Medical Device Company Transforms Culture & Delivers Targeted Results
Challenge
The company lacked tiered daily management systems throughout the manufacturing and back-office areas. Furthermore, there wasn’t a structured problem-solving process used consistently across the company, and floorspace in two manufacturing locations wasn’t optimized for peak performance.
Opportunity
The company turned to Lean Focus to get an outside perspective that would help them jump-start and speed up their cultural transformation.
Our Response
In addition to one-on-one coaching for the executive team that focused on effective problem solving, we facilitated more than 30 Kaizen events over two years. The Kaizens focused on real business problems, and the tools used included standard work, daily management, transactional process improvement, Lean conversion, six-sigma and visual management, leader standard work, and sales funnel management.
Results
The company had space constraints in some of its manufacturing facilities, but after some basic Kaizens, they were able to save more than 50% of its floor space. This reduction in their manufacturing footprint gave them the opportunity to integrate and consolidate acquisitions right into the facilities they already have. This led to a 34% increase in productivity, a 50% reduction of finished goods inventory, and enabled them to cut their work-in-process in half. But, as the CEO put it, “The incredible cultural transformation has been the result that we’re most proud of. It’s really been a powerful tool to get our teams more focused on our customers and measure what matters to them.”
Key Outcomes
