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Continuous Improvement Enhances Scheduling and Capacity Planning Processes
With the help of: Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Ohio MEP)
About
Stainless Works, located in Streetsboro, OH, is a manufacturer of high-quality performance headers and exhaust systems. The company offers a wide selection of products for both new and classic car and truck models. Its systems have demonstrated performance gains through before-and-after dyno testing of vehicles.
Besides complete header and exhaust systems, Stainless Works provides custom components (including Rod Builder Kits and Chopper Builder Kits) and individual parts to help customers create tailored solutions.
The Challenge
MAGNET did an excellent job understanding our needs and identifying areas of improvement within our ERP system. They were timely and efficient helping us make the improvements we needed to capture real capacity resulting in improving our on time delivery and increasing sales.
MEP's Role
MAGNET started the project by walking through Stainless Works' process and documenting key elements. Then, MAGNET identified gaps between what the ERP system required and the information being entered. The analysis showed that routings were not providing the system with the correct information. As a result, MAGNET's first step was to update the routings. Once the routings were updated, work centers were configured for scheduling. During this process, welding was identified as the main bottleneck. An alternative approach was developed to configure the welding department more effectively. By using forward scheduling in the capacity-constrained welding department, Stainless Works observed performance improvements that led to shorter lead times.
With these ERP system improvements, Stainless Works was able to provide much more accurate lead time estimates, which were shorter than their previous quotes. The shorter lead times helped them retain business that might have otherwise gone to competitors, ultimately increasing sales.