Wooden Specialties Experiences Production Increases Through Lean Manufacturing

“We now have better organization at Wooden Specialties. The employees here see that we are making things better for them and for the company. MEPOL is a good, grassroots program that helps make small businesses profitable and vibrant in the economy.”
     -- Bryan Fontenot, Owner of Wooden Specialties

Company Profile: Wooden Specialties in Lafayette started business in 1988 and was originally manufacturing furniture. After a market study showed that furniture would not be a profitable market for them, they began making custom cabinets and have enjoyed increased profits. They currently employ 8 people.

Situation: Wooden Specialites was looking for more efficient methods to manufacture their products and make them more profitable. They contacted MEPOL for assistance in implementing lean manufacturing principles at their facility. Problems in the manufacturing processes included tools that were not properly being returned to the appropriate place and parts for orders that were not well-organized.

Solution: MEPOL project director Shannon Nunez worked with Bryan Fontenot, owner of Wooden Specialties, to establish a team of employees to identify process steps and prepare a current state value stream map. They gathered data on each process, including cycle times, lead times, inventory levels, machine reliability, change over times and current cost tracking methods. Once areas of improvement were identified, the team worked together and accomplished the following:

• Developed a method for tracking work in process, labor hours and raw material costs, with assistance from Lance Link, a CPA and MEPOL’s Coordinator for Analysis and Assessments.
• Made improvements to reduce lead time and identify solutions for bottlenecks.
• Made improvements in on-time delivery and job scheduling.
• Developed quality check-point tools and methods of measuring quality performance.

 Clutter was cleared out of the shop through 5S (sort, set-in order, shine, standardize, sustain) and tools were assigned permanent locations. All raw material was organized and put into bins and storage locations for individual orders, improving accessibility. A scheduling board was designed for the office and the shop and work was standardized. Quality checks were put into place at critical areas of the shop.
    Before each project began, Shannon Nunez worked with Wooden Specialties to secure some financial assistance from the Louisiana Department of Economic Development's Small and Emerging Business Development (SEBD) division. Through this assistance, the company was able to save $10,626.60.

Results:

• A 50% reduction in call-backs for rework by customers, resulting in significant cost savings. The quality checklists have resulted in fewer defects going out the customers. The employees are catching mistakes and correcting them before they are delivered and installed.
• A 20% increase in production due to the reduction in call-backs and increase in quality.
• The company created a new job and hired a computer programmer to use and manage Cabinet Vision software, which helped them to improve job scheduling, improve quality and spend less time on rework due to inaccurate measurements or not being able to read measurements, and improve point of sale communications with customers, reducing rework during assembly and installation.
• Involvement of the employees in the improvement process has resulted in decreased employee turnover.