical (key) areas controlling the performance of Supply Chain, and foster collaboration among the Supply Chain Alliance members (Tier 1, and beyond).

This series of educational workshops focus on the critical components required to create and implement supply chain plans that will deliver higher value to organizations (it is all about developing a plan of profitability/satisfaction). The first executive workshop is comprised of the following key educational items:

• Where are you in your supply chain maturity?
• Supply Chain Fundamentals
• A brief introduction to Constraint Theory
• A three round Executive education supply chain game
• Strategic Implications for your Supply Chain
• Develop a supply chain strategy or key initiatives to improve Supply Chain performance
• Identify suppliers and supply chain alliance members (for a particular product line) to attend the second executive workshop. The product/product line should be one that is causing poor performance for the firm.

The company will leave the first two day workshop with 3 to 5 Bold Steps to move the Supply Chain forward and an action plan (Game plan) for each Bold Step.

Supply Chain Executive Supplier Workshop

The second executive workshop is for the suppliers identified in the first executive workshop by the OEM executives. The goal for this supplier workshop is to improve the supply chain results and performance by developing a collaborative plan. This plan is to be synchronized with the supply chain Host/Captain’s strategic supply chain plan and must include appropriate implementation/execution action plans. This workshop identifies the weakest link in the product line supply chain.

The second executive workshop is comprised of the following key educational items:

• Where are you in your supply chain maturity?
• Supply Chain Fundamentals
• A brief introduction to Constraint Theory
• A three round Executive education supply chain game
• Explain OEM/Host supply chain strategy
• Understand their role in the overall value chain and the impact/interaction that we have on other members of the supply chain
• Develop strategies and executive tactics to address performance of suppliers.

Following the second executive workshop, the weakest suppliers and/or processes will have been identified and a plan with the prime, OEM and each supplier will be developed to improve the performance of the supplier and the supply chain.

The supply chain workshops are a part of a larger supply chain initiative developed by a consortium of Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers that fall under the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) of the Department of Commerce.  Dr. Van Gray of Baylor University and Mr. Chuck Spangler of the South Carolina MEP have been the primary developers of this portion of the workshops and have presented the workshops to both large and small companies in various industries. The workshops are a two-day event.

Click here to download agenda.

Contact Chuck Spangler at cspangler@scmep.org or call (864) 901-3858

The Need for Growth
COLUMBIA, S.C. – In today’s aluminum extrusion market, competition both domestically and abroad is more intense than ever. Manufacturers are constantly driven to lower prices and, at the same time, maintain a high standard of quality and on-time delivery.

Loxcreen MetalSource faced the same challenges and needed to take steps to acquire more business. In order to develop a plan for growth, Rick Wheeler, Vice President of Loxcreen, turned to the company’s long-time partners, SC Works and The South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP).

Loxcreen’s Columbia-based MetalSource Division boasts a storied history of supplying some of the world’s largest original equipment manufacturers, but it needed to reposition itself to remain competitive. In particular, its goal was to increase sales of its value-added services including precision routing, drilling, milling and tapping.

The Solution
The marketing process began in the fall of 2012 with strategy sessions, first with its sales force, then with the management team. SCMEP used its Innovation Engineering Jump Start tools to lead the initiative, which uncovered several competitive advantages. Loxcreen is one of the few companies in its industry that controls 100 percent of the manufacturing process. Loxcreen’s in-house tooling division has developed more than 30,000 dies for custom applications and has full in-house tool and die capabilities for fabrication. It even has its own fleet of trucks, which helps Loxcreen keep its on-time delivery promise to its customers. The net result is that Loxcreen boasts an on-time delivery rate over 95 percent, as well as some of the industry’s highest customer satisfaction scores.

After the marketing strategy sessions, the next step was to validate these differentiators with Loxcreen’s customers. SCMEP visited several of its major customers in the Southeast and filmed video testimonials. The personal interviews with customers offer a unique level of credibility and showcase just how well Loxcreen performs. For example, Georgia-based Acuity Brands, one of the world’s leading providers of LED lighting, lighting controls and related products and services, identified Loxcreen’s ability to work in its Kanban system as a major benefit.

In addition to filming customer testimonials, SCMEP’s production team captured the MetalSource Division’s manufacturing capabilities and created a promotional video that is showcased on a new website with mobile viewing capabilities. Loxcreen is sharing the video with its entire corporate sales force and customer base, with the intent of generating more add-on business.

The Results
New sales tools have also been used as part of a new business campaign to kick off the 2013 sales year. The process began by developing a list of 12,000 prospects that were then targeted with an e-mail campaign. An analysis of the e-mail outreach showed 586 recipients opened the e-mail, 92 readers visited the website, and 156 replied with feedback, questions or requests. As a result, several pricing quotes have been prepared and are expected to result in new customers.

