Trust and confidentiality are very important to us. We will provide references upon request.

Here are some of our projects:

Steel tank manufacturer

This company produces annually 6000 pressure tanks with 80 employees and achieves a turnover of 5 m€.

Long idle periods, long distances, unbalanced cycles and large batch sizes characterized the manufacturing process.

After a first analysis we straightened and balanced the first five steps, duplicated some workstations and installed tracks to minimize crane utilization.

With a new scheduling system the remaining cycle imbalances were reduced, utilizing the different work content in the product mix.

Productivity increased by 12%, inventory decreased 20%, through-put-time by 20% and distance by 8%.

Refrigeration

The company produces in 12 plants commercial retail refrigerated merchandizers. Our task was to optimize one production line as a case model in this plant producing 12.000 units annually with 800 employees.

Employees and employee representatives were trained in tools and methods in a short workshop. Ideas and suggestions were generated covering engineering changes, logistics (kanban), staging and work content.

After implementation, distance per unit was reduced by 580m (!) or 50%, inventory by 25% and productivity was raised by 8%.

Wire industry

This company produces stripper/crimper units for wire harness manufacturing. Our task was to streamline the process which converts standard to customized units.

Long distances, unclear specifications and responsibilities prevailed.

After a short analysis all tasks – including administrative tasks – were integrated in one workshop and covered by teams of two employees.

This reduced distances by 300m, improved through-put -time by 65% and productivity rose by 15%.

Automotive

The 800 employee company produced components for the automotive industry. Our task was to improve assembly processes which were burdened with large inventories, missing parts and idle time.

The employees were trained in CIP tools and Kanban. Ideas and suggestions were generated in a team effort and subsequently implemented with the employees and suppliers.

Inventories were reduced by 30%, set-up time by 15%, square footage by 20%, through-put-time rose by 10% and productivity by 20%.

Utilities

This company provides 350.000 hoseholds with heating, natural gas, electricity and water, generating an annual turnover of 400m€.

The organization and processes were modelled to meet court-proof requirements.

In a two day training session we trained 5 employees as internal auditors. This training included auditing techniques and tools as well as role plays.

Logistics, Warehousing and Distribution

This company markets and distributes decorative products to retailers. Goods are stored in a 27.000 pallet warehouse and picked to customer order with high seasonal peaks in workload and inventory. Our task was to optimize processes to reduce the impact of those peaks.

After a short analysis, ideas were generated to increase the picks per run, reduce distances for picks as well as through-put-time and accelerate prepackaging. A master control station concept was drafted.

A productivity increase of 30% is expected.

Interim Management

This company manufactures products mainly from stainless steel. After restructuring, operations were divided into four business units. Since not all managing functions could not be filled by current staff, one business unit manager position was filled on an interim basis.

Our task was the operational management of this unit with 110 employees and 20m€ turnover as well as introduction of project management, restructuring of manufacturing processes and cost reduction.

Stamping

The 10m€ company supplies the automotive industry and was faced with a significant loss due to lost contracts.

The main manufacturing process uses presses with progressive dies and integrated component assembly.

Our task was to reduce set-up time, downtime and implement a digital production data collection system.

The project is still running and shows promising results.

Quality Management – Injection Molding

The European division of a multinational automotive company wanted to standardize the quality management system of 4 production sites in order to achieve TS16949 certification.

In several workshops documentation and processes were reviewed, standardized and adjusted to meet the requirements.

All 4 production sites passed the certification successfully.