Company Profile
The VIBCO manufacturing company produces industrial and construction vibrators and vibratory equipment. The family owned business, located in Wyoming, Rhode Island, began operations in 1962 and sells their products in the United States and throughout the world.
Situation
The Company’s president, Karl Wadensten, had embraced Continuous Improvement as a culture for VIBCO.
They had a Lean Champion on staff and had been using the principles of lean manufacturing for over two years. Major progress had been achieved in the Finished Goods Assembly Department as well as other areas in the plant. Inventories in finished goods had been reduced to a two week average using a weekly min/max “pull system” and the Assembly Department was using cellular manufacturing with point of use storage.
However, VIBCO was experiencing bottlenecks in the Repair Department. There was a consistent problem with lead times. Customers were waiting for their repaired equipment for an average of three weeks.
Wadensten contacted Polaris MEP and arranged to bring in a “Lean Team” for some additional “Lean Training” and to facilitate a “Kaizen” event in the Repair Department.
IMPACTS
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80% improvement in repair turnaround time | |
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32% drop in transportation waste | |
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35% increase in productivity |
“(Polaris MEP) opened our eyes to the full potential impact of Lean and Continuous Improvement.”
Karl Wadensten, President
Solution
Through the implementation of a variety of Lean Manufacturing Techniques such as cellular flow and 5S, the Polaris MEP Team, working with the VIBCO team, achieved several improvements in the repair department.
Waste was reduced and both turnaround time and yearly productivity improved.