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Core Value Business Assessment Improvements
With the help of: West Virginia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WVMEP)
About
The Challenge
At Mountaineer Cabinet Co, we strive to provide superb customer service and high quality products at an affordable price. WVMEP has provided us with those exact same qualities over the past 12 months. We started working with WVMEP in January 2019. Our company was facing several tough decisions and chose to reach out for additional help. It was by far the single best phone call I have made since becoming part owner 9 years ago. WVMEP has performed several business evaluations for us during those 12 months. From an overview of our daily operations to a step by step breakdown of each employee’s role, the information they provided from those evaluations, has helped guide our decisions 100%. Our owners and myself have tried to meet with others that proclaimed to be able to help or assist our company. When we would explain our situation to them, you could tell that these other individuals or companies were looking to make money from us and we’re not interested in actually helping! That was not the case with WVMEP. They wanted to help and improve our situation and approached improving our business as a personal challenge. We are truly indebted to WVMEP and recommend their services to your company, big or small. If you would like another set of eyes to look at the processes that make up your company, call WVMEP. It just might be the best call you every make as an owner.
MEP's Role
West Virginia MEP (WVMEP), part of the MEP National Network, worked with Mountaineer Woodcraft on a series of projects to help the company to improve processes and reduce production costs. WVMEP first used Core Value software to provide an assessment of the overall business, providing prioritized action items to help the company stabilize financially. Following the assessment, WVMEP worked with the company on a value stream mapping project to identify waste and opportunities within their processes. These first two phases of the project highlighted a need for additional information from the production floor to allow Mountaineer Woodcraft to accurately cost their cabinet projects. As a result, WVMEP further assisted by completing a process study in two areas of their cabinet making process to collect information related to cycle times, labor costs and additional opportunities for improvement. This multi-day project included time studies and interviews with employees to provide recommendations for improvement. In addition to the traditional lean-related improvements that were identified, the results of the assessment highlighted the need for leadership to open lines of communication, integrate new ideas from the production floor and grow the new generation of leadership.