Early in 2013, Oklahoma City-based M-D Building Products, Inc. acquired Loxcreen MetalSource, and the new company is even better positioned for growth. Wheeler states, “We anticipate the work with SCMEP will pay dividends in 2013 as we continue to pursue new opportunities and leverage our unique fabrication capabilities. We are well- positioned for a great year.”

Results at a Glance

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Upon successful completion of this course and accompanying assessment, participants will receive Certificates of Attainment for the following internationally recognized competency units: RABQSA-QM (Quality Management Systems) and  IRCA (International Register of Certified Auditors). At the conclusion of the training, you will have an understanding of the ISO 9001 standard’s requirements and intent, the knowledge to create and execute an audit plan, an understanding of lead auditor responsibilities, and many other valuable tools.

Highlights

• “Hands-on” training with over 15 class exercises
• Quality management systems as required by ISO 9001
• ISO 9001 requirements and intent
• QMS historical perspective and regulations
• QMS audit process
• Evaluating system effectiveness
• Evaluation of conformance
• Audit reporting
• Simulated audit

Outcome

• An understanding of the ISO 9001 standard’s requirements and intent
• A certificate of accomplishment (conditional on passing competency evaluation)
• An understanding of the lead auditors responsibilities
• How to create and execute an audit plan
• An understanding of questioning techniques and communications
• How to make an auditee feel at ease
• How to determine the effectiveness of a quality management system
• How to document nonconformances

Who should attend

• ISO 9001 Auditors
• ISO 9001 Implementers
• Quality Program Managers

When

• March 4-7 – Greenville
• 8am-5pm Monday & Wednesday, Thursday 8am-12 Noon
• Greenville Chamber of Commerce
• 24 Clevelend Street
• Greenville, SC  29601
• $1540 / student

Visit SCMEP’s Events page by clicking here or email tkirby@scmep.org

Today’s Business Success

Spartanburg, S.C. – while most companies have struggled to make ends meet, SC Tool has been doing just the opposite: they are growing their business. Over the last few years, SC Tool has pulled a major turn-around and has now added a new 21,000 square foot plant to its operations. Thanks to the help of SC Works and the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP), SC Tool has been able to reverse what appeared to be a frightening trend of lagging sales into a prosperous period of business growth.

The Earlier Struggles

For twenty years SC Tool has specialized in manufacturing high quality cutting tools, supplying companies in a wide range of industries by making everything from drills, end mills, and special carbide tooling, round tooling, reconditioning of broaches, and offering a wide variety of coatings for any application. For years, SC Tool relied on steady business as a result of its high quality production capabilities. As times changed and the market became more competitive, a reputation of excellence was not enough to sustain growth. In early 2010, SC Tool had experienced a downward movement in sales and was forced to lay off employees. Owner Jody McRoberts was forced to make a change. McRoberts stated, “I knew we had to do something different or we would not be around for much longer. I turned to the SCMEP and SC Works, who have helped us with business improvement programs in the past. We decided that our best opportunity was to expand into new markets and needed a system to ensure success.”

The Commitment to Grow

During the summer SCMEP began what became a two-year business growth initiative. The company decided it wanted to pursue new markets and expand the geography of its customer base nationally while at the same time continuing to improve its workforce.

The first step was to identify new customers and a communication plan. A list of target companies was assembled and a phone survey was conducted to evaluate opportunities and collect leads.

Concurrently with the calling initiative, new marketing messages were created that leveraged SC Tool’s competitive advantage – specialization of cutting tools produced at a higher level of quality and on-time delivery. The initiative focused on identifying SC Tool’s overt benefit promise, dramatic difference, and real reason to believe. New marketing materials were then produced showcasing SC Tool’s capabilities.

Next, the hot leads were called by the SC Tool sales team while direct mail and email campaigns were executed to nurture the leads. A customer relationship management software system was used to manage leads and improve the follow-up process.

Once SC Tool became confident it could turn around sales, it decided to ride the momentum and further differentiate itself from the competition by acquiring its ISO 9001 quality certification. The company underwent Lean Manufacturing and 5S training. The company proceeded through a rigorous auditing process and was awarded the esteemed credential, which it has promoted to gain even more new business.

The Payback

Because the purchase cycle is sometimes long it took some time before SC Tool began to achieve results. McRoberts stated, “We were patient and committed to the growth plan. That was the key. With the help of SCMEP, SC Works and our dedicated team we were able to reach our goals.”

* The chart below shows results since 2010.

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Aiken, SC -  Like most regional hospital emergency departments, Aiken Regional Medical Centers’ ED had a cumbersome process with many steps in its process flow to admit a patient. The process had been in place for so long that no one considered improving the flow despite the fact that the current process to admit a patient took up to 4 times longer than originally designed. Lean training was a necessity, and the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP), through their partnership with Aiken Technical College, was available to help.

