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Manufacturing Innovation Blog
Powered by the Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Certified Packing & Crating Inc. (CP&C) is a seventeen-year-old company offering specialized packing and crating services, as well as customized product handling and packaging. Two former Intel employees, a husband and wife team, purchased CP&C in 2012, seeking a business vehicle to find stability in their post-Intel, post-parenting lives. The company is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with around 10 employees, and serves multi-billion dollar organizations, scientific equipment makers, and art distributors.
CP&C was experiencing lost revenue due to rework, inefficiencies, cash flow, and a lack of standardized crating techniques. Having experienced the Lean manufacturing philosophy at their former employer, the owners wanted to deploy Lean at their new company. However, the small business had limited resources to engage their new staff around Continuous Improvement activities. CP&C decided to contact the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP), part of the MEP National NetworkTM, for help in standardizing processes.
As a small business owner, I will be forever grateful to New Mexico MEP. New Mexico MEP helped shape our culture through Lean training and systems development. A good portion of our core business processes was overhauled, leading to significant financial benefits. I would have never had the time nor the knowledge to make it happen without New Mexico MEP.
—Dave Slavens, Vice-President, Co-owner
New Mexico MEP began the transformation process by helping CP&C employees map value across both the manufacturing and administrative functions. The company added mobile technologies into the error proofing and order fulfillment processes, and within 90 days was improving cash flow and materials supply. New Mexico MEP trained CP&C employees to see the total workflow and attendant administrative steps, which led to innovations in linking back office documents with on-site field work. The company worked to error proof the information flow through the order intake, quoting, supply management, and customer fulfillment processes.
Next, New Mexico MEP helped CP&C to establish an assembly line, impacting the entire value stream. The improvements brought savings to the company in materials, time, fuel, defects, and avoided investments. Finally, the CP&C team took a look at their beliefs about the company, establishing their "Why" as a firm and deploying the messaging in the marketplace. With clearer messaging, the company won a significant new customer and entered into a niche market in high-value art that was not previously part of CP&C's revenue stream.
Results
- 25% increase in revenues
- $260,000 in cost savings
- $85,000 in new investment
Could your company benefit from assistance with Lean manufacturing philosophies? Connect with your local MEP Center for more information.
The New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership is the official representative of the MEP National Network in New Mexico. The MEP National Network is a unique public-private partnership that helps small and medium-sized manufacturers generate business results and thrive in today’s technology-driven economy. The MEP National Network comprises the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP), the 51 MEP Centers located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
