Florida MEP: Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2003

For more information please contact:
Gene Lussier
Board Chair, Florida MEP
321-939-4000

Edwards Manufacturing Saves Big By Getting Lean

TAMPA, FL - Ron Holland, vice president of operations for Edwards Manufacturing of Tampa, knows a good thing when he sees it.

For instance, while attending a recent Lean 101 class put on by the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Florida MEP), Holland listened to all that was being said and quickly decided "we need to do this."

It was one of the best decisions he ever made.

"Putting Lean practices into place has been a great experience," Holland said. "We're now in our third year and I feel like we're just getting started. It has been a great help to us because while other processes are just a lot of talk, Lean is something you can touch, feel and understand.

"Best of all," Holland added, "the results are measurable, impressive and our employees are involved and loving what has happened.

"Those are the kind of comments we love to hear," said Maria Alfano, director of operations for the Florida MEP. "Our project managers take great pride in assisting companies to use Lean to solve problems, increase production and efficiency and reduce waste.

"Edwards Manufacturing is no different," she said. "In fact, the Lean techniques implemented there involved essentially setting up a complete product line on the new system. As a result, both quality and customer service was improved."

The end result, as described by Holland, was impressive. Factory throughput time for related products was reduced by 30 percent, and production capacity was increased by 25 percent.

In addition, product travel distance has been reduced by 92 percent and factory floor space requirements have been reduced by 25 percent. "Having the MEP project managers come to map out our process and really take time to understand what we do has had a positive impact on everyone here," Holland said. "Now we have our people looking at our entire manufacturing process and improving their work station activity without causing problems somewhere else.

"Edwards Manufacturing has been a leading provider of custom point-of-sale and food handling equipment for the food retailing industry since 1994. Headquartered in Tampa, the company employs 185 people in three divisions (two in Tampa and one in Atlanta).

Initially, Florida MEP personnel worked with the company's management team to introduce the principles of Lean manufacturing to key employees. During the first stages, the company's aluminum cart product line was targeted for Lean transformation.

"My people immediately took to it," Holland said. "Not only did we implement the basics of Lean, but my team developed a self-contained flow work cell to eliminate motion waste. I was impressed."

Holland continues to be impressed. "I can measure the physical space changes we've made, calculate the amount of increased product produced for less cost and note the improvement in lead times," he said. "And we have reduced our outsourcing of processed parts by more than 75 percent.

"That is huge dollars anyway you want to look at it," Holland added. Holland said he has obviously become "a big fan" of the Florida MEP. "Everyone I have dealt with there has been capable and professional," he said. "They are on a first-name basis with most of the people in my shop and my employees are not frightened by them.

"I must say, each and everyone of them has been great," Holland said. "With their help, we have put Lean Flow Cell concepts into the company's overall continuous improvement philosophy and have created a stronger operations management approach to production." The Florida MEP is an affiliate of the NIST under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through MEP, manufacturers have access to more than 2000 manufacturing and business "coaches" whose job is to help firms make changes that lead to greater productivity, increased profits, and enhanced global competitiveness. For more information on the Florida MEP program call 321-939-4000.

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