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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Med Associates Inc. Realizes Their Potential with VMEC Lean Product Suite Initiatives

With the help of: Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC)

About

Med Associates Inc® is the leading manufacturer, software developer, and supplier of products for behavioral psychology, pharmacology, neuroscience, and related fields of research. They were established in 1971 as a small research and development company. Today, Med Associates and their affiliated companies employ over 100 people, manufacture and distribute more than 400 product lines, occupy locations in Georgia and St. Albans, Vermont and in Florida, and are represented by several dealers and authorized distributors throughout the world. Their Vermont facilities employ 72 of the 100 people company-wide. 

The Challenge

In order to maintain and improve the company's ability to meet the needs of their customers in  specialized product areas, Med Associates realized they needed to obtain basic training and a facilitated application process utilizing lean-based concepts for one of its production areas and in the future, provide these skills to the rest of the manufacturing area. The purpose of this scope of services is to support the growth of the company and quality excellence through the development of people, and continue the development of a continuous improvement culture. For help, they turned to VMEC, the Vermont MEP Center and part of the MEP National Network™.
VMEC does an excellent job supporting Vermont manufacturing companies. I have been pleased with all aspects of our relationship.
— Matt Weldon , Production Manager

MEP's Role

The scope of work VMEC presented and delivered involved training, facilitation, and coaching. This included a Lean 101 workshop, a value stream mapping (VSM) training and facilitated application of VSM with a structured problem solving overview. The Lean 101 workshop supports a manufacturer's continuous improvement initiative by giving management, supervisory, and operating personnel exposure to a common body of knowledge encompassing the fundamentals of lean manufacturing.

 

In the value stream mapping realm, VMEC delivered a family of products, and two linked Kaizen events identified by the VSM process. Structured problem solving focused on the concepts of applying a structured approach to problem solving by applying the "plan, do, check and act" (PDCA) cycle. The team learned a simple, teachable and consistent method to approaching problems.

Created January 22, 2021, Updated July 16, 2022