Valley Glass Uses Lean Principles to get a Crystal Clear Boost in Production

Results:

As a result of the training on Value Stream Mapping, a serious bottleneck in the window manufacturing plant quickly surfaced. Within a few days, the Lean Team implemented a constraint busting solution that increased production volume by 40%. This was accomplished at almost no cost and without increasing headcount. Rolling out 5S in the plant has resulted in work areas that are much cleaner and more organized. Product now flows through the plant much more smoothly and quality has increased significantly. There is much less rework and customers are much happier. As a nice bonus, over $125,000 in work in progress was eliminated which has freed up floor space and cash.

Testimonial:

"Working with the MEP has been great. Any business that has not implemented Lean and 5S should just do it. But, they need to be patient. The MEP helped us understand that improvement takes time. They did a good job of setting our expectations and helping us identify the 'low hanging fruit.' We know that going forward, the projects will be more challenging. But, we now understand and are fully committed to the principle of continuous improvement. We look forward to working the MEP again in the future."

Marc Naylor, President,

Valley Glass

Company Profile:

Valley Glass is a full service glass company with locations in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. Started in 1956, they manufacture and distribute their own line of custom vinyl windows and they are distributors for a line of high-end wood windows. Their windows are installed in new residential and commercial construction as well as retrofit replacement windows in existing construction. They also distribute and install auto glass.

Situation:

In 2003 Valley Glass added a number of new dealers to their distribution network. They also added some new product lines. This created additional demand for their products but it in turn added additional complexities to their internal systems. They found themselves having difficulty keeping up with customer demand. Lead times stretched out, delivery commitments were missed, and the quality of their windows, and customer service started to suffer. As a result, two long time dealers stopped selling their windows resulting in a big sales decline.

Feeling some pain, Marc and his plant foreman began actively looking for ways improve

operational efficiencies. They wanted to increase output, improve quality, and shorten lead times. Eventually they were introduced to the MEP at a workshop on Lean Manufacturing.

Solution:

Working with the MEP, Valley Glass sent a core team of employees from their window manufacturing plant to a Lean 101 workshop. The Lean 101 training was followed up with onsite training in Value Stream Mapping and 5S. All training was delivered by MEP field engineers. The objectives for the training were to eliminate production bottlenecks, improve product flow and to clean and organize the plant.

Employees:

140