Strasser Woodenworks is a manufacturer of wooden bathroom cabinets, vanities and accessories. In Strasser's market rapid delivery was key to being competitive. Strasser chose the Kaizen Institute USA team to help them remain competitive. The goal was to reduce inventory and improve production output while maintaining on-time delivery.

This classic lean transformation project focused on three areas:

1) converting assembly from a push to a pull;

2) pacing the work to meet customer demand, and

3) balancing the workloads on the line.

The management and workers received hands-on training, observed and mapped the processes together, and redesigned the workflows and layouts under the guidance of Kaizen. TMost of the benefits were realized within 60 days of the launch of the Lean transformation:

• Productivity was improved by 70%
• Inventory was reduced by 65%
• Total plan throughput was increased by 39%
• Lead-time was reduced by 33%
• Labor cost was reduced by 25%
• Floor space was reduced by 30%

As a second step in project, the machine shop personnel were trained for small batch production to further reduce inventory and lead-times. The team analyzed the flow of parts by machining process, and developed a factory layout minimizing handling and wasted motion. Assembly and machining areas were synchronized to minimize buffer stock. Machine set-up times and machine capacities were evaluated and a daily "cut-to-order" schedule was implemented.

Results

• Total plant throughput was increased by 33%
• Lead-time was reduced by 33%
• Inventory was reduced by 15%
• Floor space was reduced by 15%
• Labor costs were reduced by 6%

"Three weeks after completing the Lean Manufacturing program, we were able to see concrete results that definitely exceeded our expectations. The team from Kaizen enabled us to make improvements that we previously struggled with in-house. We would not have been able to handle the increased sales demands without the productivity improvements as a result of implementing the Lean Manufacturing process."

Andrew Hedreen

President

Strasser Woodenworks, Inc