Increasing Efficiency, Decreasing Lead Time With Lean Manufacturing
Since its inception over 50 years ago, Danville Metal Stamping Co., Inc. (DMS), has grown from a three-person metal shop to a company that supplies metal components for some of the biggest names in the aerospace and gas turbine industries. Its customers today include Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Honeywell, and Rolls-Royce. But the company's rapid growth has required major changes in the way it does business, including the introduction of a lean manufacturing initiative at its plants in Danville, Ill.
"To us, lean manufacturing was not something that was simply desirable- it was a necessary step in maintaining our position in a highly competitive industry," said Tony Nogoda, who as Continuous Improvement Manager has been responsible for continuing the transition to lean manufacturing at DMS.
"As demand for our products has increased, our customers have demanded shorter lead times and additional price concessions. We knew we couldn't continue to meet these requirements without proactive steps to make our company more competitive and efficient, which meant exploiting every opportunity to reduce waste in the production process."
Formulating a Lean Manufacturing Strategy DMS management compiled a lengthy document out-lining the company's lean manufacturing objectives, which included specific goals for reducing scrap, rework, overproduction, inventory, and work in progress. Among the goals was increasing throughput to improve inventory turns by 4% per year. The management team also looked to other companies that had adopted lean manufacturing techniques for best practices that could be adopted at DMS.
Learn how Danville Metals adjusted their business processes to run lead.