Manufacturing Operational Excellence
Cost, Efficiency and Continuous Improvement Programs for Operational Excellence.
Manufacturers that are focused on becoming more successful continually find ways to improve. The result is a highly effective organization that realizes improved bottom lines through cost reductions and efficiency gains. Additional benefits include greater employee retention and attraction results.
Our Services
WMEP assists Manufacturers in meeting their cost and productivity objectives through the implementation of customized transformational and project plans. These may include a variety of lean services and tools combined with organizational culture and resource development.
WMEP’s Lean Transformation process is a simple, highly effective methodology that can help your company to achieve dramatic financial results through ongoing operational improvements.
Using an advanced diagnostic tool, key operational improvement potentials are identified with corresponding financial benefits. Then your “current state” business performance is benchmarked against thousands of other companies as well as your industry peer group.
Next, the positive financial outcomes your company can realize through achieving higher performance benchmarks are provided in a written report. The EBT Specialist reviews the report with you to create a full understanding of the results.
Lean Steering Committee (LSC)
The LSC plays a crucial role in driving lean transformation within any organization
The LSC drives Lean Strategy achievement, policy deployment, resource allocation, and change management. It ensures sustainable improvements in business performance, fosters a culture of continuous improvement, and positions the company for long-term success.
Finally, key competitive priorities and action plans are generated to achieve success. A clear vision of the untapped potential in your company and a roadmap to achieve improved performance is created.
View the Lean Transformation Services Infosheet | View Case Studies
If your company struggles with high variability/scrap, recurring issues, or inefficient business processes, Lean Six Sigma could be the solution you’ve been searching for. Lean Six Sigma GreenBelt and Black Belt Certifications contain proven methods to minimize waste and reduce costs.
Provided learning materials include: a training guide textbook, lifetime access to WMEP’s online Six Sigma eLearning modules that provide a resource for tools, templates, test study materials and certification test taking.
Participants learn to identify and lead both projects and other team members to increase their contributions and value to the organization. Graduates of WMEP mentored Six Sigma Green Belt training programs have seen an average reduction of approximately $50,000 in their company’s cost of manufacturing.
Benefits
- Typically results in an immediate and high ROI
- Uses a unique blended learning model featuring one-on-one mentoring from Master Black Belts to optimize participant success
- Increases an employee’s value to the organization
Office functions, order entry, quoting, scheduling, design and engineering, purchasing and accounting — this all can take up 70% to 95% of the total time it takes to manufacture a product. In today’s marketplace. Lean Office will make you as efficient and responsive in your office as you are on your factory floor. Cut lead times, increase customer responsiveness, improve on-time delivery, and get more done!
Training leaders and employees in the principles and practical tools of Lean Manufacturing through WMEP’s Onsite Workshop can be an essential first step. Combining training on Lean topics and the practical “factory” simulation experience, attendees will learn about the basics of Lean Manufacturing and will explore the eight wastes of manufacturing.
The training session presents a strategy used to improve a manufacturer by increasing the efficiency of the entire organization. It is a complete look at the interdependence of the systems, processes, and efficiencies of your organization. Up to 20 company employees can attend. Attendees will experience and understand the basics of Lean Manufacturing through conceptual training and hands-on simulation. Participants will walk away understanding the eight wastes of manufacturing, and in a train-and-do-manner, learn how to apply the principles of lean to eliminate those wastes.
This Workshop is available in two formats:
- The Principles of Lean Manufacturing Workshop described above
- The Principles of Lean Manufacturing Overview, which provides an overview of Lean Concepts in a shorter session
Lean concepts included in the training are:
- Standardized Work
- Workplace Organization
- Visual Controls
- Set-up Reduction
- Batch size Reduction
- Point-of-Use Storage
- Quality at the Source
- Workforce Practices
- Pull Scheduling Systems
The WMEP 5S System is a series of activities (Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain) designed to improve workplace organization and standardization. A successful 5S program can result in improved productivity, safety and employee satisfaction.
