Success with NWMOC Fishing Contest

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Master Metals Makes Wise Investment
Master Metals owner Dick Bott had invested in new equipment, but his labor hours were increasing. He knew he needed to control the hours and get a return on his investment. Dick met with NWMOC project managers to identify the services that would improve his company. “It’s the best investment we’ve ever made. There’s no return [on investment] better.” Dick Bott, VP/Owner, Master Metals Inc.
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Johnson Electric Coil Transforms Business
NWMOC Project Manager Jim Van Grinsven worked with Johnson Electric Coil employees to help them become more “lean” in their manufacturing processes as well as their paperwork systems and flow. Several 5S events were also conducted, and the ensuing projects are ongoing. In addition to a cleaner, more spacious, and more organized plant, President Bill Bockes said they have happier employees and happier customers.
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Stanley Case Works
This small manufacturer in Stanley, Wisconsin, was seeking to increase sales, improve lead-time to their customers, reduce manufacturing throughput time, increase employee involvement, increase marketing efforts, and update manufacturing methods to support production.
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Black River Industries
The Production Manager of Black River Industries subcontracting subassembly work realized that they were spending too much time quality checking their clients’ work. They were also challenged by timely product deliveries.
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Cardinal Glass Sees Lean Rewards Clearly
Barb Goodlet was new to Cardinal Glass in 2002 and new to the manufacturing industry. When she received a Lean Certification Program brochure in the mail from the NWMOC in 2004, it piqued her interest. She had heard about “Lean” and its benefits, so, with the support from General Manager Mike Wothe, she attended NWMOC’s Lean Certification Program. For her final Lean project, Barb chose the Stock Lamination Lines at the Amery facility, which was experiencing a heavy growth curve at the time. (Made-to-Stock accounts for 60-65% of their monthly output.) Barb soon realized that they did not have enough data gathered on their processes.
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Tropical Gardens
Tropical Gardens is a company with a long and successful history. But like all companies today, they are experiencing tremendous pressures to maintain margins and keep their business strong.
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XeteX, Inc.
XeteX experienced dramatic growth over the past few years. Higher volumes and more complex products stressed their production scheduling system, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage the supply and delivery of consumables and purchased components while meeting delivery dates. Rapid expansion of their assembly areas also created inefficient processes.
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MarquipWardUnited
Previous lean initiatives at the MarquipWardUnited facility in Phillips focused more on manufacturing “numbers” and less on the people whose lives were affected. In 2005, they realized their need to embark on a more grass roots, organization-wide lean journey that would involve their IT department, Accounting, and all other non-manufacturing areas. They wanted to break down existing silos and create cross-functional Lean leaders. Their belief that Lean was much more than a business initiative, combined with their passion for their people, prompted them to integrate their Guiding Principles of Leadership with lean initiatives to create what they fondly refer to as the “Heart & Soul of Lean.”
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J&D Tube Benders Bent on Lean Success
President Tom Felch attended ISO training offered by the NWMOC, and J&D Tube Benders became ISO 9001 certified in the year 2000. When Tom wanted to improve their efficiencies, make better use of his employees and workspaces, and raise profits without adding headcount; he contacted the NWMOC, and their lean journey began. Tom addressed his employees with the truth, saying “I don’t know all the details of this lean journey, but we’re going to learn together.”
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AMRON
Amron has both a skilled workforce and a sophisticated system to ensure high product quality. They wanted to introduce a vision that would create a physical work environment that all associates would be proud of. They asked NWMOC for assistance.
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WITC Streamlines Admission Process
Former WITC President Chuck Levine heard an NWMOC presentation on Value Stream Mapping and thought it might be helpful for their Student Services area. Craig Fowler, WITC campus administrator, thought the timing was right because they were currently in transition with the Dean of Students, so he volunteered the Rice Lake campus. All 40 Student Services employees attended the overview class and decided to focus on their Admission procedures because a potential student’s first contact with WITC occurs during the admission process.
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Mastercraft Cleans House and Goes Lean
Over the years, Mastercraft Industries collected a lot of clutter on the manufacturing floor in their 60-year-old factory. The realization soon occurred that Mastercraft needed to incorporate Lean principles with their processes and “clean house.” Mastercraft had worked with NWMOC Project Managers a few years ago on some flow projects, so they returned for help with 5S projects and additional Lean initiatives.
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Barko Hydraulics, LLC
Barko Hydraulics, LLC designs and manufactures a complete line of log-loading and harvesting equipment used mainly in the forest products and refuge business. Having experienced a significant decline in profits and sales, Barko management realized they needed help.
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Decorator Industries
Dan Hannula, General Manager of Decorator Industries in Abbotsford, wanted to increase production, eliminate waste, become more efficient, and prepare his company for growth. He began working with the NWMOC when he wanted to increase production. An introduction to Lean Principles and Buzz Electronics helped secure the “buy-in” of employees on the floor and set the stage for progress. They soon outgrew their old facility and made plans to move to a larger new one. With a desire to “do it right,” Dan called NWMOC to enlist their help once again.
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Genesis Equipment Pleased with Lean Results
Genesis Equipment in Superior, Wisconsin, employs 100 people in the design and manufacture of attachments for the demolition, scrap processing and reconstruction industries. They work closely with customers to design and tailor-make attachment products that maximize productivity and performance. Customer service is a high priority, but the company was struggling with throughput. Unacceptable lead times meant they could not give their customers a firm delivery date.
