Digital Designs in Oklahoma City produces hi-fidelity audio products for high-end sound systems. Their products are used in competitions around the world. Since their establishment in 1986, their designers have developed and manufactured speakers and audio systems for customers around the world.
During the fact finding meeting it was determined they had several problems:
Transition of leadership
Long lead time causing
Crowded working conditions
Sales were increasing faster than production
No finished product for immediate shipping
No established Vision, Mission, and Values
It was determined that they should develop their Vision, Mission and Values. The next step in the cultural change was training every employee in the Lean concepts followed by a small group being trained in value stream mapping, and then project implementation. All training was conducted in Nov & Dec. ’06 and implementation started in late Dec.
The following improvements had been put in place by mid-April:
Increase in production from 125 speakers/week to 225-250 speakers/week (80%-100% increase)
Reduced batch size from 24 to 6 (75% reduction, shortened lead time and increased on time shipments)
Reduced coil production space by 30%
17% increase in number of employees with a plan to increase by 55%
Reduced hard parts production area by 50%
Implemented color-coded tool carts for each production line
Relocated one magnetizer to reduce product travel
General cleaning and painting of everything
Started selling scrap metal and allocating money for employee picnics
Were looking to relocate into a larger building 15-20,000 sq ft and now looking at buildings in the range of 10,000 sq ft (much smaller investment)
Turned assembly line 90 degrees to improve product flow
Moved packing/shipping area to improve flow
Removed cement block (junk) room to better utilize space
Implemented Point Of Use Storage of raw material in all production areas
Implemented a Kanban system in assembly line raw materials, packaging/shipping, coil production, hard parts production, production scheduling
Finished good supermarkets with visual controls so sales can determine if product is ready to ship
Established holding areas for each overseas customer and large domestic customers
Purchased new inventory software. This will give real time data on finished goods, raw material scheduled for production, raw material unallocated, and a control for reorder.
ROI was determined to be two months
Established staging area for UPS pickup and separate area for delivery
Currently studying individual steps in speaker production to determine most effective/efficient in order to standardize the process
"Instructed in a way that was easy to completely understand." - Chrysti Smith
Thermal Engineering International
“This was very eye opening for me to relate to what some of my customers may be going through in their plants as well as our plant from front to back. It set me to thinking what could I do to make GBP more value added to my customers both outside and inside the plant. You made this class very enjoyable and helped me understand more about our manufacturing! Very wonderful class.” - Diana Warden,
Green Bay Packaging
"Jack has opened up my mind and rewired me to think how and what can I do to improve my processes. I would love to do the class over. I think the only way for a company to stay open now days is to be put through this class." - Ronnie Porter, Green Bay Packaging
"These are exactly the issues I have been feeling in our organization, and now I have labels to help explain it. I am asking for standardization of processes, but get push back because they don’t like change. The pull system is exactly what I have been looking for – becoming proactive rather than reactive." - Susan Gorton, OG&E
“Helped me look at people and issues through different eyes. Jack was knowledgeable. I will use these ideas.” - Nellie Miller,
Grady Memorial Hospital
“I feel the buy-in of the group is very strong. I liked all of the notes we took and kept visible all week. I have a clear vision of what was accomplished, how we got here and where we need to go. This has been the most positive/fun event we have had so far, so it is hard to be critical. Look forward to working with you in the future.” - Dave Smith, Jr., Vice President,
Midwest Trophy Mfg.
