Sargent Metal Fabricators Increases Jobs and See Cost Savings following SCMEP’s Facility Layout Design and Engineering Support Services

Sargent Metal Fabricators provides precision metal fabrication, welding, powder coating and assembly services to leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in a variety of markets. Located in Anderson, South Carolina, the company began its operations in June of 1975. In the early 1990’s, the company realized it needed to invest in CNC equipment to stay competitive and grow in other markets. Today, Sargent continues to invest by buying machines with the latest technology available, to better serve their customers. In June of 2020, the company announced plans to expand operations in Anderson County with a $9.5 million investment.

The company continued to experience positive company growth resulting in new investments in equipment. The nearly 80,000-square-foot facility in Anderson had a variety of equipment with a potential for more investments in facility assets in 2019 and beyond. Some of the known challenges existed with a one centralized perimeter aisleway as the primary plant travel method creating heavy and competing traffic flow with a high degree of forklift travel. It was estimated that 50% of all parts flowed through the 1st operation then to ship while the remaining volume could take varied paths through all other operations dependent upon the part specifications. Spot welding was also felt to be a problem area in regards to flow, general location and work sequencing, work in progress build up, and raw material/input staging.

SCMEP, part of the MEP National Network™, was tasked to develop a floor plan for the production area of Sargent Metal Fabricators’ manufacturing facility. The floor plan focused on providing a foundation for the following improvements: improving work flow, reducing part travel, supporting visual factory, reducing work in process levels, improving throughput and reducing lead times and supporting safety and regulation compliance. Three main steps were taken. A current state facility layout was performed which included location and sizing of current equipment and building detail through CAD. SCMEP’s lean manufacturing resource worked with a designated team at the company to create a future state optimized layout flow. Last was updating CAD for future state plans selected and outlined actions needed to support the proposed facility changes.