Rock Hill Manufacturers Cooperate and Share Facility Practices
COLUMBIA, SC - October 14, 2004 - Nine Rock Hill area manufacturers have joined together to form the Rock Hill Regional Lean Alliance, with a stated purpose of sharing best Lean Manufacturing practices in order to continuously improve processes and production. The consortium began planning in May, and held its first event this month at Wikoff Color Corporation in Fort Mill.
Founding member companies are: Champion Laboratories, Hartmann-Conco, Springs Industries, PPG-Chester, Wikoff Color Corporation, Terex Light Construction, Tyco Electronics, CL&D Graphics, Hella Lighting, and Samuel Strapping. The Alliance holds monthly "events" about Lean Manufacturing best practices, with members typically observing Lean techniques in a plant setting or attending a Lean workshop.
The Alliance is sponsored by the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership and coordinated by JCK Associates in Greenville. It is structured similarly to the successful Upstate Lean Alliance formed in the Greenville area three years ago.
"The Alliance is patterned after the Upstate Lean Alliance and fills a need for Rock Hill plants to learn from each other," says Chris Klasing of JCK Associates. "Lean Manufacturing helps facilities become more responsive to their customers and more competitive by advancing in their individual Lean journeys."
"Champion Labs views the Rock Hill Regional Lean Alliance as an opportunity to share our Lean experiences with other manufacturers and take advantage of best practices across the manufacturing sector in the Rock Hill/York area. Implementation of Lean Manufacturing principles is key to the survival of domestic manufacturing. SCMEP has been a strong supporter of Champion Lab's Lean journey, and we are pleased to participate in the development of the Lean infrastructure in our area," says Warren Morrow, plant manager at Champion Laboratories.
Membership is open to area companies who have begun a journey in Lean Manufacturing implementation and who are not direct competitors with existing members. Obtain information from Chris Klasing of JCK Associates at (864) 213-4202 or JCKAssoc@bellsouth.net.
About Upstate Lean Alliance
The Upstate Lean Alliance is a membership-based group of 32 manufacturing companies primarily located in the Upstate of South Carolina. The Alliance pools its resources and opens its plants to each other so that member companies can see how different plants implement and use Lean tools, such as kaizen events, 5S, problem identification and response, work leveling, standardized work, and value stream mapping.
About SCMEP
The South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP), headquartered in Columbia, SC, is a not-for-profit organization that helps manufacturers throughout the state solve business and supply chain process problems. Supported by the state legislature and an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST), SCMEP offers business and technology assessments, engineering expertise and lean manufacturing solutions to South Carolina manufacturers in search of a single solution for supply chain synchronization and internal optimization processes. SCMEP provides this business and technology support to manufacturers through onsite consultations, partnerships with state technical colleges, research universities, and the S.C. Department of Commerce to provide educational programs, online assessment, an e-services portal, and other business tools. Using SCMEP's services enables manufacturers to see business benefits at a faster rate and enhances economic development in South Carolina.
In 2003, SCMEP reported an increase in sales by its customers, with manufacturers reporting $188.4 million in sales attributable to SCMEP's assistance. The reported sales impact is almost a $53 million increase in cumulative sales for SCMEP's customers compared to the previous year's figure. To learn more about SCMEP, call 803.252.6976 or visit the web site at http://www.scmep.org.
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