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MEP Success Stories from Minnesota

Getting Ready

Reported Year
2022
As Randall nears retirement, heir-apparent Christopher Noddings is already tweaking the operation for future growth. He’s executing plans to expand the company’s product lines into cables and sensors that would plug into the same equipment powered by its batteries. That expansion, Christopher understood, would mean that new, bigger customers would

Sustaining ISO 9001:2015 Certification

Reported Year
2022
H&S Specialties’ customers were satisfied with the products they received, but over time, many were requesting that the company be ISO 9001:2015 certified. Although H&S Specialties had business processes and documentation in place, they found that without certification they were spending a lot of time providing extra documentation for their clients

Ultra-Fast Wheels Produced Even Faster

Reported Year
2021
HED Cycling has been an innovator and pioneer in the performance bicycling world for over 30 years. Over that time, new and innovative products have been added to their ultra-light carbon fiber component offerings and they continually push the envelope for what is possible on a bicycle. However, HED came to realize that they had become disorganized

Capturing New Markets

Reported Year
2022
Galaxy Precision has built a strong reputation with its customers and maintains a history of quality products and attention to detail. Business was going well, and they were growing, but as they sought new customers, the leadership team found that being ISO 9001:2015 certified gave Galaxy Precision more opportunities at new projects and customers

High Level Challenges, High Level Solutions

Reported Year
2021
Daryle Pomranke, president of Winnebago Manufacturing Co, has been an organizational leader since 1999. As he took full ownership of the company in 2012, Daryle recognized a need to be able to discuss high level business challenges with other executives, who might be able to provide insight and offer creative solutions. In 2020 as the pandemic took

Half as Many Touches

Reported Year
2022
As B&D Rollers made its pivot from printing rollers to industrial and agricultural rollers, Dan Ostrander was facing strong competition for skilled workers and made a strategic decision to automate his processes when possible and invest in the skills and equipment of his workers. Today, B&D Rollers employs eight staff, but each worker operates 1-3

Improved Flow and Increased Capacity

Reported Year
2021
DAKA Corporation had a product mix that was comprised of about 33% structural steel manufacturing, 33% aluminum marine production and 33% wood heating furnaces manufacturing. Historically it was a good mix for the company that allowed them to stay busy and profitable throughout the year. However, DAKA was faced with a significant change to their

WIP Reduction Yields Big Gains

Reported Year
2021
MDT saw a need and opportunity for significant reductions in total inventory and work in progress (WIP) moving through the operation. It was identified that even a one day reduction in WIP would yield major cost savings and output increases. MDT has an internal continuous improvement (CI) team, and had been making incremental improvements over the

Passed with Flying Colors

Reported Year
2020
International Chemtex Corp. found themselves in a position to "reboot" their organization's ISO 9001:2015 framework because of key staff turnover and growth within the company. Leadership felt that the operational utility of the ISO system wasn't being embraced across the organization. They also had a recertification audit on the horizon, so it was

From Three Buildings to One

Reported Year
2020
The Minimizer leadership team was looking to reengage their organization in continuous improvement methodology based on their minimizer advanced production process (MAPP) program, which had fallen out of sustainment as the organization grew. The company had also recognized several physical and psychological barriers staff had to work through every