Type of Business: Tier one automotive supplier (extruded rubber parts)
Revenue: $250 million
The Challenge: An extrusion manufacturing plant had been unprofitable since the facility opened two years earlier and was facing closure
The Goal: Determine whether or not sufficient process improvements could be made to save the plant from closure
The Process:
- Identified and prioritized problem areas
- Interviewed plant management, key line supervisors, continuous improvement experts
- Observed and talked to line operators
- Reviewed financial records and operations report
- Identified and prioritized a number of process improvement opportunities
- Evaluation and recommendations
- Focused on three key areas
- Scrap
- Changeover times
- Inventory
- Identified process improvement projects in these three key areas
- Analyzed the time and effort to implement changes against the expected financial benefits
- Selected projects that had the most potential to save costs and improve the bottom line
- Evaluated continuous improvement projects already underway. Stopped some of these and started others
- Focused on three key areas
- Implemented key scrap reduction and changeover time reduction projects
- Implemented inventory replenishment pull systems to reduce finished goods, WIP and raw materials
Results:
- Three million dollars annualized reduction in cost of goods sold
- 67%reduction in inventory
Duration: Achieved results in two months
Consultant's Role: Provide leadership and direction to internal process improvement experts
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