The improvement payback of 5S
Through 5S we’ve seen companies:
- Increase on-time shipping to 99%
- Reduce overtime by 45%
- Reduce inventory turns by 67%
- Reduce inventory by 25%
Cell Flow Manufacturing can help make your company more competitive by cutting out costly transport and delay, shortening the production lead time, saving factory space that can be used for other value-adding purposes, and promoting continuous improvement by forcing the company to address problems that block just-in-time (JIT) production.
Benefits
- Increase productivity
- Reduce investment in work-in-process (WIP) inventory
- Reduce quality defects and their recurrence
- Cut production lead times dramatically
- Involve employees in a continuous improvement process
- Increase employee morale, attendance, and retention
Manufacturers continually feel the pressure of increased raw materials cost, foreign competition, and customer demands for lower prices. Some have managed to reduce cost, improve throughput, and increase profitability by leveraging continuous improvement throughout all areas of their business.
Leverage the expertise of WMEP to develop powerful, targeted strategies that get results.
Benefits
Through QRM and HVLV we’ve seen companies:
- Reduce lead times by 50%
- Reduce setup times by 75%
- Increase WIP Inventory turns by 50%
- Increase capacity by 20%
With each new addition or new piece of machinery or equipment, your production facility probably has become increasingly less efficient. Using the value stream approach and a team of people from your facility, our plant layout specialists will help you improve production flow and optimize performance.
Do you struggle with high variability/scrap, recurring issues, or inefficient business processes? Problem solving for continuous improvement may be your solution.
We will help you define the problem, identify and use an appropriate problem solving tool, and mentor you in the use of the tool as you solve the problem.
Benefits
- Solutions to the immediate problem.
- Hands-on learning increases retention of new skills.
- Increased capabilities to solve future problems.
One of the critical building blocks of the Lean process, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), is an easy-to-implement system that allows you to increase your equipment’s capacity, reduce maintenance costs, eliminate overtime shifts, and increase productivity and profits — all while preventing unexpected and potentially catastrophic machine breakdowns.
Typical Benefits
- Overall Equipment Effectiveness (capacity): 25-65% improvement
- Quality defect: 25-50% improvement
- Maintenance Expenditure: 10-50% improvement
- Percent planned vs. unplanned maintenance: 10-60% increase in planned maintenance
Quick Changeover, also referred to as SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies), is a lean manufacturing technique designed to improve your efficiency in your manufacturing procedures.
Your organization will learn quick changeover/setup reduction methodologies and practice the set-up reduction principles in a selected project within the plant operations.
Typical Benefits
- Reduced lead times and improved responsiveness to customers
- Flexibility to respond to changes in demand
- Improved product quality from quicker information feedback
- Improved visual control and plant communication
- Reduction of indirect costs for material movement, counting, and transaction processing
- The supporting project typically results in the reduction of set up times of 50% or more.
WMEP’s consultants will join you to facilitate, lead and implement needed improvement activities whether in the front office or on the shop floor. We can discuss and assess your needs, create a realistic project plan, and drive the implementation of that plan meeting the identified goals.
WMEP’s Value Chain Programs optimize an OEM’s supply chain to reduce lead times, improve quality, and improve the end-customer experience. Learn more about our supply chain and Sales-Inventory-Operations-Planning (SIOP) services!
Value Stream Mapping allows you to take a high-level view of your process or value stream to diagnose problems and implement changes. It is the best way to identify the right areas for improvement so you can get lean and maximize your productivity.
Work Instructions will help your company proactively advance your training methods by having a documented standard to train to, which will reduce training time, improve quality and reduce waste due to variation. Employees will feel more engaged and have a better understanding of what is expected of them.
Ask us about video work instructions!
Typical Benefits
- Increase process predictability and measurement of results
- Proactively address the looming retirement bubble
- Reduce errors so management has more time for strategic objectives
- Lessen the impact of loss of employees
- Improve employee retention
Get to know Mark Hatzenbeller
Director of Business Development
Mark has 40 years of experience leading efforts to develop integrated solutions that solve key manufacturer challenges.
Get to know Elizabeth Aldana
Service Line Leader – Operational Excellence
“My passion is around helping others, as such my career has been based around leading and developing teams that implement business improvements.”