Company Profile

Aiken Regional Medical Centers opened in 1917 and provides full service healthcare to Aiken, SC and the surrounding counties. The medical center employees over 900 associates and has another 230 volunteers, all serving the center’s 254-bed acute care facility. The medical center operates on a service excellence philosophy consisting of principles including treating everyone as a guest, demonstrating professionalism and excellence, and practicing teamwork.

The Problem

Aiken Regional’s Emergency Department was operating under a hectic method of obtaining physician orders to admit a patient to a floor. The process flow needed help. As originally designed and intended, it should have taken 45 minutes to receive physician orders and admit a patient to a floor. Instead, the process was taking up to 3 hours, with a mean of 92 minutes and a standard deviation of 72 minutes. There was room for improvement.

The Solution

The medical center’s ED sought the assistance of the SCMEP’s lean process improvement training. Aiken Regional created a lean team to investigate the throughput of the ED patient admission process. SCMEP trained all 17 members of the lean team in process improvement. The training consisted of lean tools including value stream mapping and Kaizen and enabled the lean team to visualize the process, identifying areas of inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and bottlenecks.

By implementing the learnings of the lean training, four system constraints were identified. An interdisciplinary team was created for each constraint and charged with a single process to work with respective staff members to implement changes. The lean team executed several changes across the identified constraints and subsequently improved the process.

The Results

Aiken Regional Medical Centers’ lean team implemented lean training in its first project, the Emergency Department’s patient admission process. Through visualizing the process, using lean process flow techniques, and identifying bottlenecks, the lean team was able to execute several key steps and significantly decrease time from the front end of the process.

The lean team created a centralized call list, improved access to the list, and had ED doctors carry radios for more efficient communication. The mean time of patient admission decreased from 96 minutes to 66 minutes after implementation of these lean processes. In addition, employee morale and enthusiasm were notably greater, resulting in 17 retained jobs and improved performance.

Michelle Mexcur, Lean Six Sigma Coordinator of Aiken Regional Medical Centers, stated, “After SCMEP provided lean process improvement training, I noticed that the lean team was thoroughly knowledgeable on a broad spectrum of what lean processes can and can’t do. Mapping out the ED patient admission process was a big eye-opener for the lean team and myself. We had no idea it was so convoluted and were pleased to be provided with training that helped solve the problem.”

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A vision for improvement

For many companies it is easy to get absorbed in the day-to-day operations of running a business, making it difficult to plan for improvements. Frequently, reacting to a problem or opportunity rather than proactive planning sets the course for business change. This approach makes it difficult for many small businesses to maintain competitiveness.

In March 2012, Patrick Oltmanns of Clickfold Plastics decided he would take proactive steps to increase his company’s performance. He sought the assistance of the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP) to perform its Competitiveness Review (CR), a holistic business assessment deliberately built to gauge the effectiveness of business systems and recommend an action plan for improvement.

Leveraging a unique business model

Clickfold Plastics fabricates plastic enclosures, housings, panels and other products for a variety of industrial and commercial applications. Its specialty process allows for custom products to be fabricated without the expense of tooling. Clickfold’s quoted size range for fabricated products is “matchbox to tabletop copier.” ClickFold Plastics operates in a 10,000-square-foot plant and began operations in 2001, launching a new brand in 2006.

The company operates in a niche market with a large customer base in the industrial controls and medical device industry. Although business has been steady, Oltmanns wanted to take a different approach to grow the company’s sales over the proceeding year. The Competitiveness Review began with two (2) business advisors visiting the plant for an entire day to collect data, interview employees and observe operations. The objective was to identify any limiting factors that could prevent growth.

The data was then examined and benchmarked against other manufacturers. The analysis focused on several key areas of the business including quality, cost/value, speed, delivery, culture, operations and leadership. The report, which was delivered in two weeks, isolated several strategic and tactical initiatives to improve performance.

The methodology allowed ClickFold to gain a comprehensive review of its business from an outside perspective.  Oltmanns states “The Competitiveness Review was very beneficial in that it was prepared by an external resource with a fresh, objective viewpoint. It offered valuable insights that we were able to use right away and make changes.”

ClickFold did just that – it took SCMEP’s recommendations and implemented them throughout 2012. It began by hiring an inside salesperson to focus on business development, complimenting its online marketing initiatives. The company has also implemented a new quality system that allows it to pinpoint any issues and immediately verify part identification. ClickFold also invested in a new IT infrastructure, streamlining its internal communication and data systems.

Impressive results

The results are evident. ClickFold Plastics is now able to reach more prospective customers and has even gained back former customers, resulting in more quotes and a deeper pipeline of projects.

ClickFold believes it will continue to grow its sales in 2013 and is now more competitive due to the SCMEP business analysis.

