Paper Manufacturer
SITUATION
International specialty papers manufacturer asked Highland to help it become one of the most efficient producers of its kind in North America while maintaining its industry position.
DRIVER GOAL
- Reduce customer service lead times by 50%.
- Reduce order-to-delivery costs by 3 cents per pound.
- Reduce inventory by $10 million.
RESULT
- Reduced customer service lead time by more than 55%.
- Reduced order-to-delivery costs by more than 3 cents per pound.
- Reduced inventory by $12 million.
Case Study
Implement Lean to Reduce Costs & Improve Competitive Position
Issue
An international specialty papers manufacturer asked The Highland Group to help it become one of the most efficient producers of its kind in North America while maintaining its industry position.
Highland Approach
The Highland Group worked with leadership to define high-level Driver Goals then analyzed both the office and manufacturing operations of the business to determine improvement opportunities and create an actionable plan to address targeted concerns and achieve stated objectives.
Actions Taken
- Optimized back-office efficiency and effectiveness by implementing Lean Office techniques to shorten process times, reduce lost time and eliminate obsolete and redundant reports.
- Optimized production efficiency by implementing Lean Manufacturing techniques to shorten cycle times, reduce lost time and process downtime, increase flexibility, communication and visual factory signaling, improve control and operator effectiveness, and reduce culled material.
- Developed and implemented total preventive and predictive maintenance systems that standardized maintenance activities and provided improved equipment effectiveness for the paper manufacturing operation.
- Migrated the inventory management process from a forecast/push process to a demand/pull process.