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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 15, 2011 |
For more information please contact: Jack Healy Tel: 508-831-7020 |
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Lean Training Helps Machine Shop Expand Despite Sluggish Economy WORCESTER, MA – By 2007, Phillips Precision, Inc., had reached the point that often confronts successful family-owned businesses. The machine shop, started by owners Steve and Cathy Phillips a decade earlier in a 1200 square foot garage bay, had outgrown its facility. Developing a reputation for quality work, the company attracted new clients and expanded to more than 10 employees; but space constraints began to limit not only further expansion but the efficiency of the operations. Following a recommendation from Innercity Entrepreneurs, Phillips Precision contacted the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP) to implement a Lean training program. The Lean training coincided with the company’s move to a new location in Boylston and was designed to include a plant layout for the new facility. Co-owner Cathy Phillips hailed the benefits of the Lean initiative and credits it with such significant improvements that today the company has incorporated its Lean transformation experience into the firm’s marketing efforts. “We showcase our Lean production processes as part of our marketing strategy,” Phillips stated. “In an uncertain economy our clients are looking at their supply chains very carefully. Lean helps us demonstrate our commitment to quality processes and technical advances. Even in a down year, we’ve succeeded in attracting 18 new clients; and our commitment to Lean has helped us close those deals.” The precision manufacturer’s project with MassMEP began with assistance obtaining funds to help underwrite the cost of the Lean training initiative. MassMEP project manager James Gusha worked with Phillips on a successful grant application that provided training money to the firm. “I used to write grants,” said Phillips. “It’s a horribly time consuming process, and I just couldn’t give that amount of time with the business. Jim was a great help to us getting the Workforce Training Fund application together.” With grant funding in hand, MassMEP guided the company in establishing business performance metrics so that management obtained the process information needed for sound decision-making. Members of the MassMEP project team conducted Lean training and worked with Phillips Precision employees on a plant layout for the new facility, beginning with 5s Kaizen activities at the old shop to help them purge unnecessary equipment before the move. “The employees enjoyed using the spaghetti diagram to see how much wasted travel and movement we experienced,” said Phillips. “Through the plant layout exercises they were able to plan the placement of departments and machines where they made the most sense and optimized flow. Machinery that was used by more than one department was centrally located. Recalling the constraints of the old location they planned for things like having a saw and overhead hoist installed inside the area where metal is delivered, so it can be cut to size before being moved into the shop.” The bottom line results achieved by the project, which included a second kaizen, were impressive. As a result of the work, Phillips reduced assembly time by 20 percent and achieved a 30 percent reduction in time needed for quoting and inventory management. The Lean project helped the company realize $12,000 in cost savings, resulted in increased investments of $105,900 and spurred growth, necessitating the addition of an employee. Embracing the lessons of Lean, Steve Phillips invented and patented a new clamp to save time and eliminate waste during machining, changeovers and inspection. The clamps, which were designed to address a specific process flow problem in his shop, have evolved into a subsidiary business. The clamps now are sold through a master distributor and led the company owners to found a second firm, The Pitbull Clamp Company, Inc., which has diversified their revenue stream. “The last two years have been very tough for everyone in our industry. Many machine shops closed. But this economic downturn clearly had a benefit for us, since it allowed us to undertake the Lean training in partnership with Mass MEP. The project proved to be very helpful and has enabled our company to move forward. In fact, Lean training came at just the right time for us,” Phillips concluded. |
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