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A Vital Role in a Global Supply Chain

Dorchester County, SC – Established in 1987, Syn Strand, Inc. employs 60 people at its 100,000 square foot facility located in Summerville, SC.  Syn Strand specializes in the manufacturing of technical monofilament solutions for paper machine clothing and additional monofilament products, which it supplies exclusively to its parent company Voith Paper Fabric & Roll Systems. Voith uses the monofilament products for the manufacture of forming, press and dryer fabrics.

Family owned since 1867, Voith is a vertically integrated multinational company with over 42,000 employees and 280 locations worldwide. Syn Strand is the only monofilament plant within the Voith group and typically operates at almost full capacity. Syn Strand ships product to nearly a dozen locations. Today nearly one third of the world’s paper production is carried out on machines made by Voith.

Improving Profitability

Over the years, Syn Strand has maintained its commitment to continuous improvement by practicing the principals of Lean Manufacturing. In 2011, Syn Strand began to look at its business from a different perspective and challenged itself to find a way to contribute more to the profitability of the entire Voith group. Because Syn Strand operates at full capacity with two shifts, The Voith Group sometimes must purchase as much as 40% of its materials from third parties when demand is particularly high.  Thus, Syn Strand determined that, by increasing its capacity, it could help the company to realize profitability goals.

A likely solution would have been to simply expand the plant. However, Syn Strand decided to dig deeper and determine if there was a way to advance without the capital expenditure of plant expansion. To embark on this project, Syn Strand turned to its long-term source for business process improvement, the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP).

The project began with an internal audit, which identified several areas to investigate including:

• Communication systems
• Process (or touch time) data
• Demand signals
• Forecast accuracy
• Inventory levels
• Stock out rates
• Lead times for items not in stock
• Forecasting at the SKU level
• Delivery
• Cycle times

Over the course of 2012, SCMEP’s supply chain expert worked with Syn Strand to research and evaluate these areas, collect data and develop a system applying the Theory of Constraints (TOC).

Supply Chain Optimization

The next step was to implement a method to assess and identify whether unfavorable variations in net income were due to material cost, volume, or other determinates. Initially, inventory reduction and speed were the focus. However, as the project evolved, more attention was given to reducing demand variability and helping Syn Strand add more value to the Voith supply chain. To create more stability, a better communication system with sister companies was implemented. The IT department became involved in the project by developing a new model that included planning system adjustments along with consistent visibility across sister systems. The IT department worked with SCMEP’s Supply Chain expert to help implement Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) scheduling algorithms with the existing IT software. This not only helped boost performance at Syn Strand, but it greatly improved demand visibility for the entire chain. This scheduling system improved the IT software at Syn Strand and helped improve the huge investment at other plant locations using the same IT software.

Powerful Results

The outcome was a 10% reduction in total inventory within the supply chain while quality, price, delivery and responsiveness became more controllable. By creating more stability (reduced stopping and starting), Syn Strand is able to utilize existing capacity more effectively, which opened total capacity by 10%, sufficient to produce another $2 million in revenue. Not only did it help improve revenue, but it helped Syn Strand avoid spending several million dollars on new equipment.

Bart Burford, Operations Manager of Syn Strand states, “The Company is now able to maintain disciplined inventory control and institute management changes quicker. We use the theory of constraints to control demand indicators, allowing us to optimize the utilization of assets and manage the entire system much more efficiently.”

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At the conclusion of the training, you will have an understanding of the TS16949 standard’s requirements and intent, the knowledge to create and execute an audit plan, an understanding of lead auditor responsibilities, and many other valuable tools. There will be a certificate of accomplishment awarded after passing a comprehensive exam at the completion of the course.

Highlights

Highlights of the session include:

• “Hands-on” training with over 15 class exercises
• Quality management systems as required by TS16949
• TS16949 requirements and intent
• QMS historical perspective and regulations
• QMS audit process
• Evaluating system effectiveness
• Evaluation of conformance
• Audit reporting
• Simulated audit or live audit
• Review of automotive protocols: PPAP, SPC, APQP, FMEA, MSA

Outcome

Outcome

• An understanding of the TS16949 standard’s requirements and intent
• A certificate of accomplishment (conditional on passing examination)
• An understanding of the lead auditors responsibilities
• How to create and execute an audit plan
• An understanding of questioning techniques and communications
• How to make an auditee feel at ease
• How to determine the effectiveness of a quality management system
• How to document nonconformances

Who Should Attend

• TS16949 Auditors
• TS16949 Implementers
• Quality Program Managers

When

March 18–22 - Greenville

• 8am -  5pm (Friday’s session ends at 12 Noon)
• SCMEP – Greenville Office
• 25 Woods Lake Rd
• Building #7, Suite #714

Cost

Cost to attend

• $1850 / student

Visit SCMEP’s Events page by clicking here or email tkirby@scmep.org