A+ Corporation

A + Corporation in Gonzales, Louisiana has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years, particularly in the area of sales and marketing. The company designs, manufactures and sells analytical products and accessories for the oil and gas industry.

With an international customer base and 30 employees, management at the company recognized a need for improvements on the production floor. They also recognized how a Lean Manufacturing Program for continuous improvement could help achieve those goals. They contacted the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana (MEPOL) for assistance.

“Within 30 days of our first contact with the guys from MEPOL, we had funding approval from the Louisiana Department of Labor and were scheduling training classes,” said Keith Mayeaux, president of A + Corporation.

Once the company was approved for funding from the Incumbent Worker Training Program, the lean manufacturing training and implementation consisted of:

• Lean Manufacturing Overview and Training
• Lean Assessment Training
• Performance Metrics Training and Development
• Value Stream Mapping Training and Development

The initial Lean 101 introductory training took place in August 2006. All employees were involved with the general concepts training. The next week, a smaller Team was formed to go through Lean Assessment, Performance Metrics, and the Value Stream Mapping. From these follow up events, an extensive Action Item Plan was developed which identified areas for improvement, responsible personnel, and target dates. The facility layout changed and assembly cells were created along with a Kanban system to control the flow of materials. Shadow boards were designed and implemented to organize the tooling. Point of use storage was utilized to reduce travel distance for retrieving supplies and raw materials. During the layout change, floor space was made available for future product lines.

The benefits A + Corporation experienced included the following:

• 50% of original production area was made available to add additional product lines
• Work in process reduced by 75%
• A visual, organized production layout utilizing a cellular concept
• Kanban Pull system initiated to reduce paperwork and to increase flow of products which will reduce the number of Work Orders from 10 to zero for most part numbers
• Implemented Lean Performance Metrics such as First Pass Yield, 5s Audits, etc.
• The company received over $15,000 in funding from the Louisiana Department of Labor’s Incumbent Worker Training Program to pay for the Lean Manufacturing Program.
• Increased employee involvement.
• Contributed to a company culture that promotes continuous improvement.

Employment Opportunities
MEPOL is seeking to fill two vacant field agent positions in New Orleans and Baton Rouge . Visit our employment page for more details.