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Dental Crafters Gets Jump Start with Lean Initiatives
It was the Spring of 2008, and Dental Crafters’ business was booming. The only problem was that some manufacturing issues and bottlenecks were preventing them from completing orders on time. It wasn’t unusual for them to have 470 cases on the floor at once.
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FM Enterprises Embraces Growth and Change
FM started small and has grown into a solid, trusted supplier to companies throughout the United States. FM designed and fabricated the New York Mets Citi-Field Stadium glass walls and the front of the new Discovery World in Milwaukee, WI. They knew they needed to change their manufacturing process to meet their increased volume requirements and to become even more responsive to their customers.
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Handishop Industries Keeps Tools Handy
In addition to recycling cardboard boxes, the disabled clients at Handishop Industries bag parts for numerous manufacturers and they are paid according to their piecework. Following the Lean with Legos workshops, the staff began designating “homes” for their tools, parts, and equipment. After several 5S events, they regained considerable production floor space while increasing production.
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Durex Products, Inc.
In the late 90s, the former company president had attempted lean initiatives without success. Several Durex employees attended an NWMOC Lean 101 seminar at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire, and their lean journey truly began. “The project managers from NWMOC were great; they would keep asking questions until we realized what we should be looking for. It’s a transformation.” - Todd Route, Plant Manager, Durex Products, Inc. of Luck, WI
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Chippewa River Industries
Chippewa River Industries’ (CRI) production involves working with a variety of products, subcontract packaging, and assembly vendor for nation-wide companies. With that comes an array of packaging and assembly requirements. As production revenues increased over 300% in four years, CRI acknowledged that, to continue a manageable growth rate with staying competitive, maintaining labor, set-up, and operations costs, it was vital that they become more organized and efficient. Before moving to a new facility that doubled production space, they wanted to ensure that they were utilizing the space and staff resources to the best of their capability and abilities.
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Columbia Forest Products
This plant in Mellen, Wisconsin, has operated on its current site for over 100 years, the last several years as part of Columbia Forest Products. The plant employs 250 full-time employees in the production of decorative hardwood veneer for hardwood plywood that is used to manufacture wall paneling, cabinets, and furniture.
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Action Floor Systems Begins Lean Journey
After experiencing a slight turndown in their business, Action Floor Systems wanted to remain competitive and become more efficient while reducing costs. They were working on a 1- to 5-year strategic plan when they “changed their mindset” from lean manufacturing to becoming a “lean enterprise.” Three employees were chosen to attend the NWMOC’s Lean Certification Program, where they embraced “lean thinking” and acquired a determination to “get out of our rut.” They learned to break down processes and look for ways to eliminate waste, beginning with their subfloor production process.
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Andersen Corporation and UW-Stout Students
Andersen Corporation had worked with the University of Wisconsin-Stout before, so when Lean Specialist Jon McNamara joined Andersen in July 2009, he wanted to tap UW-Stout’s resources for assistance again. The company needed to reduce the footprint of its fixed windows (200 Series) to create more space for the new line of custom-color, custom-size architectural windows (A-Series). NWMOC Project Manager Ted Theyerl and UW-Stout Associate Professor Jim Keyes put Jon in touch with 12 UW-Stout students, who conducted six Kaizen events for Andersen Corporation in Menomonie.
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Genesis Attachments Wins Awards
In 2004, Genesis contacted the NWMOC for assistance in beginning their Lean journey. They wanted to reduce lead time, focus on supplier development, and implement Lean strategies throughout the entire company. Project Managers from the NWMOC provided Lean 101, Value Stream Mapping, 5S (Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain), and Cellular Flow. The results were so successful, that Genesis reached 98% Lean implementation in 2008. It was only natural for Genesis to contact the NWMOC again for assistance with their continuing Lean journey. They were tracking Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost while documenting daily issues and analyzing data to prioritize their biggest challenges.
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Federal Foam Technologies
Federal Foam Technologies’ (FFT) major customers strongly encouraged its suppliers to adopt Lean Manufacturing principles. The customer wanted quality parts delivered on time and in the batch size it needed that day. Because this order size could vary from day to day, its production system had to become more flexible and responsive to significant variations in batch size.
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Schofield Enterprises Transforms Their Business
Schofield Enterprises was facing increasing customer pressure to reduce lead times and costs. Their manufacturing strategies that were successful in the past could not deliver what was needed in today’s rapidly changing, competitive world. They also needed to reduce the lead time of quotes.
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Frontier Builders
Dan had recently acquired the business from his father and wanted to develop his own vision for the company that was right for him. There is always a need to improve in every business, so Dan also wanted to look at his overall operations and determine where continuous improvement could be applied.
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Ashland Industries
Ashland Industries was sold to four new owners about 10 years ago. Since then, the company has grown to ten times its former size. Carol Lindsey, Engineering Manager and one of the new owners, had a background in lean manufacturing, which she brought with her to the company. When she heard about the NWMOC’s Lean Certification Program, she enrolled in the course as a refresher and to “lend some credibility to all my talk about lean.” Carol and another owner also attended NWMOC’s Lean Accounting class, and they used NWMOC’s services to assist with their strategic planning process.
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