From Stagnant to Increased Revenue

After 15 years running a successful elk-outfitting business, Clay Allison was frustrated with having to bring four knives into the field. Even with so many blades, Allison found that he also needed to bring along a sharpener, as the knives wouldn’t retain their edge after extended use. In 2007, Allison founded Wicked Edge/Hollowpoint. One of the company’s first products, the Wicked Edge Precision Sharpener, is regarded as the best knife-sharpening system in the world.

Although Allison’s frustration related to keeping blades sharp was remedied, a new type of frustration took over. Increasing demand for Wicked Edge/Hollowpoint products made it difficult to keep up. Supply and demand issues were stunting the company’s growth.

The New Mexico MEP team, a NIST MEP affiliate, worked with Wicked Edge/Hollowpoint to implement lean manufacturing tools and techniques that streamlined company operations, both administratively and on the manufacturing floor. This enabled the company to gain control over inventory delays and balance costs while reshoring manufacturing work to U.S. component suppliers.