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Value Stream Mapping Leads to Operational Excellence
With the help of: New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NY MEP)
About
Stan’s No Tubes, founded in 2001 and located in Horseheads, NY, has 25 employees. They developed a method to replace inner tubes with a liquid sealant for instant puncture repair. Removing the inner tube also gave off-road riders increased traction, control, and comfort. Using knowledge gained from sealing traditional rims for tubeless use, the brand developed its own line of rims and wheels specifically designed for tubeless applications. For over twenty years, Stan’s NoTubes products have set new performance standards and created new product categories, redefining what others believed was possible.
The Challenge
Stan’s NoTubes aimed to maximize value and minimize waste to foster continuous improvement within their organization. The areas their team wanted to focus on included Sales Order Entry to Work Order Creation for the Shop Floor, as well as Warehouse Operations and Inventory Control.
You can take great satisfaction in the knowledge that the energy and ideas the team have are a direct result of the guidance and training you’ve provided through the year. I would very much like to have you stop in the shop in early December to review the changes we’ve implemented and see the improvements that you helped foster.
MEP's Role
Stan's NoTubes has encouraged and enabled their team to embrace continuous improvement methodologies. One way they have achieved this is by utilizing AMT’s Principal Consultant, Tom Enderby, to assist with Value Stream Mapping (VSM) events in Sales Order Entry to Work Order Creation for the Shop Floor and Warehouse Operations and Inventory Control.
Each VSM event involved a cross-functional team, lasting 3-5 days, and included data collection, clear communication and collaboration, developing a future state map, a current state map, and a value stream plan filled with improvement activities. The improvement activities were prioritized using an impact-effort matrix.
Both VSM events successfully identified waste, reduced process cycle times, and implemented process improvements. Additionally, these VSM efforts helped create a pipeline of continuous improvement activities within Stan’s NoTubes organization, while also teaching personnel how to view their operations from a value stream perspective.