Lean and Mean: A Competitive Advantage

Bizmanualz Solutions

Our recent articles have focused on innovation and change. To compete in today’s fast-moving world, both innovation and change are integral ingredients for process improvement and success. This month, we will talk about companies that have readily welcomed change and embarked on the process improvement journey. We will begin with Precoat Metals, which recently recognized an opportunity for improvement.

Precoat Metals is a leading provider of metal coating services, and much of their production process is geared around painting large coils of raw steel or aluminum. The pre-painted coils will later be stamped or cut into pieces and assembled into products by their customers.

Precoat Metals has always been focused on serving customer needs, but the demands of a rapidly changing market place were starting to put a strain on their manufacturing capabilities.

The problem was that, even though Precoat had a continuously running production line capable of changing coating types and colors on the fly, they were not able to conduct change-overs as fast as they wanted. The market place was demanding smaller orders, less inventory, and a broader variety of colors and coating types, which meant more frequent change-overs.

Tackling the Problem Head-On

Change-over speed was not an issue when customers wanted fewer color and metal choices, but the demand for smaller quantities of a wide product assortment was jeopardizing their ability to maintain their continuous line rate.

Chris Anderson (center) of Bizmanualz works with the Precoat Metals production staff

“When they learned the methods we used to analyze and improve their processes, they really took the ball and ran with it.�?

Precoat could have avoided the change-over issue by queuing production orders until there could be longer runs of the same color, but that would have meant a longer turn-around time for orders. Avoiding the issue did not match their business philosophy of serving the customer. They turned to Bizmanualz for help.

Bizmanualz consultants began with an analysis of the current process. Data was collected on all the steps, equipment, and ancillary issues required for change-overs. The entire process was mapped and analyzed in order to find areas for improvement.

Waste and unnecessary actions were identified and eliminated, some steps were combined, and a control panel was moved. Then training and documentation ensured consistency among different operators. Average change-over times decreased from about 13 minutes to about 5 minutes.

Lean Thinking Can Improve Your Business

“We changed more than just a process step in their production line,�? said Chris Anderson, managing director of Bizmanualz and leader of the consultation task. “When they learned the methods we used to analyze and improve their processes, they really took the ball and ran with it. They are using this approach to improve how they do things all over their facility.�?

A philosophy of improving processes and lean thinking is not just about the factory floor, it can improve operations throughout your business. Sales and Marketing, Human Resources, Quality Assurance, Customer Service, Accounting, and Finance operations can all become more effective and consistent using a lean, continually improving process approach. Plus, processes from different business segments can be aligned to create a more efficient business operation.

Why wait until market conditions force to you address waste? Taking control of your business processes means releasing existing but unutilized capacity, which then leads to increased profitability, motivated employees, and improved customer satisfaction. Innovation in products is very important, but innovation in your processes can help make you a strong competitor in the long run.

To learn more about using process improvement programs for your organization, attend the next Implementing Lean Thinking or How to Align a System of People and Processes for Results class. If you are eager to learn more about creating more order out of the chaos you are feeling at work, then the How to Create Well-Defined Processes class is right for you.

ISO 9000 Quality Auditor classes are forming now for Internal Auditor or Lead Auditor. Call for information on having your own private in-house classes today.

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