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Quality and On-Time Delivery Now Possible Through Lean Problem Solving Training
With the help of: Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Ohio MEP)
About
GMi manufactures whiteboard products in Lebanon, Ohio. The family-owned business employs approximately 95 people. GMi currently has two locations but intends to expand the Lebanon facility to encompass all operation.
The Challenge
GMi was looking to improve the performance of their employees in resolving current production and quality issues and asked TechSolve, part of the Ohio MEP and the MEP National Network™, to assist them by conducting customized problem solving training in their Ghent facility.
Over 95% of Ghent products are manufactured in the USA. Each order is produced on demand, just in time so TechSolve's assistance in improving our production and quality is critical to our core values of quality reputation, made in the USA, and arrives as expected. Our products are used in classrooms and office space and communication and visual sharing of information is so important in both environments due to COVID-19.
MEP's Role
TechSolve recommended the training be set up as 6 days/weeks and the training modules divided into the basic process steps. It was also recommended that GMi provide current issues for the employees to work on and resolve as part of the training. It was settled that there would be 4 teams/issues. Each week, the teams met for in-class instruction. They were then given time to start to work on applying the step to their problem with support of the instructor. Homework to finish the step application was assigned to each team for the next week.
By the end of the training, several improvements were made and others planned. For instance, software issues were discovered that led to "lost" material. These were corrected. The paint line decided to slow their line in order to match the pace of the next operation, eliminating many of the defects that were incurred in finding alternate storage locations. They also set up a better equipment routine that was eliminating about 50% of the defects seen off the paint line.
By the end of the training, several improvements were made and others planned. For instance, software issues were discovered that led to "lost" material. These were corrected. The paint line decided to slow their line in order to match the pace of the next operation, eliminating many of the defects that were incurred in finding alternate storage locations. They also set up a better equipment routine that was eliminating about 50% of the defects seen off the paint line.
Created October 28, 2021