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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Expansion and Improvements Allow Company to Make Dreams Come True by Being the “Fairy Godmother of Fire”

With the help of: Manufacturer's Edge

About

Warming Trends of Englewood, Colorado, essentially offers the best outdoor fire feature system available on-demand and made in America. They use an all-brass construction jetted system that allows for unmatched fuel efficiency as well as superior flame performance. In essence, the customer gets “twice the flame, half the gas”. What really sets them apart, though, is the ability to customize designs up to a miniscule 2” adjustment. So, for example, if a homeowner or commercial site wants a simple round fire pit, there are many companies to choose from. Warming Trends, of course, offers a superior product, but the customer still has options to explore before coming to a decision. If, however, like a recent Canadian customer, someone wants a 50’ wide 200’ long fire feature made from 16 burners and surrounded by a steel bamboo forest, there is really only one option available and that is to call Warming Trends.

The Challenge

After Tim and Voni Flaherty purchased the company, they immediately identified areas of untapped potential and the obstacles that needed to be confronted in order to expand and succeed. A quick internet search for Lean training led Tim to the Manufacturer’s Edge website. After meeting with a regional director, he quickly realized that the resources available through Manufacturer’s Edge, part of the MEP National Network™, could help him with much more than Lean.

I like the resources that are available to smaller companies to enable growth or 'loan' expertise at various phases of company development and in numerous practice areas.

— Tim Flaherty, President

MEP's Role

The previous owners had developed a distribution system for Warming Trends that they admitted was too spread out, complex, and convoluted. With assistance from Manufacturer’s Edge, Tim and Voni were able to pare down the network and improve the quality of the partnerships. Now, they have fewer dots scattered about on their distribution map, but have cultivated quality relationships in order to get much more out of each one.

 

The combination of Lean training, systems flow, 5S, and facility layout has resulted in improvements in efficiency year over year. According to the Flahertys, they saw a 20% improvement in 2018 to 2019 and an additional 25% from 2019 to 2020. The timing of which could not have been more ideal as they have subsequently seen at least a 60% increase in sales due to the pandemic and could not have kept up with demand otherwise. Thanks to the increase in sales, they have also been able to expand their team. After starting 2020 with a team of 23, Warming Trends now has 45 employees and is well situated and ready to continue growing and making people’s dreams come true.

Created November 4, 2020, Updated July 12, 2021