"Reese Partners helped Huhtamaki realize significant cost savings of over $2 million a year. The expertise provided by Reese Partners was superior to what we could have done internally, with respect to both quality and time. They brought an objective view that couldn't be replicated internally, worked within a tight timeline and presented what made the most sense given both current and future business trends."
"Reese Partners assessed our current state of effectiveness and efficiency at our Grant Park Engineering Center, benchmarked us to similar operations and recommended opportunities for improvement. They brought great industry knowledge that supported the benchmark, plus brought a fresh set of unbiased eyes to the assessment."
Production redesign increases capacity to meet seasonal demand
Business Case
A mid-size manufacturer of consumer goods faced heavy seasonal demand for its products. Current manufacturing capacity was inadequate to handle the surge in demand, resulting in cost and quality problems as the company strained to fill orders and keep customer service levels high.
Reese Partners Role
Reese Partners reviewed the company's manufacturing, material handling, and product flow methods, processes and techniques as well as its order scheduling and inventory management methods. The review identified specific 'quick-hit' initiatives and operations where non-value steps and product staging were occurring and could be eliminated.
Client Success
The analysis of the manufacturing processes and material flow allowed Reese Partners to: » Physically re-design the layout of the production areas, and recommend a new labor-manning and shift schedule. » Move production from a batch approach to a continuous flow approach. » Integrate raw material storage and flow into the manufacturing processes freeing up space, avoiding congestion, and reducing labor requirements during peak production. » Change material flow methods to improve production as well as packaging time, with minimal investment.
Results
The company was able to increase output capacity by over 35%, reduce labor cost by 10% and improve quality by 15% and now has the capacity to meet peak demand requirements and satisfy customer orders. The majority of improvement was driven through improved work methods and material flow as well as line planning and forecasting. The company made minor capital investments to support the workflow improvements.
