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
"This is the most fantastic piece of work I have ever seen Jack... I can`t thank you enough. I will put it to good use, you can count on that.
I can clearly see why every company should have you do this for them. Makes you think
how many companies are drifting along and are surprised when the end up nowhere." - Bob Oros, CEO, More Gross Profit
"Instructed in a way that was easy to completely understand." - Chrysti Smith
Thermal Engineering International
"Opened my eyes to a lot of areas of humanity. Looking at others in mental ways, this has even helped with discussions at home. My mental awareness is higher. Great class." - David Howard,
Aearo Technologies
“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
"I see you as being the glue that holds the beginning stages of improvement at Badgett Corp together. After you teach us the tools we need, we will have to be the glue. Good Job !"
- Wes Winstone, Lean Coordinator, Badgett Corp.
“Your help today will be the difference that will allow us to succeed.” - Brent Gibson, Owner,
Desired Designs
