Case Studies

www.hybridconsulting.ca

Case 1: Situation

The company was a small manufacture in Saskatoon, SK, Canada.

They had two assembly lines with different skill sets.

They were previously involved in Lean programs and Lean groups.

Case 1: Situation

Many products were being shipped late.

They were fully booked and too busy to implement a disruptive solution.

Profits were down and could not invest in new equipment or extra staff.

Case 1: Solution

Reduced work in process (WIP) to half previous level.

Created a system to maintain lower WIP level.

Focused on flow (getting products finished) rather than keeping everyone busy (but not productive).

Case 1: Solution

Created a visual system for the shop floor to direct staff to the highest priority work.

Build daily performance measurements into the system so that disruptions to flow are identified and solved quickly.

Case 1: Results

Profitability improved substantially

Increased throughput of the entire operation by 33%.

On time deliveries rose to 100%

Case 1: Results

ROI: 1,000% per year (5 week payback)

Gave the president extra time to pursue other business ventures.

Good buy-in from staff: Shop staff, scheduler, technical staff, owner.

Case 1: Results

Time from implementing improvements to results: 4 weeks.

No additional staff, no new equipment, minimal disruption to the business owner.

Chronic staffing problem that had plagued them for years was solved.

Case 2: Situation

The company was a small processor.

Dual process line with many products.

Sales were growing but profits remained flat. Operating expenses were growing at the same rate as sales.

Case 2: Situation

Productivity improvements had been tried but were short lived.

Their process area had been recently expanded by 33% but production still struggled to keep up.

They had recently purchased extra processing equipment but work in process was still high.

Case 2: Solution

Analyzed the process flow and identified the constraint.

Measured baseline performance and posted for staff to see.

Determined best method to improve capacity of the constraint and implemented.

Case 2: Solution

Met with staff to obtain buy in and tap their resourcefulness for improvement ideas.

Created SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for the constraint.

Used change management techniques to improve implementation.

Case 2: Results

Increased production rate of the constraint by 50% virtually overnight.

Staff were providing good quality, low cost ideas for further improving the process.

Focusing on the constraint allowed management to focus on the issue that could best improve profitability and put other annoying but non-critical issues aside.

Case 2: Results

Throughput decreased slightly as staff were trained in the new techniques.

As of Sept/10 project is still in progress so full impact yet to be determined.

Case 3: Situation

Manufacture of an industrial bio-product made from a local crop in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Start-up mode and were renting their production facility while building their production plant.

Case 3: Situation

They had been renting the facility for a couple of years several times per year.

Production levels had leveled off.

Plenty of brain power: Team with senior scientists, engineer and experienced plant manager..

Case 3: Solution

Identified the system constraint.

Team developed methods to increase the capacity of the constraint.

Implemented solutions developed by the team.

Case 3: Results

Increased production rate of the whole plant 100%.

Implementation time was two rental cycles or about 1 month.

No extra staff costs, no equipment costs other than a plastic holding tank for the product.

Case 3: Results

Primary improvement: Scheduling of the process was changed so that the constraint was always running rather than running idle.

ROI was in the 1,000% range (5 weeks).

Conclusion:

Hybrid Consulting specializes in helping job shops and small manufactures.

Contact Hybrid to increase capacity, consistently deliver shorter lead times, reduce chaos and improve profits.

Dennis Trumpy, P.Eng.Office: 306-933-9969 Cell: 306-280-9969

dtrumpy@hybridconsulting.ca www.hybridconsulting.ca

www.hybridconsulting.ca

Helping Manufactures

Succeed